Kentucky Derby Horse Profile: John Hancock

Feb 11, 2025 John Mucciolo/TwinSpires.com

CHC, Inc. and WinStar Farm’s John Hancock earned 20 points on the 2025 Road to the Kentucky Derby challenge series following his half-length score in the $200,000 Sam F. Davis S. at Tampa Bay Downs on February 8. The wire-to-wire victor from the Brad Cox shedrow endured 1 1/16 miles on the fast main surface in a swift 1:42.27 under the guidance of pilot Flavien Prat.

“It was his first time facing winners, it was the second start of his life, it was his first time going long,” Cox said after the victory. “It was a lot to ask from a young horse. He took a lot of pressure and stayed on well. I’m very, very impressed with him. He fought off a horse (runner-up Owen Almighty) that had multiple starts and was a stakes winner. It was a big, big move forward for him and I’m very proud of the effort. We had a race over the track and broke our maiden on it, but we were a little short on seasoning. Once again, his talent showed up and it was a very big effort. This is a nice race to win and setting the new stakes record on top of it is very nice.”

Owen Almighty, Poster, Camp Hale, and Very Bold rounded out the top five and earned qualifying points on a 10-6-4-2 structure, respectively.

🖊️🌹 John Hancock signs, seals and delivers in the Sam F. Davis, picking up 20 @kentuckyderby points!

Flavien Prat was up for trainer @bradcoxracing!

🎥 TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/3pUHekNPsH

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) February 8, 2025

John Hancock debuted at Tampa Bay on January 8 and pulled away to a smart, three-length tally in a six-furlong maiden special weight event. His lifetime line now reads 2-2-0-0, $138,560.

The son of Constitution was bred by WinStar Farm and is the second stakes winner out of the winning Freud mare Scribbling Sarah, who is also responsible for 2020 Ashland S. (G1) heroine Speech. This is the same female line that has produced Grade-1 winning millionaire Carson’s Run.

John Hancock has registered Brisnet Speed figures of 88 and 97 from two races to date and surely has plenty of room for improvement with just a pair of tries to his credit. His connections have not indicated the next landing spot for the exciting Kentucky-bred.