Kentucky Derby News

Gold Square, LLC’s Drum Roll Please picked up 10 points on the 2024 Road to the Kentucky Derby challenge series after bagging the $145,500 Jerome S. at Aqueduct on Jan. 6.

Going on five years after trainer Richard Mandella had to scratch Omaha Beach from the Kentucky Derby (G1) as the morning-line favorite, the Hall of Famer has a talented Omaha Beach filly, Kopion, on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks.

Gold Square’s Drum Roll Please left little suspense in Saturday’s $145,500 Jerome S. at Aqueduct.

Sunday’s $100,000 Santa Ynez (G3) at Santa Anita can be summed up as a clash between flashy debut maiden winner Kopion and the proven filly Tambo.

A compact field of five three-year-olds will travel a one-turn mile in Saturday’s $150,000 Jerome S. at Aqueduct.

The $150,000 Jerome S. on Saturday is the first of four Road to the Kentucky Derby prep races that will be held this year at Aqueduct through early April.

The second of Aqueduct’s five 2023-24 Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifiers is taking place this Saturday. It’s the $150,000 Jerome S. held over a one-turn mile.

Albaugh Family Stables’ Catching Freedom now has 125 points on the 2024 Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard following his victory in the March 23 Louisiana Derby (G2).

The first of four Road to the Kentucky Derby series qualifiers at Oaklawn Park, the 1 1/16-mile Smarty Jones S. on Jan. 1 offered points on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale toward a berth in the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby (G1) on May 4.

Catching Freedom made amends for a rough-trip loss in a Churchill Downs allowance in his previous start to land the $300,000 Smarty Jones S. at Oaklawn Park on Monday, the first of Road to the Kentucky Derby series event of the new year.