Pavlovian Pavel – Mandy’s Grace, by Bellamy Road Bred in California by Reddam Racing   J. Paul Reddam and trainer Doug O’Neill have teamed to win the Kentucky Derby twice, in 2012 with I’ll Have Another and 2016 with Nyquist. Their hopeful this year is California-bred homebred Pavlovian, whose sire and dam were both trained by O’Neill for Reddam. Pavel won the Grade 3 Smarty Jones in 2017 and subsequently finished third in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup. After going unplaced in his next five starts, often against top company, he broke through with a victory in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster. He went on to be second in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic to champion Accelerate and second in the following year’s Grade 2 Suburban. :: DRF Kentucky Derby Package: Save on Past Performances, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. Pavel, who earned more than $2 million, retired to Reddam’s Ocean Breeze Ranch in Bonsall, Calif., and has done his best with limited opportunities. As of April 21, with his first four crops of racing age on the track – including current 2-year-olds, with no starters from that crop to date – Pavel had just 40 career starters. However, he has 22 winners, a solid strike rate. He is the sire of two stakes winners – Pavlovian and Madison Rae, a restricted stakes winner at a mile. However, outside of those two, his progeny generally skew toward sprints, with an average winning distance of 6.14 furlongs. Mandy’s Grace is out of the precocious and speedy Magicalmysterycat, whose four sprint stakes wins included the Grade 2 Landaluce and Grade 2 Schuylerville on opposite sides of the country. Mandy’s Grace, by Grade 1 route winner Bellamy Road, outran her dam’s genetics to get her only win at a mile. However, from her three winners, Pavlovian, who certainly has speed, is the first to break through beyond a mile. Magicalmysterycat is out of Nannerl, a multiple graded stakes winner from seven furlongs to 1 1/16 miles who put together a hickory record of 38-10-7-10 from ages 2 to 7. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.