Kentucky Derby pedigree profile: Albus

Nicole Russo|Apr 08, 2026

John Bambury Albus, winner of the 1 1/8-mile Wood Memorial, is a son of the top-notch sprinter Yaupon but does have stamina influences on the female side of his family.

Albus

Colt by Yaupon – Adream, by Bernardini

Bred in Kentucky by Susan Casner ($320,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by Pin Oak Stud)

With the stakes high on the final weekend of major preps for the Kentucky Derby, Albus catapulted into the picture by winning the Grade 2 Wood Memorial. A May foal, he is by a sprinter but from a deep female family with stamina.

Yaupon won four sprint stakes, highlighted by the Grade 1 Forego, and was last year’s leading freshman sire thanks largely to progeny who inherited his speed. He is from a precocious line being by the late Uncle Mo.

Hopes remain high for Uncle Mo’s remaining sons. His champion son Nyquist captured the 2016 Kentucky Derby and has been a successful two-turn sire.

Adream was winless but is the dam of two winners, with Albus joined by another two-turn dirt stakes performer, Grade 3 Allaire duPont Distaff winner Song of Spring.

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Adream is a half-sister to Dream Rush, a multiple Grade 1 winner around one turn, but a multiple stakes producer with two-turn influence. Her best runner was Dreaming of Julia, who won the Grade 1 Frizette at a one-turn mile and the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks going two turns.

Dreaming of Julia is a multiple stakes producer who was honored as Broodmare of the Year. Her daughter Malathaat was a six-time Grade 1 winner, including the 2021 Kentucky Oaks to earn a divisional Eclipse Award, and the following year won the Breeders’ Cup Distaff to secure a second championship.

Standout broodmare sire Bernardini adds additional stamina, with his daughters responsible for 2025 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner and Horse of the Year Sovereignty, 2019 Kentucky Oaks winner Serengeti Empress, and this year’s Dubai World Cup winner Magnitude.

The more than 80 graded/group stakes winners produced by his daughters include a number of successful pairings on a similar cross with Uncle Mo and his son Nyquist, resulting in the likes of champion Immersive, Grade 1 winners Gretzky the Great and Nysos, and Grade 2 winner Mopotism, dam of classic winner Journalism.

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