Don't assume Derby horses haven't been 1 1/4 before

I'm doing some historical study, and I notice that in 1996, Gulfstream ran two 11 furlong maidens on the turf, for 3-year-olds only, as early as February 12. This almost seems like cheating, like having a piece of birthday cake before "Happy Birthday" has been sung. Granted, a Derby winner who hadn't won by February 12 would be an historical happening, let alone one who broke his maiden in a turf race at that late date, but I think Derby day should be the beginning of something (namely, 10 furlong+ races for that crop), just as opening day is in other sports. With the trend towards shorter distances, I probably don't have to worry too much about violations of this kind, whether committed with defiance or inadvertent.