Kentucky Derby 2025: Lynch wants Owen Almighty to rate

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It is expected there will be plenty of pace in this year’s Kentucky Derby. Brian Lynch doesn’t want his horse, Owen Almighty, to be a part of it.

Despite Owen Almighty’s biggest win to date, the Tampa Bay Derby, having been accomplished in gate-to-wire fashion, Lynch expects Owen Almighty to be off the pace in his attempt to navigate the 1 1/4 miles of the Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs.

At Churchill on Friday, Lynch worked Owen Almighty behind another horse in his final move before the Derby. Starting about two lengths behind the maiden 3-year-old filly Nosleeptilbrooklyn, Owen Almighty joined the workmate at the quarter pole, then finished about two lengths in front at the wire while completing five furlongs in 1:01.38, per Daily Racing Form clocker Mike Welsch. Owen Almighty galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.75 and seven furlongs in 1:27.27.

“I don’t anticipate being on the lead, so we’re just trying to let him rate off a horse and finish,” Lynch said. “I thought he worked really well. He couldn’t have worked any better. They went off really slow and finished strong, and I thought his gallop-out was quite good, especially if you were going seven-eighths or a mile.”

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Lynch has said on multiple occasions that he felt the Pat Day Mile on the Derby undercard was a better fit for Owen Almighty. But the colt’s owners, Travis Boersma and his family’s Flying Dutchmen Breeding and Racing, want to take a swing at the Derby.

Following the Tampa Bay Derby, run at 1 1/16 miles, Owen Almighty ran in the Blue Grass, where he chased front-running East Avenue through a half-mile in 46.95 before fading. Owen Almighty finished in a dead heat for sixth, 4 1/4 lengths behind the winner, Burnham Square.

“Obviously disappointed, but there was a different pace scenario than the Tampa Day Derby, [where] he got a half in 48 on the lead by himself,” said Lynch, noting that, in the Blue Grass, Owen Almighty “was chasing a 46 second pace and he emptied out.”

Lynch added, “I’m hoping we can let them go fast and sit back and go a 48 half and hope he’s got some run and passes some tired horses down the lane.”

Lynch knows Owen Almighty will be a big longshot in the Derby. It was only two years ago that Rich Strike won the race at 80-1. Last year, Mystik Dan won it at 18-1.

“Today was a very good work, and he is training well,” Lynch said. “Stranger things have happened. I’m a bit like [Hall of Fame trainer] Bobby Frankel at the moment – let the horses do the talking, and if it works out, we’ll talk about it after.”

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Owen Almighty was one of three potential Derby starters to put in workouts on Friday.

Built, who currently is in the body of the field but whose connections are not yet committed to the race, worked five furlongs in 59.33 at Churchill under jockey Ben Curtis. Welsch caught Built’s last quarter in 23.45.

Built, who has been mentioned for the Pat Day Mile, is coming off a fifth-place finish in the Louisiana Derby, which was preceded by a third in the Risen Star. In both races, trainer Wayne Catalano felt the jockey moved too early on Built.

“I couldn’t get a good read on him. I couldn’t get the trip that I wanted,” Catalano said. “The mile and a quarter [of the Derby], I don’t know if he can get that. The jury is going to be out for most of them anyway, it always is, right?

“The Pat Day Mile is probably a good race for him. None of these races are easy. Right now, we got a good horse that trains good, looks good, and I’m happy with the way he went today.”

Built is owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, which also owns Kentucky Derby favorite Journalism, who is trained by Michael McCarthy.

If Built doesn’t enter the Derby, that opens a spot for Neoequos, the third-place finisher in the Florida Derby. At Gulfstream Park on Friday, Neoequos worked a half-mile in 48.33, breezing on the inside of a workmate.

“He’s doing good. The question mark is still the distance,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “He’s in the same form that he’s always in. Can he go that far? That’s the question.”

Joseph said that Flavien Prat will be named on Neoequos with the understanding that if Baeza draws into the race, Prat will instead ride him.

Entries for the Derby are due Saturday morning and post positions will be drawn between the fifth and sixth races on Saturday’s opening-night card.

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