Four 3-Year-Olds Bred for 1 1/4 Miles in Kentucky Derby

The Road to the Kentucky Derby continues this week with only one designated prep race: the $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby (G3) March 9.

Having drawn a relatively unaccomplished field, the 1 1/16-mile race would appear unlikely to produce the winner of the May 4 Run for the Roses, though with 50 Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying points to the winner, the victor should be positioned to at least gain a spot in the starting gate at Churchill Downs. Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) winner No More Time  and Holy Bull Stakes (G3) runner-up Domestic Product  enter the race with 20 and 10 points, respectively, further assisting their qualifying prospects. 

Still, those two appear at this stage to be a cut below the best 3-year-olds—leaving this space as a good opportunity to dive deeply into other Derby prospects, specifically by examining their pedigrees.

Which horses are bred to handle the Derby distance of 1 1/4 miles on the First Saturday in May? From that perspective, here is the most eye-catching quartet of those ranked in the Derby Dozen.

Dornoch  (Breeder: Grandview Equine/Derby Dozen Ranking: 1)—As a full brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage  , Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) and 2023 Remsen Stakes (G2) winner Dornoch is an obvious choice. Mage pulled off a come-from-behind win in a fast-paced Derby, finishing one spot ahead of where his sire Good Magic   ran when second to Triple Crown winner Justify   in the 2018 race. 

Also talented stallions, Justify and Good Magic were 1-2 among their class last year in progeny earnings with their second crop of runners in competition.

As for Dornoch's dam, the stakes-winning mare Puca , all of her first three foals have now become stakes winners, the other being a filly named Gunning . If Puca, by 2008 Derby winner Big Brown  , produces back-to-back Kentucky Derby winners, it would be unprecedented.

(Pedigree enthusiasts take note: some of these pedigrees and others are available for free in the top 3-year-old section of the featured portfolio webpage on equineline.com.)

Sierra Leone  (Breeder: Debby Oxley/Derby Dozen Ranking: 3)—Of the 346 nominees to the Triple Crown, none cost more than this attractive colt, who was acquired for $2.3 million at The Saratoga Sale at Fasig-Tipton in 2022. By Gun Runner  —the runaway leading third-crop sire of 2023—out of grade 1 winner Heavenly Love , he has as an eventual sire's pedigree. No wonder owners Peter Brant and Brook Smith joined with the affiliated interests from Coolmore to campaign the colt, who, in his first race at 3, rallied to capture the 1 1/8-mile Risen Star Stakes (G2) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. 

Forever Young  (Breeder: Northern Racing/Derby Dozen Ranking: 4)—This unbeaten Japanese runner, who traveled to the Middle East to win the Feb. 24 Saudi Derby (G3), has the same second dam as Sierra Leone: the stakes-winning, grade 1-placed Darling My Darling.

The latter's Congrats  filly, Forever Darling , won the 6 1/2-furlong Santa Ynez Stakes (G2) in 2016 at Santa Anita Park and would produce Forever Young after being bred in Japan. In 2017, it would be half sister Heavenly Love's time to shine in graded company when she took the 1 1/16-mile Alcibiades Stakes (G1) at Keeneland. 

Though Forever Darling scored her most significant victory in the sprint, Forever Young seems capable of flourishing in races longer than the one-mile Saudi Derby. Two of his four victories have come at 1 1/8 miles. By Japanese stallion Real Steel , a son of Deep Impact, there is staying power on Forever Young's sire side.

Timberlake  (Breeder: St. Elias Stables/Derby Dozen Ranking: 5)—With Into Mischief   so often passing on speed and brilliance, observers sometimes overlook his progeny's success over classic distances. Two of his sons, Authentic   and Mandaloun  , are Kentucky Derby winners, and his current 4-year-old Newgate  just took the March 3 Santa Anita Handicap (G1) at 1 1/4 miles.

Timberlake's dam, the stakes-placed Pin Up , won a race going 1 3/4 miles in Britain, and deeper into the female family are numerous high-class Irish-bred routers. That history—coupled with dirt influence from Pin Up's sire, 2010 Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Lookin At Lucky —leaves Timberlake, winner of the 2023 Champagne Stakes (G1) and Feb. 24 Rebel Stakes (G2), with all the necessary pedigree components.