In 2024, trainer Chad Brown and an ownership group headed by Coolmore-affiliated partners, Peter Brant, and Brook Smith, came within a nose of winning the Kentucky Derby (G1) with Sierra Leone , a son of Gun Runner who would finish second to Mystik Dan . They would have a major consolation prize at the end of the year when Sierra Leone won the 2024 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).
Flash forward a bit, and these same connections may get another shot at the 2026 Run for the Roses with another talented son of Gun Runner: Paladin, who they campaign with co-owner and breeder Jane Lyon of Summer Wind Equine.
On Dec. 6 at Aqueduct Racetrack, Paladin took a significant step toward fulfilling his connections' Derby dreams by defeating Renegade and Balboa in the $250,000 Remsen Stakes (G2). His 2-length victory in the 1 1/8-mile race for 2-year-olds, his first two-turn race, improved his record to 2-for-2 and stamped him as a contender for next year's Triple Crown series. He had won his prior start over a one-turn mile in an Oct. 17 maiden race at Aqueduct, elevated from second to first place when Renegade was disqualified for interference in the stretch.
Paladin did not need any action from the stewards this time around. Always sweetly positioned by jockey Flavien Prat, he raced in third along the inside through the first turn and down the backstretch as longshot Day One Starter and Balboa carved out opening splits of :23.32 and :47.47.
Renegade, sixth early on the backstretch, would then make an early move under Irad Ortiz Jr., advancing wide into third as the field entered the second turn. That advance relegated Paladin to fourth, and briefly placed him in traffic, but by the time the leaders had completed 6 furlongs in 1:12.53, he had breathing room and was angled into the clear by Prat. Paladin did the rest, wearing down Renegade and Balboa after Day One Starter threw in the towel.
In front with a mile in 1:38.25, Paladin extended his lead to the wire to finish 2 lengths in front, clocked in 1:50.97. His final time was the slowest since eventual Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Mo Donegal ran 1:53.61 in capturing the 2021 Remsen. The 2-year-old filly Zany, who romped by 8 1/2 lengths earlier in the day in the Demoiselle Stakes (G2), posted a faster time than the Remsen when she ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.55.
Paladin paid $5.76 to win as the favorite.
"Everything went well. I was a bit worried there'd be a lack of pace, but we were able to sit right off of the pace," Prat said. "When I tipped him out, he reacted the right way. He was traveling well behind horses, but as soon as I tipped him out, he got going. A good move."
Runner-up Renegade finished 1 1/2 lengths ahead of a gradually tiring Balboa in third. The well-bred Courting ran wide with a challenging trip and was a nonthreatening fourth, 3 1/2 lengths behind Balboa. Grittiness was fifth.
The top five Remsen finishers earned Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying points on a 10-5-3-2-1 basis. Officials at Churchill Downs, which hosts the Derby as usual on the first Saturday in May, use qualifying points earned on the Road to the Kentucky Derby as a preference system when the Derby draws more than its capacity field of 20 horses.
Six Remsen participants have gone on to success in the Run for the Roses, but none since Thunder Gulch won both races in 1994-95.
Prat won the Remsen for the second straight year after his success aboard the Eoin Harty-trained Poster for Godolphin in 2024.
"It is that time of the year when you start dreaming," Prat said in response to a question about teaming up with another talented youngster with Brown. "There is still a long way to go. A lot of tests to answer, but today was a good race."
The victory in the Remsen was also the second for Brown, who won the 2014 race with Leave the Light On. He had come close to winning a second Remsen in 2023 when Sierra Leone ran second to another eventual Belmont Stakes winner, Dornoch .
"I think he just showed a lot of class in only his second start and his first start around two turns to gut it out," Brown said of Paladin, who he felt showed more professionalism than in his debut. "He lost (a) front shoe somewhere in the race, so there's that to deal with and consider for his effort overall, which really goes to show you how much perseverance and class he has at such a young age."
Brown was not in a hurry to map out racing plans, noting Paladin exited the race with a cut on one of his pasterns.
"He's going to go down to Payson Park, our winter base, and let him get over this (race)," he said.
Brown, a five-time Eclipse Award winner, is in search of his first Kentucky Derby win. He is 0-2-1 with nine Derby starters.
Paladin, like Sierra Leone, was a pricey buy from Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale in Upstate New York as a yearling. Coolmore's M.V. Magnier and Brant's White Birch Farm signed for his purchase from the Lane's End consignment for $1.9 million. Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Brant, Brook Smith, and Lyon's Summer Wind Equine then became partners in the colt.
Lyon helped lead Paladin into the winner's circle after the Remsen.
The colt is the first stakes winner and first winner for the unraced Tapit mare Secret Sigh.
Along with Brant and Further Ado, Paladin is among a group of promising 2026 Kentucky Derby prospects for Gun Runner, who will stand in 2026 at Three Chimneys Farm for $250,000.
