Join Daily Racing Form's Andrew Beyer, Steven Crist, and Brad Free as they discuss the 2025 Kentucky Derby, providing selections and analysis.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – You conduct a phone interview with Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. You ask a question. A second or two, nothing happens, that thick silence that cloaks a paused telephone conversation. Mott speaks. His answer is short, cursory. Another pause. Something more coming? You begin another query, gently prodding, but Mott has started talking again. He builds on his initial response. Pause. This time you wait. Mott resumes. The sentences expand. The door has opened.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Forever Young set the bar for Japan-based horses participating in the Kentucky Derby when he was beaten a head at odds of 7-1 in last year’s race while getting bumped in deep stretch.
Forever Young and T O Password, who finished fifth at odds of 48-1, have produced the two best finishes among eight Japan-based horses to compete in the Kentucky Derby.
Saturday, in Kentucky Derby 151, Japan will be represented by Luxor Cafe and Admire Daytona, both of whom are coming off stakes wins, but neither of whom are being fancied like Forever Young was last year.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – He used to be anxious about it. Then he got defensive. Now, Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen seems somewhat philosophical about the fact he has yet to win the Kentucky Derby.
Asmussen, North America’s winningest trainer with 10,861 career victories, has started 26 horses in 18 runnings of the Kentucky Derby. He has three seconds and two thirds.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The waiting is the hardest part.
The connections of Baeza will be waiting to hear if there is a defection from the Kentucky Derby between now and scratch time – 9 a.m. Friday – to learn if their horse gets to run in the $5 million classic at Churchill Downs.
Into Mischief has already firmly written himself into the history of the American stallion ranks, with his six consecutive sire titles the most in more than a half-century. Now, he is looking to write another chapter as the first stallion since the 1950s to sire three Kentucky Derby winners, which would tie him for the all-time record.
History says that a horse with a turf background or pedigree can run well on the Churchill Downs dirt, including in the Kentucky Derby. Animal Kingdom made his first start on dirt winning the 2011 Derby, and 2006 hero Barbaro had been a stakes winner on turf as a juvenile before moving to dirt. Big Brown (2008), Mine That Bird (2009), and Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (2015) also were early-career winners on turf or synthetic surfaces before moving to dirt.
Tiz the Law was a Grade 1 winner at age 2 who won a classic at 3. Those closest to him in his current career as a stallion say his progeny show similar progression, and that means exciting things could be in store for Tiztastic, who represents his sire’s first crop in the Kentucky Derby.
