Pedigrees of the Kentucky Derby horses
Which of the 21 entries are liable to get the distance?
By Frances J. Karon
In the Kentucky Derby, in which 3-year-olds with anywhere from—this year—three (Grande) to nine (American Promise) starts under their belts, are tasked with running 10 furlongs for the first time, anything can happen. A field of 20, and never mind the crazy atmosphere with 100,000+ screaming people watching live, allows for too many variables for even the best horse to win.
One horse—Publisher—is still a maiden, and he’s one of seven, including the also eligible Baeza, who would be winning their first stakes race.
Here, in some sort of order based on sires and sireline connections, is a quick pedigree look at the 21 Derby entries, with the stallions’s advertised 2021 covering fees and stud farms shown in parentheses.
Harlan’s Holiday line:
+++Into Mischief ($225,000 at Spendthrift Farm, KY): Supersire Into Mischief (Harlan’s Holiday) is primarily a source of speed who can get stamina with the right mares, such as the dams of his Kentucky Derby winners Authentic (a Horse of the Year) and Mandaloun, and he’s already the paternal grandsire of a Derby winner (Mystik Dan, by Goldencents). He’s got two chances to get a third Derby winner from his 13th crop of 3-year-olds.
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Citizen Bull is the second 2-year-old champion in his immediate family, after Horse of the Year Favorite Trick (Phone Trick). Tiz the Law (Constitution), a Belmont winner (when it was 1 1/8 miles) as well as winner of the 1 1/4-mile G1 Travers, is also in the immediate female family, and he’s the sire of Derby horse Tiztastic. (You can read more about Citizen Bull’s family here.) He’s bred on the powerful Into Mischief/Distorted Humor cross, which has produced five graded stakes winners (from 12 stakes winners) on the exact cross: Citizen Bull, a Grade 1 winner over 1 1/16 miles; Life Is Good, a Grade 1 winner from a mile to 1 1/8 miles; Practical Joke, a Grade 1 winner from 7 furlongs to a mile; Tappan Street, a Grade 1 winner over 1 1/8 miles who was injured in his final pre-Derby workout; and Fulsome, a Grade 3 winner from a mile to a mile and a sixteenth.
On pedigree—based on his female family as well as the other graded stakes horses by Into Mischief out of Distorted Humor mares—Citizen Bull likely has distance limitations where the 10 furlongs of the Derby is concerned.
The female family of Sovereignty, on the other hand, is stamina through and through. The G2 Fountain of Youth winner is out of a mare by Preakness winner Bernardini, who won two Grade 1 races over the Derby distance, and his second dam—Grade 1 winner Mushka—was an 11-furlong Grade 3 winner on the turf. Mushka is by Belmont winner Empire Maker—the paternal grandsire of American Pharoah, who has two Derby entries—out of a mare by 10-furlong Grade 1 winner Seeking the Gold, with Triple Crown winner/stamina influence Seattle Slew as the sire of the next dam, four-time Grade 1 winner Lakeway.
+++Authentic ($75,000 at Spendthrift Farm, KY): Rodriguez is from the first crop of Authentic, Into Mischief’s first Kentucky Derby winner. Into Mischief is already the grandsire of Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan, whose sire Goldencents was primarily a miler (even though he won a graded race over 9 furlongs), so there’s no reason Authentic, who also won the Breeders’ Cup Classic at the distance, shouldn’t be capable of getting a 10-furlong winner.
The bottom side of the pedigree of Rodriguez, who won the G2 Wood Memorial, has not had 10 furlongs in their range so far. Rodriguez is a half- (or three-quarters) brother to 8.5 fur. Grade 3 winner One Liner and 6 furlong stakes winner Provocateur, both of whom are by Authentic’s sire Into Mischief. Their broodmare sire Cherokee Run (Runaway Groom) was a champion sprinter. The third dam produced Grade 1 winners Albertus Maximus (Albert the Great) over 9 furlongs and Daredevil (More Than Ready) over eight furlongs. Fourth dam Race the Wild Wind (by Sunny’s Halo, a Kentucky Derby winner) produced Group 1-winning sprinter King Charlemagne (Nureyev) and was granddam of Grade 1 sprinter Here Comes Ben (Street Cry), so there won’t be much stamina support from Rodriguez’s female family. If he wins the Derby, it will be full credit to Authentic.
