For the most part, Jason Loutsch and his father-in-law Dennis Albaugh watch their Albaugh Family Stable horses together.
That was the case last weekend when they were both at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots to see Jace's Road finish third in the Louisiana Derby (G2) and more than likely secure a spot in the Kentucky Derby (G1) field in the process.
But on April 1, they will be in different parts of the racing world, each watching one of their 3-year-olds in a major grade 1 Kentucky Derby (G1) prep.
"Dennis lives in Tampa so he'll be at Gulfstream Park. I'm going to Arkansas," Loutsch said.
For Loutsch and Albaugh, Saturday marks a euphoric day for a stable of about 40 horses in training that has enjoyed success in recent years with horses who won or placed in grade 1 company such as Brody's Cause , Not This Time , Juju's Map, Free Drop Billy, and Paddy O'Prado, who was owned in partnership with Donegal Racing. On the first Saturday in April, their excitement will be doubled.
First, Cyclone Mischief, owned by Albaugh Family Stables and co-breeder Castleton Lyons, will run as the 8-1 fourth choice in the $1 million Florida Derby (G1).
Then, at Oaklawn Park, the Albaughs' grade 2 winner Angel of Empire will be the 9-2 fourth choice in the $1.25 million Arkansas Derby (G1).
"We were together last weekend, but we're splitting up on Saturday. You have to have someone at a grade 1 stakes," said Loutsch, an owner and racing manager for the stable. "It's going to be a fun day any way you look at it."
As much as the Albaugh stable's pleasure will be amplified on Saturday, the operation is positioned to achieve an even more impressive accomplishment once the first Saturday in May rolls around.
Should the Dale Romans-trained Cyclone Mischief add to his 15 Kentucky Derby qualifying points by finishing third or better in the 100-40-30-20-10-point Florida Derby, it could give Albaugh's extended family three starters in the May 6 opening leg of the Triple Crown at Churchill Downs.
"It would be a great accomplishment to have two horses in the Derby, no less three of them," said Loutsch, whose stable has run four horses in the Run for the Roses with a third by Paddy O'Prado in 2010 the best finish. "We really work the sales hard and it's no secret it's our goal to get to the Kentucky Derby every year. If you're not in it, you can't win it. It would be a huge statement for us and a humbling experience to have three of the 20 starters. It would be an unbelievable experience and it would also give us a better chance to win. The more the better."
While Angel of Empire (54 points) and Jace's Road (45), owned by the Albaughs and West Point Thoroughbreds, figure to have enough points to crack the top 20 after the next three weekends offer a total of 1,040 qualifying points through six stakes, Cyclone Mischief faces a tough obstacle in a Florida Derby field topped by 2-year-old champion and Kentucky Derby favorite Forte .
"He has a tremendous amount of talent but he will have to run a bang-up race against Forte," Loutsch said about the son of Into Mischief bought for $450,000 by the Albaugh family at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. "He's been training great and we'll find out if he's good enough. He deserves a chance to run and we're going to give it to him."
Jace's Road, a Quality Road colt purchased for $510,000 at the Keeneland Sale, is 11th on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, four spots behind Angel of Empire, who has a berth in the Triple Crown wrapped up ahead of Saturday's final prep.
Trained by Brad Cox, who also handles Jace's Road, Angel of Empire is the most accomplished of Albaugh's 3-year-olds and also the one who two years ago seemed least likely to become the star of the stable.
Winner of the 1 1/8-mile Risen Star Stakes (G2) in his last start, the Pennsylvania-bred son of Arkansas Derby winner Classic Empire (who beat Albaugh's Not This Time by a neck in the 2016 Breeders' Cup Juvenile, G1) was bought at the Keeneland sale for just $70,000 from the Warrendale consignment. That price becomes even more of a steal when compared to the combined $2.5 million the family spent on six other yearlings at the sale through their agent, Barry Berkelhammer.
"It's kind of awkward. We typically buy in book 1 or 2 at Keeneland. Maybe book 3. But we were still looking for one more colt and we went through the book and scoured the grounds and found one in book 5 that had a classic pedigree. So we went through our process and we wound up getting him," Loutsch said. "He was by a freshman sire (out of the first foal by a To Honor and Serve mare, Armony's Angel) and we knew he'd get a distance. We get our nicking from Sid Fernando and that worked out. We did our research on the pedigree and his heart score and he passed all the hoops. He's the reason you go to sales. You do all your homework and never know how they will turn out, but you hope you find one that falls through the cracks."
It didn't take long for Cox to look beyond the price tag and tab Angel of Empire as a colt with plenty of distance in his future.
"When I first saw him, he looked like a two-turn horse," said Cox, whose successes with Pennsylvania-breds includes a 2022 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) win with Caravel. "The Albaughs have a good selection team and he had a good body and a lot of leg so we started him at (Horseshoe Indianapolis) around two turns."
After his Aug. 9, 2022 debut win at a mile, followed by a sixth on turf and then a 6 1/4-length win back on dirt in an Indianapolis allowance race, he made his 3-year-old and stakes debut in the Jan. 1 Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park when he rallied from seventh to finish second to the Cox-trained Victory Formation in the mile test.
The following month, Cox sent both Victory Formation and Angel of Empire to the nine-furlong Risen Star and the Albaugh runner turned the tables, rallying from ninth to win by a length at 13-1 odds and earn 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points.
"I was a little surprised by the Risen Star but when you go back to the Smarty Jones, he ran well and galloped out strong. He just keeps coming. His stamina is his best attribute, just like it was for Mandaloun and Essential Quality ," said Cox, referencing two of his horses who were elevated to first and third, respectively, in the 2021 Kentucky Derby.
That stamina will be needed Saturday in the nine-furlong Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn against a field of 10 rivals that also includes Reincarnate, Rocket Can, and Red Route One, all of whom are below Angel of Empire on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard and looking to secure places in the opening leg of the Triple Crown.
"He's not a fast, fast horse that has to be on the lead but he's not going to give up and he's going to keep coming at you. He wants more distance," Loutsch said about the colt bred by Forgotten Land Investment and Black Diamond Equine out of a mare who is a half sister to grade 2 winner Conquest Big E. "This will be our first horse going to the Kentucky Derby that we know will handle the distance. We're really excited about that. He's bred to run all day long and he keeps on going."
Should all go well Saturday, the next stop will be Louisville on the first Saturday in May, where the prospect of an additional furlong in the 1 1/4-mile Run for the Roses has Loutsch feeling quite optimistic about the chances of a colt from Pennsylvania who has proven to be a better bargain than mall shoppers will find on Black Friday.
"He's a diamond in the rough," Loutsch said. "We spent a lot of money in books 1 and 2 and this helps offset it. Sometimes you overpay and it doesn't pan out and sometimes you underpay and it works out. You hope it all evens out. You look at I'll Have Another, he sold for $11,000 (as a yearling) and he won the (2012) Derby. Last year Rich Strike could have been claimed for $30,000, so Derby winners can be found in all kinds of ways. There's a lot of luck involved in it."
Stamina plays a big part, too, and with some luck, Angel of Empire's abundance of it just might bring Loutsch and the entire Albaugh family together to the same rather famous racetrack in Kentucky on May 6.
