Puca is looking to make Kentucky Derby history when her son Dornoch starts in next Saturday’s spring classic. In a century and a half, no broodmare has ever produced multiple winners of the race. Puca, the dam of 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage, makes the attempt with that colt’s full brother.

“We’re talking against the odds here,” said Robert Clay, who bred both Mage and Dornoch in the name of Grandview Equine before selling Puca to John Stewart’s Resolute Farm last fall. “It would just be unbelievable. It would be incredible. It would be a great thrill for us.”

Breeding can be a mysterious game, and while there were high hopes for the now-retired Olivier, the full brother to 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline, he didn’t deliver, finishing unplaced in three starts.

“It became obvious, once he was in training, that he wasn’t his brother,” said Jane Lyon, who bred the 4-year-old Tapit gelding in the name of her Summer Wind Equine, and who raced him with partners WinStar Farm and Siena Farm.

Just Steel

Colt by Justify – Irish Lights, by Fastnet Rock

Bred in Kentucky by Summerhill Farm ($500,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by BC Stables)

Encino

Colt by Nyquist – Glittering Jewel, by Bernardini

Bred in Kentucky by Godolphin

The big question for Encino coming into last Saturday’s Grade 3 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland was how he might handle dirt after making his first three starts on Turfway Park’s Tapeta. But the colt, who won gamely to move himself into the Kentucky Derby field based on points, has a classic-type dirt pedigree.

Resilience will try to add to the accomplishments of prominent owner and breeder Marty Wygod posthumously when he goes postward in the Kentucky Derby. The Wood Memorial winner is from one of the best families cultivated by Wygod, who died April 11 at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla, Calif., near his home in Rancho Santa Fe. He was 84.

Dance Card, the dam of champion Cody’s Wish, was named Kentucky’s broodmare of the year as the Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders (KTOB) presented its seasonal awards at a ceremony Wednesday night in Lexington, Ky.

Dance Card, a Tapit mare bred in Kentucky by Bruce McMillin, was a $750,000 purchase by Godolphin out of the 2011 Fasig-Tipton Florida selected 2-year-olds in training sale. She went on to have a fine racing career, putting together a 7-4-1-2 record with earnings of $502,200.

Stronghold

Colt by Ghostzapper – Spectator, by Jimmy Creed

Bred in Kentucky by Eric and Sharon Waller

On the final day of major prep-point action, Stronghold secured his spot in the Kentucky Derby with a hard-fought victory in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby. The colt, who previously won the Grade 3 Sunland Derby, comes from a multi-generation homebred program.

As 2-year-old racing got under way last week, Thousand Words became the first North American freshman sire off the mark with a winner as The Queens M G recorded a $92.74 upset in her debut Sunday at Keeneland.

The Queens M G outdueled West Memorial – the first starter for fellow freshman Caracaro – by a head, with the pair 11 lengths clear of the third-place finisher. The time for the 4 1/2 furlongs was 52.44 seconds. The Queens M G, owned and trained by Israel Acevedo, was a $3,500 Fasig-Tipton October yearling purchase.