+++Neolithic ($5,000 at Pleasant Acres Stallions, FL): Neolithic is by Harlan’s Holiday—who’s also the sire of Into Mischief—out of a mare by Belmont winner Victory Gallop, and he’s a half-brother to multiple Grade 2 winner Travel Column (Frosted). Neolithic won three races (7-8.5 furlongs) from two to four. Although not a stakes winner, he placed in five graded stakes, including the G1 Dubai World Cup over 10 furlongs and the G1 Pegasus World Cup and G1 Woodward, both over 9 furlongs. From 179 foals of racing age, he’s sired six stakes winners, none graded.
Neoequos is not one of his sire’s stakes winners. A member of Neolithic’s fourth crop, Neoequos ran third in both the G1 Florida Derby and the G2 Fountain of Youth, as well as second in a pair of restricted Florida-bred races last year. The broodmare sire of Neoequos is Belmont winner Birdstone, a son of Kentucky Derby winner Grindstone, in turn a son of Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled.
The only stakes winners under Neoequos’s first three dams are 5-5.5 furlong turf/all-weather sprinter Quality Lass (Exclusive Quality), a two-time listed winner out of the second dam; and You Don’t Pass (Pikepass), a 6-furlong, all-weather restricted stakes-winning full brother to the second dam. Were Neoequos to win the Derby, he’d be the first graded winner for his sire and the second graded winner under his first four dams, after Sharla Rae (Afleet Alex), the winner of the G1 Del Mar Oaks who is out of a granddaughter of the fourth dam of Neoequos.
Neoequos could very well have the capacity to get 10 furlongs, but he would need to improve off his form.
Storm Cat line:
+++Justify ($125,000 at Coolmore America, KY): Scat Daddy’s Triple Crown winner Justify’s stamina is not in doubt, and he’s already sired 1 1/2-mile Epsom Derby winner City of Troy in England.
Justify’s third-crop son American Promise is a half-brother to Grade 2 winner Hoosier Philly (Into Mischief), who won a pair of 1 1/16-mile stakes at two but has been more of a miler at three and four this year. Hoosier Philly is the sole graded winner under the first four dams, although second dam Princess Arabella (Any Given Saturday) was undefeated in three starts, including an 8-length win in the listed Sunland Park Oaks over Glinda the Good (later the dam of champion Good Magic, sire of Derby winner Mage).
Tapit, the broodmare sire of American Promise, is the sire of four Belmont winners and of Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Flightline, a Horse of the Year, so if American Promise, who broke his maiden in his sixth start and was unplaced in two subsequent graded races, is good enough, he shouldn’t have any issues handling the distance. Currently, his only line of black type is a last-out, 9-furlong track record-setting, 7 3/4-length win in Virginia Derby, not graded, at Colonial, with fellow Derby entry Render Judgment behind in second.
+++Drefong (¥3,000,000 at Shadai Stallion Station, Japan): The sire of Admire Daytona in his fourth crop was a three-time Grade 1-winning sprinter (6-7 furlongs) at three and four, and he was Eclipse champion male sprinter—all this despite being a son of champion older male/champion turf male Gio Ponti, whose seven Grade 1 wins were from 8-11 furlongs; and out of a mare by 1 1/4-mile G1 winner Ghostzapper, a Horse of the Year; and with a second dam by 1 1/2-mile Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Trempolino. Drefong, however, has sired four horses to win stakes over the Derby distance or farther, led by G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) Classic winner Geoglyph, whose broodmare sire King Kamehameha won three stakes races from 10-12 furlongs (and is also the broodmare sire of one of Drefong’s other 10-furlong stakes winners).
Admire Daytona is the only stakes winner from his unplaced dam but comes from a very deep family. G3 Gotham winner Weyburn (Pioneerof the Nile) and G3-winning sprinter Yorkton (Speightstown) are under the second dam, who’s a Sunday Silence half-sister to N. American champion Sky Beauty (Blushing Groom). Their dual Grade 1-winning dam Maplejinsky (Nijinsky II) was a half-sister to English champion sprinter Dayjur (Danzig). Among the horses under Admire Daytona’s third dam are Grade 1 winners Guarana (Ghostzapper), Pleasant Home (Seeking the Gold), Pine Island (Arch), Point of Entry (Dynaformer), Tale of Ekati (Tale of the Cat), and Violence (Medaglia d’Oro). Admire Daytona and Tale of Ekati are even more closely related—both are by Tale of the Cat-line stallions, and Admire Daytona’s second dam is a full sister to Tale of Ekati’s dam.
