Like a good honor student, Forbidden Kingdom aced his first try around two turns Saturday at Santa Anita while stamping himself as the horse to beat in next month’s Santa Anita Derby.

Sent postward as the even-money favorite, Forbidden Kingdom went gate to wire to win the $400,000 Grade II San Felipe Stakes by 5¾ lengths under Juan Hernandez for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella.

The American Pharoah colt opened eyes in his last start, the Grade II San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 29, when he set sizzling fractions of 21.86, 44.49 and 1:09.31 en route to a 2¼-length victory while running the 7 furlongs in 1:22.75.

The question Saturday was whether Forbidden Kingdom could carry his speed the San Felipe distance of 1-1/16 miles, but it was no problem. He went 22.66, 45.90 and 1:10.46 en route to a final clocking of 1:43.98 and comfortably held off runner-up Doppelganger, the 8-5 second choice in the wagering. Happy Jack, a 26-1 longshot, finished third.

“I let him have fun,” Hernandez said. “I turned him loose and he never stopped. He kept going the whole race and proved how good he is today.”

Mandella said the Santa Anita Derby on April 9 will be next.

“I was anxious to see this race and see if he would get two turns,” he said. “He looked even better. I was a little nervous when I saw the 45 (seconds) on the board for the first half. He just did what he likes to do.”

Forbidden Kingdom, who has won three of five starts with one second and a third-place finish, picked up 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points with the victory.

Beholder Mile

As Time Goes By, after a small bobble at the start, regrouped and won the $500,000 Grade I event for older fillies and mares by 2¼ lengths over Miss Bigly as the 1-5 favorite for jockey Flavien Prat and trainer Bob Baffert.

It was the third consecutive victory for the 5-year-old daughter of American Pharoah and her first Grade I win in five tries as she ran the distance in 1:37.55. She finished second behind Swiss Skydiver in last year’s Beholder Mile.

Kilroe Mile

Count Again, the 2-1 favorite, staged a furious late rally under Prat to win the $500,000 Grade I turf race by a head over Space Traveller, giving the meet’s leading rider his third stakes victory of the day and trainer Philip D’Amato his second after winning the Buena Vista Stakes.

The 7-year-old gelded son of Awesome Again went into the race winless in three tries at a Grade I victory, but he got the job done this time while running the distance in 1:33.24. He’s won six of 15 starts.

San Carlos Stakes

Heavily favored Cezanne (3-5), close up throughout, drew off in the final eighth of a mile under Prat to win the $200,000 Grade II race by 2½ lengths over 16-1 longshot Principe Carlo. The final time for the 7 furlongs was 1:23.45.

Cezanne, a 5-year-old son of Curlin trained by Baffert, won for the fourth time in six starts and hiked his career bankroll to $267,000 with the $120,000 winner’s share. Brickyard Ride, American Theorem and Eight Rings were scratched, leaving a field of six.

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Buena Vista Stakes

Leggs Galore opened an eight-length lead up the backside with Ricky Gonzalez up and held off Going to Vegas by a half-length to win the $200,000 Grade II turf race for older fillies and mares, running the 1 mile in 1:34.29.

The 5-year-old Bayern mare, trained by D’Amato, has won six of eight starts at Santa Anita and eight of 13 overall for career earnings of $560,208. The Buena Vista was her first graded-stakes victory.