Looking Ahead: Hall of Fame trainers send Getaway Car and Caldera to Sunland Park Derby

Feb 13, 2025 Sara Dacus/TwinSpires.com

The Road to the Kentucky Derby heads to New Mexico on Sunday for the Sunland Park Derby, offering 20 qualifying points to the winner. The race is known for Mine That Bird’s 2009 fourth-place finish that springboarded his 50-1 Run for the Roses win. The 2015 edition also stands out: victor Firing Line went on to finish second in the Kentucky Derby to American Pharaoh, who became the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years.

Two Hall of Fame trainers square off in this 20th running of the Sunland Park Derby.

"X" marks the spot, and trainer Bob Baffert is driving the "Getaway Car" to an 18th Del Mar Futurity win on Sunday. 🏇 🎶 https://t.co/HTltmAP8HA

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) September 6, 2024

Bob Baffert sends Getaway Car, the 9-5 favorite. The bay colt dazzled in his first two career starts, victorious by a combined  9 3/4 lengths, but he hasn’t found the winner’s circle in four subsequent races. He has notched a pair of seconds: in his last out, the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2), and in the American Pharaoh S. (G1) to stablemate Citizen Bull, the winner of the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), who has won four of five career races.  Baffert had considered sending Getaway Car, a son of Curlin, to the Saudi Derby, but he decided that would be a tough ship for the horse.

Getaway Car is named after the Taylor Swift song from her 2017 album Reputation. In addition to Citizen Bull, he has several stablemates also on the Derby trail, including Barnes and Rodriguez.

Baffert trained two of the thirteen Triple Crown winners: American Pharaoh (2015) and Justify (2018). He also won the classic with Silver Charm (1997), Real Quiet (1998), War Emblem (2002), and Authentic (2020). He is tied with Ben Jones for the most Kentucky Derby wins.

An intriguing entry at 5-1 odds is Caldera, trained by 89-year-old D. Wayne Lukas. In his most recent start, the gray colt won at the 1 1/16-mile distance of the Sunland Derby by 5 1/2 lengths in a maiden special weight at Oaklawn Park.

'The last race, he showed up like we expected,' Lukas said. 'We've had high hopes for this horse and liked him from the start. He had a couple of questionable trips, but the other day he put it all together.”

He is owned by MyRacehorse, a partnership that offers micro shares in thoroughbreds for as little as $100. Last year, the conglomerate won the Preakness S. (G1) with Seize the Gray and Lukas.

This weekend, Lukas also sends American Promise, a son of 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify, to the Risen Star S. (G2), a qualifying race at Fair Grounds. Innovator, who was third in the Lecomte S. (G3), is probable for the Rebel S. (G2) at Oaklawn Feb. 22.

Lukas has won the Kentucky Derby four times: in 1988 with filly Winning Colors, in 1995 with Thunder Gulch, in 1996 with Grindstone, and in 1999 with Charismatic. This ties him with Herbert 'Derby Dick' Thompson for the second-most Kentucky Derby victories.