Although Admire Daytona won’t get much of a stamina assist from his Preakness-winning broodmare sire Shackleford, who was unplaced in his three attempts at 10 furlongs or beyond, he’s already the (narrow) winner of the 9.5 fur. G2 UAE Derby, just short of the Derby distance. He ran fourth behind fellow Japanese-based Derby entry Luxor Cafe in their only meeting.
+++Karakontie ($10,000 at Gainesway Farm, KY): The sire of Mohawk Trail, he’s a U.S.-conceived, Japanese-foaled, French Classic-winning, Breeders’ Cup Mile-winning turf horse who won three Grade/Group 1s from 7-8 furlongs. Karakontie is mainly a turf sire, although two of his graded stakes-winning progeny—including Sole Volante, who was 11th in the 2020 Kentucky Derby—each won one graded race on the dirt. And three of those eight graded winners won over at least 10 furlongs on the turf, so in the right circumstances, he is capable of siring runners capable of getting a distance of ground.
Mohawk Trail’s unplaced dam by Twirling Candy is a half-sister to 5-7 furlong turf sprinter Change of Control (Fed Biz), a Grade 3 winner who’s the only graded stakes winner under the first four dams. Mohawk Trail was second in the all-weather G3 Jeff Ruby Steaks, his only black type, and on pedigree is not likely to win a 10-furlong Grade 1 dirt race. He’s from Karakontie’s sixth crop.
+++Not This Time ($40,000 at Taylor Made Farm, KY): A half-brother to Burnham Square’s sire Liam’s Map, the popularity of Giant’s Causeway’s son Not This Time has skyrocketed him to a $175,000 stud fee in 2025. His pedigree says that he’s more than capable of siring a 10 furlong winner—he’s already sired a graded stakes winner up to 13 furlongs in Next, who is also a dual stakes winner over 14 furlongs. G3 Jeff Ruby Steaks winner Final Gambit, whose dam is by Tapit, comes from a stamina-laden turf family and is from his sire’s fifth crop. If he can handle the dirt, the Derby and Belmont distances will be well within his scope.
You can read more about Final Gambit’s pedigree here.
Unbridled line:
+++Liam’s Map ($30,000 at Lane’s End Farm, KY): A Grade 1 winner from 8-9 furlongs, Liam’s Map (Unbridled’s Song) has sired two graded stakes winners at 11 furlongs or longer. Both of those—Churn N Burn and Starting Over—were turf horses, as were Burnham Square’s first two dams.
G1 Blue Grass winner Burnham Square’s dam Linda (by Scat Daddy, the sire of American Promise’s Justify) was a turf stakes winner over 1 1/16 miles, and second dam Beautiful Noise (Sunny’s Halo, a Kentucky Derby winner) was a 1 1/8-mile Grade 2 winner on turf. His Grade 1-producing third dam was by Triple Crown winner Secretariat, and among those in the gelding’s female family are champion sprinter Lost in the Fog (Lost Soldier) and other Grade 1 winners La Coronel (Colonel John) on turf and Listening (Night Shift). Burnham Square is from Liam’s Map’s sixth crop.
Liam’s Map’s half-brother Not This Time will be represented in the Derby by Final Gambit.
+++American Pharoah ($100,000 at Coolmore America, KY): Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) has sired group/graded stakes winners up to the 10-14 furlong range, and he has two sixth-crop sons looking to give him his first winner in the race.
Kentucky-bred, Japanese-raced Luxor Cafe is a full brother to dual G1 February S. winner Cafe Pharoah, a champion dirt horse in Japan. Five of Cafe Pharoah’s six stakes wins, all in Japan, were over a mile; the sixth stakes win, in the G3 Sirius, stretched him out to 9.5 furlongs. Luxor Cafe’s lone black type win came in the Hyacinth, a race also won by Cafe Pharoah. Luxor Cafe is also a half-brother to U.S. champion turf filly Regal Glory, a graded stakes winner up to 1 1/16 miles; and Night Prowler (Giant’s Causeway), who likewise won a graded race up to 1 1/16 miles. Their dam Mary’s Follies (More Than Ready) won a 1 1/16-mile turf Grade 2 at Churchill. A third stakes winner, after Cafe Pharoah and Luxor Cafe, by American Pharoah from a More Than Ready mare is 5-6 furlong turf sprinter Four Wheel Drive.
