Brad and Sharon Kleven will jump onto the Kentucky Derby trail Sunday with recent auction purchase Express Kid, the 3-1 morning line favorite for the $500,000 Sunland Derby at Sunland Park. Express Kid brought $800,000 during a Fasig-Tipton digital flash sale last month and was sent to trainer Justin Evans. The horse won the $300,000 Springboard Mile and earned 10 points for the Kentucky Derby in December at Remington Park for trainer Wade Rarick. Express Kid was then moved to Turf Paradise. “He was offered up in the flash sale and Brad and Sharon Kleven were interested in the horse,” Evans said. “I’ve got some horses for them out in Turf Paradise and they went out to see their horses one day and they said, ‘Hey, is there any shot we could take a look at that horse? Could you get us lined up to see him?’ Wade Rarick’s stabled just one barn over from me, and so we got them to get over there and see him and they loved the horse. They took their swing and ended up buying him.” Evans has been training for the Arizona-based couple since last year. They race as Paradise Equine Farm. Express Kid won his career debut sprinting in July at Canterbury Park, ran second in the Freshman at Prairie Meadows in August, and from there won a conditioned allowance at two turns on turf at Remington before winning the track’s Springboard Mile from post 11. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2026: Top contenders, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more “His races are so good, and obviously the Springboard Mile was huge,” Evans said. “But he’s just kind of a mark of consistency. He’s run on the dirt. He’s run on the turf. He’s sprinted. He’s run long. It looked like that race, coming off the Springboard Mile, he was really ready to kind of move forward. And, obviously, [there are] the Derby points. “He had some Derby points already to come with him, so that was the big factor. Brad and Sharon really want to develop some young horses. Everybody wants to have a Derby horse, and that’s what they’ve got their mind set on, that’s what they want to try to do.” There’s a family precedent for it. “Brad’s mother had some really nice horses in the ’60s and ’70s in California with Charlie Whittingham and Ron McAnally,” said Evans. “Brad worked, and when [the Klevens] sold their companies, they were sitting around one day and watching the Kentucky Derby and said, ‘You know, we should get some more horses again.’ They talked about it, went to OBS and bought four 2-year-olds in training the year before, and then came with Express Kid.” Evans said if Express Kid runs a strong race Sunday, he’d like to target the Grade 1, $1.5 million Arkansas Derby with the horse. Express Kid could be one of a handful of runners Evans brings to Oaklawn Park for some high-end races. The group would include Black Volt, a 3-year-old New York-bred who is stakes-placed for the Klevens; Holiday Pay, who won the Winsham Lad on Monday at Sunland; and other individuals Evans has entered in stakes on the Sunland Derby undercard. “Ideally, we have a big Sunday, and I’d like to be able hit the road,” said Evans. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.