The Puma

In the morning after his GI Preakness Stakes triumph, Napoleon Solo (Liam's Map) was in good form, according to trainer Chad Summers, and will target the GI Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park as his next start. "He's good today," Summers told the TDN. "He's been very playful. I came back last night at about midnight just to have a quiet moment with him after all the hoopla. He ate all his food, so I gave him another scoop and he ate all that right away." "He's full of spunk and...

The runner-up in the GI Curlin Florida Derby, The Puma (Essential Quality) was scratched from the GI Kentucky Derby on Saturday morning after his trainer Gustavo Delgado reported that the colt had some swelling in his leg. "We discovered some swelling in his leg due to a skin infection," said trainer Gustavo Delgado. "It's incredibly disappointing but the swelling should go down within a day or two. It's just really bad timing." The Puma, the winner of the GII ESMARK Tampa Bay Derby in early March, is owned by OGMA...

TDN's Chief Correspondent Bill Finley is joined by Senior Contributing Editor Alan Carasso and Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack to handicap Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. FINLEY: The Puma (Essential Quality) is Mage (Good Magic) 2.0. From the same team that won the GI Kentucky Derby in 2023 with Mage, The Puma is following the exact same pattern. He finished an improved second in the GI Curlin Florida Derby and now looks ready to take another step forward, one that can land him in the winner's circle Saturday...

The field for the GI Kentucky Derby, ranked in "likeliest winner" order followed by program number. On Wednesday #13 Silent Tactic (Tacitus) scratched with a foot bruise, allowing #21 Great White (Volatile) to draw in off the also-eligible list. 1) #6 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 Ylg '24 KEESEP. Lifetime record: GISW, 5-4-0-0, $1,017,339. Last start: WON Mar. 28 GI Florida Derby. Commandment rides a four-race win...

Jerry Bailey has won the GI Kentucky Derby twice and has provided expert analysis on the NBC broadcast of the race for years. So who better to join the TDN Writers' Room podcast team for its annual Derby handicapping show than the Hall of Fame jockey? The podcast is presented by Keeneland and Bailey was the Gainesway Guest of the Week. Much of the talk after the draw centered around morning-line favorite Renegade (Into Mischief) getting the one hole. Bailey doesn't think that will be a problem. "I know the...

Tune in to the 2026 Kentucky Derby edition of the TDN Writers' Room. The crew takes a deep dive into the full field and NBC racing analyst joins in to take a wider look at the Derby, plus Saturday's undercard and Friday's Kentucky Oaks.

GI Florida Derby runner-up The Puma (Essential Quality) put in his final local breeze at Gulfstream Park Saturday morning in advance of shipping out to Churchill Downs for an anticipated tilt in the GI Kentucky Derby. Working five furlongs with Javier Castellano aboard, the chestnut clicked off 1:00.77 (5/15) over a fast track in his second work since being defeated by Commandment (Into Mischief) in a desperate photo in the Florida Derby. Clockers caught his six-furlong gallop out in 1:12.85 and a mile in 1:37.88. "[The work] went really well....

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...

The Ocala Breeders Sales Company's Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, featuring a catalogue of over 1,200 horses, opens its four-day run Tuesday in Central Florida with bidding beginning at 10:30 a.m. "I think it is the 2-year-old sale of the world," OBS Director of Sales Tod Wojciechowski said of the Spring sale. "That's what it is looked at as. The amount of international traffic, the amount of domestic traffic, has just been tremendous and continues to branch out." Carrying on from last fall's record-setting yearling auctions, the juvenile sales season...

OGMA Investments LLC, JR Ranch and High Step Racing LLC's The Puma (Essential Quality) tuned up for a scheduled start in the May 2 GI Kentucky Derby Saturday morning at Gulfstream Park during a maintenance-style half-mile breeze. "It was getting him back into his routine two weeks after a race. It was pretty easy. Maybe the exercise rider got a little too comfortable, but next week is when he'll have his important work," trainer Gustavo Delgado's son and assistant Gustavo Delgado Jr. said. "We're planning to do that Friday or...

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...

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...