After seven starts, Publisher remains a maiden. In his last three runs, all stakes, he finished behind Derby horses Sandman, Tiztastic, and Coal Battle, although he did split Sandman and Coal Battle to run second in the G1 Arkansas Derby. His dam, a listed restricted stakes winner by 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 winner Proud Citizen (Gone West), is a half-sister to Canadian champions Biofuel (Stormin Fever) and Tu Endie Wei (Johar, a 12-furlong son of Gone West), who were graded winners at 8.5 furlongs and 7 furlongs, respectively. Last year’s 11-furlong turf stakes winner Mrs. Astor (Lookin At Lucky) is out of a daughter of Publisher’s second dam, who’s a half-sister to G2 Arkansas Derby winner Dansil (Silver Hawk). Dansil ran fourth in Sunday Silence’s Kentucky Derby.
Both American Pharoah colts are improving and impressing in their morning training, and you can’t rule out an American Pharoah at this distance even though neither colt’s family is screaming 10 furlongs, Luxor Cafe in particular has looked like his sire while training at Churchill these past few mornings, and that’s a good thing.
A.P. Indy line:
+++Tapit ($185,000 at Gainesway Farm, KY): There’s not much that Tapit has yet to accomplish at stud in his 17 crops of 3-year-olds, but one of those things is siring a Kentucky Derby winner, which Sandman can rectify on Saturday if he moves forward off his win in the G1 Arkansas Derby.
A half-brother to Grade 3 winner She Can’t Sing (Bernardini) over a mile at Churchill, other horses in Sandman’s female family include Dubai World Cup winners Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper) and Thunder Snow (Helmet); French Classic winners Musical Chimes (In Excess) and West Wind (Machiavellian); English Classic winner Coroebus (Dubawi); five-time Grade 1 winner Music Note (A.P. Indy); 10-12 furlong graded/group winner Storming Home (Machiavellian); champion It’s In the Air (Mr. Prospector), his fourth dam; and Irish Derby-winning filly Balanchine (Storm Bird).
Sandman is one of two stakes winners by Tapit out of a Distorted Humor mare. The other is Grade 1 winner Constitution, the sire of Classic winner Tiz the Law, who’s represented in the Derby by Tiztastic.
A $1,200,000 2-year-old, Sandman is the co-most expensive horse sold at public auction entered in this Derby, tying with Baeza at that price tag. Sid Fernando wrote about Sandman here last year.
+++Tiz the Law ($40,000 at Coolmore America, KY): One of two Classic-winning first-year sires with a horse set to run in the Derby, Classic winner Tiz the Law—he won the Belmont when it was 1 1/8 miles—was a 10-furlong Grade 1 winner in the Travers. He’s got six stakes winners already.
His G2 Louisiana Derby winner Tiztastic is a half-brother to 7-furlong stakes winner Interpolate (Into Mischief), who is Grade 2-placed. Turf miler Steady On (Pioneerof the Nile) and turf sprinter Shumoos (Distorted Humor) are out of his second dam, a daughter of dual Grade 1-winning 2-year-old Strategic Maneuver (Cryptoclearance).
Tiz the Law is a son of Constitution, a son of Tapit, which makes Tiztastic’s pedigree notable, as his broodmare sire is Tapit, to whom Tiztastic is inbred 3x2. Besides siring four Belmont winners and being the paternal grandsire of one (shorter distance) Belmont winner, Tapit is also broodmare sire of Belmont winner Arcangelo. Suffice to say that on paper, Tiztastic should be able to handle the Derby distance, as well as the Belmont distance come June.
+++Coal Front ($5,000 at Spendhrift Farm, KY): Coal Front was a Grade 2/Grade 3 stakes winner from 6-8.5 furlongs despite being inbred 3x3 to stamina influence A.P. Indy through Stay Thirsty (by Bernardini) and Mineshaft, all of which were Grade 1 winners at the Derby distance. Coal Battle, who won the G2 Rebel over 1 1/16-miles two starts ago, is from Coal Front’s second crop and was his sire’s first graded stakes winner, followed last month by sprint Grade 2 winner Crazy Mason, a 4-year-old.
