Commandment

Several horses clustered near the bottom of the "Road to the GI Kentucky Derby" are eligible for the race based on points, but their connections have not committed to the Derby. So this list differs slightly from the official qualifying rankings with respect to a few horses who are currently outside the top 20 points leaders and looking to get in. 1) COMMANDMENT (c, Into Mischief--Sippican Harbor, by Orb). O-Wathnan Racing; B-Lee Pokoik (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. Sales history: $485,000 RNA Wlg '23 FTKNOV; $475,000 RNA Ylg '24 FTSAUG; $500,000...

Trainer Brad Cox had a pair of horses work Friday ahead of a projected next start in the GI Kentucky Derby. Both Wathnan Racing's GI Florida Derby winner Commandment (Into Mischief) (:48.40 {14/44}) and St. Elias Stable and Starlight Racing's GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks winner Fulleffort (Liam's Map) (:48.40 {14/44}) recorded published four-furlong workouts Friday morning. Commandment was the first of the two Cox trainees to breeze and worked in company with George Messina's Louisiana-bred stakes winner He's Late Again (Aurelius Maximus). The duo completed an opening quarter-mile in :24.40...

In what was no doubt a difficult decision, jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. has committed to riding GI Arkansas Derby winner Renegade (Into Mischief) in the GI Kentucky Derby. Ortiz was also the regular rider of GI Blue Grass Stakes winner and 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Further Ado (Gun Runner). It's possible that the two will be, in some order, the first and second choices in the Derby. The news on Ortiz's pick, as well as other jockey commitments made to other key Derby contenders, was first reported by...

The final weekend of nine-furlong preps in New York, California and Kentucky didn't vault any unexpected new shooters to the top of the GI Kentucky Derby pecking order. Yet while the likely favorites look well established, none stands out as invincible, and there's an intriguing mix of mid-priced long shots deeper down the list. Next week we'll expand to rate the Top 20 contenders.   1) COMMANDMENT (c, Into Mischief--Sippican Harbor, by Orb) O-Wathnan Racing; B-Lee Pokoik (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. Sales history: $485,000 RNA Wlg '23 FTKNOV; $475,000 RNA...

With Further Ado (Gun Runner) crushing his rivals in Saturday's GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, Irad Ortiz Jr. continued one of the most spectacular runs through the preps for the GI Kentucky Derby that any jockey has ever had. It was his fifth win in a Derby prep, including three races that award the maximum 100 points to the winner. Of the five horses atop the point leaderboard for the Derby, Ortiz had ridden four of them at some point this year. They are Commandment (Into Mischief), Fulleffort...

Four weeks in advance of the 152nd running of the GI Kentucky Derby, bettors made GI Arkansas Derby winner Renegade (Into Mischief) the 4-1 favorite with GI Curlin Florida Derby winner Commandment (Into Mischief) the 7-1 second choice in the sixth and final pool of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW). The three-day pool closed Saturday at 6 p.m. ET in advance of the three final Road to the Kentucky Derby Championship Series races: Saturday's GI Blue Grass S., GII Wood Memorial and GI Santa Anita Derby. Horses in order...

TDN's Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack provides analysis for Saturday's GI Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland, GI Santa Anita Derby and GII Wood Memorial S. at Aqueduct. All three offer 100-50-25-15-10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Last Saturday's Results - Commandment (Into Mischief) established himself as one of the leading contenders for the Kentucky Derby with a thrilling last-to-first victory at 9-5 in the GI Curlin Florida Derby. Blackout Time (Not This Time) sat the trip I was looking for just behind the leaders, but had...

In its fledgling years, Wathnan Racing may have made a major splash at Royal Ascot in particular, and added a 66/1 winner of the Dubai World Cup to its list of achievements in 2025, but the team now has another major prize in its sights the on the other side of the Atlantic. Commandment (Into Mischief) won last weekend's Florida Derby to take his string of victories for Brad Cox to four and put himself firmly in the reckoning for the Kentucky Derby on May 2. Billed as 'the greatest...

There was some good news and some bad news this week for rising star trainer Cherie DeVaux. On Saturday, she will send out Reagan's Honor (Honor A.P). in the GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes. The horse is coming off a sizzling performance at the allowance level in New Orleans and is expected to run a big race at Keeneland--one that could make him eligible for a start in the GI Kentucky Derby. DeVaux also has 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard', Golden Tempo (Curlin) in her barn and he has...

Well, he's not going to give it up without a fight. Yes, of course the whole narrative is random: he can hardly sit the boys down, tell them to get out there and remind everyone who's boss. But however unwittingly, Into Mischief has certainly obliged us with a dramatic and immediate response to the first serious test of his monopoly since claiming a first general sires' title in 2019. It has been clear for a while that the eventual succession was likely to concern Not This Time and Gun Runner,...

Following his victory in the GI Arkansas Derby, Renegade (Into Mischief) has been tabbed the 4-1 morning-line favorite for the sixth and final pool for the GI Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opens Thursday at noon and closes Saturday at 6 p.m. Other top interests in Pool 6 include GI Curlin Florida Derby winner Commandment (Into Mischief) at 6-1; GIII Tampa Bay Derby winner and Florida Derby runner-up The Puma (Essential Quality) at 8-1; and GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth runner-up Chief Wallabee (Constitution) at 10-1. To see the complete...

by T.D. Thornton-Last Saturday's news that the No. 1-ranked Paladin (Gun Runner) will miss the GI Kentucky Derby with a non-displaced condylar fracture of his right front ankle created a vacancy atop this list. Any set of Derby rankings abhors a vacuum, but it wasn't easy deciding which of several worthy candidates out of the GI Florida Derby and GI Arkansas Derby would take over the kingpin slot.   1) COMMANDMENT (c, Into Mischief-Sippican Harbor, by Orb) O-Wathnan Racing; B-Lee Pokoik (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. Sales history: $485,000 RNA Wlg...