Incredibolt Flashes Late Turn of Foot in Street Sense

In 2024, the $200,000 Street Sense Stakes (G3) served as the unveiling of a future superstar: Sovereignty, winner of this year's Kentucky Derby (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1). When the Churchill Downs starting gate opened Oct. 26 for this year's Street Sense, Pin Oak Stud's Incredibolt took a few cues from Sovereignty's playbook and placed himself as a contender on the 2026 Kentucky Derby (G1) trail. "A horse like him, you're looking down the road to the First Saturday in May," said Pin Oak's director of operations Michael Hardy. "To get that stakes win today, to do it here at Churchill, hopefully we can follow the path of Sovereignty into next year." Having his head turned as the gate opened, Incredibolt broke slowly and found himself last, like Sovereignty did, in the early stages of the 1 1/16-miles event. The pace was slower ahead of him than last year's race—Ganaas setting fractions of :24.29, :48.83, 1:13.40—but that didn't change the outcome of an impressive turn of foot down the stretch. Taking the lead at the 16th pole, Incredibolt pulled away to win by 1 3/4 lengths in 1:44.67; paying $10.18 to win. The Kenny McPeek-trained duo of Universe and Very Connected completed the trifecta. "It takes a little bit—his stride—to get going," winning jockey Jaime Torres said. "On the backside, I had a lot of confidence on him. He was traveling beautifully. I kind of asked him a couple times just to see how much horse I had to know where I had to move. Every time I tried to feel how much horse I had, he was there all the time. I kind of took it easy with him and tried to make a run from the 3/8ths." Torres has had complete confidence in the Bolt d'Oro colt since he first got on his back in the mornings ahead of his debut, ironically giving him the nickname "Little Sovereignty." "The first time I ever got on him in the morning, I told my agent (Liz Morris), 'I think that's the next Sovereignty there,'" Torres said. "We kept working him in the morning. Every time, he was feeling better and better and better. The colt debuted with a fourth at Ellis Park in August over six furlongs before stretching out to a one-turn mile at Churchill Downs Sept. 28 for a 2-length win. Torres said longer will be better for a colt trained by Riley Mott, son of Sovereignty's Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. With his victory, Incredibolt is one step closer to emulating Sovereignty. He earned 10 qualifying points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, which awarded the top five finishers points on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale. Bred in Kentucky by Deann and Greg Baer, Incredibolt was a $75,000 purchase from the Burleson Farms consignment at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. "He always looked like a racehorse," Hardy said. "Just a sleek, two-turn, good-looking horse that day. That was what got us attracted to him. We like the sire, we think he's a sire that's on the way up. We hope that Incredibolt can carry that flag along." Bolt d'Oro will stand the 2026 season at Spendthrift Farm for a $25,000 fee. Incredibolt is out of the winning Awesome Again mare Sapphire Spitfire. Life of Joy follows proven Cox path with Rags to Riches win Incredibolt's Sovereignty-like victory was not the only déjá vu moment on the Stars of Tomorrow I card Sunday, as trainer Brad Cox once again found himself in the winner's circle after the Rags to Riches Stakes with Life of Joy. Cox has seen two of his Rags to Riches winners go on to win the Kentucky Oaks (G1) the following spring in Monomoy Girl and Good Cheer. Both of those fillies, like Life of Joy, won their career debut at Horseshoe Indianapolis. "I just wanted to get her around two turns," Cox said of her Oct. 2 debut in Indiana, which she won by 14 3/4 lengths. "We've had luck running that one-mile distance with some of these bigger horses, colts or fillies. She was ready at that time, and I needed to get a run in her and see where we are. At the end of the day, whether they break their maiden for ($120,000 maiden races in Kentucky) or ($32,000 maiden race in Indiana), that doesn't really matter. This is what really increases their value." Her value was increased with a gutsy performance in the stretch. Stalking third as The Grumpy Rabbit set fractions of :25.15, :49.86, and 1:14.44, jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. drew alongside at the quarter pole. From there, the two fillies battled it out through the lane. Despite shifting inward a few occasions, Ortiz kept Life of Joy to task and prevailed in the final 16th by 2 1/4 lengths. Stopping the clock in 1:45.76, she paid $3.68 to win. Go to Girl finished third to again give McPeek the final two spots in the trifecta. With the Rags to Riches awarding Oaks qualifying points on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale to the top five, Life of Joy is on a similar path to her Oaks-winning predecessors. "I think right now she's as good as some of those were at this point in their career," Cox said. "From a physical standpoint, this is a really good-looking filly. Glad to see her stretch out to the mile-and-a-sixteenth and handle it with flying colors. There's a big reason to dream moving forward."