Coal Battle’s restricted stakes-placed dam Wolfblade is by champion 2-year-old Midshipman (Unbridled’s Song)—mostly a sprint/mile influence in N. America (but can get 12-furlong stakes winners in S. America)—and his second dam Venice Queen is a full sister to 5.5-6 furlong stakes-winning sprinter Softly Lit, by Latent Heat (Maria’s Mon), a 7-furlong Grade 1 winner. Incidentally, Maria’s Mon is the broodmare sire of Crazy Mason, so he’s in both of Coal Front’s graded stakes winners. All-weather 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 winner Easy Time (Not This Time) is also out of the third dam. The fourth dam, Grade 3 turf winner Palliser Bay (Frosty the Snowman) produced Grade 3 winner He Loves Me (Not For Love), both over 1 1/16 miles. Coal Battle is unlikely to win over 10 furlongs.
Coal Front now stands in at Red River Farms in Louisiana.
Arch line:
+++Blame ($30,000 at Claiborne Farm, KY): Blame (Arch) capped off his racing career with a dramatic head win in the 1 1/4-mile Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. The ability to sire stamina is not even a question for this Roberto-line stallion, and he’s already gotten 10.5-furlong French Classic winner Senga.
Twice stakes-placed, Render Judgment, from Blame’s 11th crop, is the only stakes horse under his first two dams, but his third dam produced 10- and12-furlong Canadian Classic winner Basqueian (Bounding Basque), a Grade 3 winner and Canadian champion. Grade 1 turf miler Karelian (Bertrando) and Grade 2 miler Frostmourne (Speightstown) are the only other N. American graded winners under the first four dams.
Render Judgment’s broodmare sire Commissioner was a graded stakes winner over 10 furlongs and was second in the Belmont, so Render Judgment has stamina top to bottom. That aside, it’s a tall order for him to win his first stakes race in the Kentucky Derby, although technically the distance should not be a hurdle.
+++Preservationist ($10,000 at Airdrie Stud, KY): A Grade 2 winner over 10 furlongs as well as a Grade 1 winner over 9 furlongs, Preservationist is, like Blame, by 10-furlong Grade 1 winner Arch, a source of the stamina-laden Roberto sire line. Chunk of Gold from his second crop is a maiden winner who has placed second in his other three starts, all stakes, including the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby and Grade 2 Risen Star.
Chunk of Gold has a stakes-winning full sister in Band of Gold, winner of the 1 1/16-mile Martha Washington. They’re out of a mare by mile/1 1/16-mile Grade 2 winner Cairo Prince, who while not yet known to be a stamina influence himself, is by American Pharoah’s Kentucky Derby-placed sire Pioneer of the Nile, a son Belmont winner Empire Maker. Chunk of Gold’s unraced second dam by Horse of the Year Mineshaft—a Grade 1 winner over 10 furlongs—is half to two-time 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 winner My Boy Jack (Creative Cause), and third dam Gold N Delicious (Gold Alert) was a Grade 3 winner at Churchill over 1 1/8 miles.
Although Preservationist, who now stands in Korea, provides enough stamina, Chunk of Gold has not shown enough yet to win the Derby.
Other lines:
+++Curlin ($175,000 at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm, KY): A Horse of the Year who won four 1 1/4-mile Grade 1s and has sired a Belmont winner (Palace Malice) in addition to numerous 10-furlong Grade 1 winners, Curlin is the paternal grandsire of Kentucky Derby winners Rich Strike (Keen Ice) and Mage (Good Magic). Like Tapit, Curlin has yet to sire a Kentucky Derby winner, and he’s got two shots this year, from his 13th crop.
Journalism is a son of Grade 2-winning miler Mopotism (Uncle Mo), and since breaking his maiden in his second start, the California-based colt has gone four-for-four, including the G1 Santa Anita Derby and two Grade 2s. Outside of Journalism, dam Mopotism, and Grade 2 sprinter Songster (Songandaprayer) out of the third dam, the pedigree is light, with no other graded winners under at least the first four dams, but Journalism has the right class and pedigree components to get the Derby win.
The least experienced colt entered in the Derby is Grande, who has won a maiden, an allowance, and finished second to Rodriguez in the G2 Wood Memorial in his three starts. Like some others in the field, Grande is improving, but the race may come too soon for him. Similarly to Journalism, his dam Journey Home (War Front) was a graded stakes-winning miler, with a Grade 3 on the turf. Journey Home has produced 7-furlong all-weather stakes winner Ticket Tape Home (Medaglia d’Oro). Grande’s second dam is by stamina source A.P. Indy, with a third dam by Kentucky Derby winner Pleasant Colony, from a deep Buckland family that includes champion Pleasant Stage and her 11-12-furlong graded stakes-winning full sisters Stage Colony and Colonial Play. Colonial Play produced two-time 1 1/2-mile turf Grade 1 winner Marsh Side (Gone West). War Front was himself a sprinter at graded stakes level, but he blends well with stamina-oriented sires.
Journalism may be the clear-cut favorite to win the Derby and while his pedigree suggests that the distance is well within his range, an improving colt like Grande could pull of a surprise if he’s not compromised by his lack of seasoning.
+++Medaglia d’Oro ($150,000 at Darley, KY): At 26, Medaglia d’Oro is the oldest living stallion—Speightstown, born one year prior to Medaglia d’Oro, died last year—represented by a Derby horse, and East Avenue—a 1 1/16-mile Grade 1 winner at two—is one of four graded stakes winners in his current, 17th crop of 3-year-olds. One of others, undefeated Good Cheer, is the Oaks favorite, and he also has Ballerina d’Oro in the Oaks. Medaglia d’Oro is the only stallion with a chance at getting an Oaks/Derby double unless Baeza draws in for McKinzie.
With a first dam by Ghostzapper, a 1 1/8-mile Grade 1-winning second dam (Broodmare of the Year Dance Card) by Ghostzapper, and a third dam by Belmont winner Editor’s Note, East Avenue does have a lot of stamina influences in his pedigree. Dance Card was, however, placed in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint and is the dam of 7-8 furlong Grade 1-winning Horse of the Year Cody’s Wish (Curlin) as well as Grade 2/Grade 3 winner Endorsed (by East Avenue’s sire Medaglia d’Oro), a miler.
+++Speightstown ($90,000 at WinStar Farm, KY): Speightstown (Gone West), the sire of Owen Almighty, was a champion sprinter at the age of six, and while a source of speed, his Grade 1 winners generally take more time to develop than this soon in their 3-year-old seasons, so it would break that pattern for Owen Almighty, a Grade 3 winner of the Tampa Bay Derby, to win a Grade 1 in May.
Owen Almighty’s dam is by Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Bayern (Offlee Wild) and is a half-sister to 6.5-8 furlong all-weather stakes winner Mac the Man, whose sire El Corredor is also from the Gone West sireline. He has 8.5-furlong listed stakes winner Wolf Brigade (Wolf Power) out of his third dam, and champion Bates Motel (Sir Ivor) is one of several graded/group stakes winners under the fourth dam.
From Speightstown’s 17th crop, Owen Almighty is an unlikely Derby winner.
+++McKinzie ($30,000 at Gainesway Farm, KY): McKinzie, while only a stakes winner up to 9 furlongs—with two Grade 1s at that distance—was a nose short of winning the 10-furlong G1 Santa Anita H., and he’s by Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense. He’s already got two Grade 1 winners in his first crop and is represented by Grade 1-placed Quickick in the Kentucky Oaks.
The female family of Baeza needs little introduction: Baeza is a half-brother to Kentucky Derby winner Mage and Belmont winner Dornoch, full brothers by Good Magic. Their minor stakes-winning dam Puca is a daughter of Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown and a half-sister to 1 1/2-mile turf Grade 1 winner Finnegans Wake (Powerscourt).
Baeza broke his maiden two starts ago and has only run four times, including second to Rodriguez in a maiden race in January and second to Journalism last-out in the G1 Santa Anita Derby. He needs one defection to draw into the field.
He may be light on experience but Baeza is a physically imposing colt—he sold for $1,200,000 as a yearling—and if not now, can be realistically expected to win graded stakes races at some point down the road.
