Further Ado, Commandment, and Fulleffort—three graded stakes-winning 3-year-olds trained by Brad Cox—highlighted the morning training session April 25 at Churchill Downs with breezes in preparation for the May 2 Kentucky Derby (G1).
Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) runner-up Right to Party, also pointed at the first leg of the Triple Crown, worked Saturday, as did 2025 Gun Runner Stakes winner Chip Honcho, though he is bypassing the Derby and will run next in the second leg of the Triple Crown, the May 16 Preakness Stakes (G1), trainer Steve Asmussen told BloodHorse. His defection presents an opportunity for Litmus Test to now join the 20-horse Kentucky Derby field.
Cox's three horses were the flashiest of the workers on Saturday morning. Working soon after the track opened, Blue Grass Stakes (G1) winner Further Ado clocked a controlled 5 furlongs by himself in 1:00 with a swift gallop out under his new rider, Hall of Famer John Velazquez; Commandment followed next with a workout in company over the same distance in 1:01 2/5; and Fulleffort, also working solo, was the fastest of the three Cox barnmates, timed in :59.
breezes at Churchill Downs
The Kenny McPeek-trained Right to Party was timed 1:01 1/5, urged through the stretch by former jockey and current McPeek assistant Robby Albarado, in an in-company breeze. Chip Honcho, also breezing with a workmate, was clocked in 1:00 4/5.
Right to Party works 5F in preparation of the Kentucky Derby. pic.twitter.com/v8GjC97TFa
— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) April 25, 2026
Speaking with the media mid-morning, Cox expressed satisfaction with his three colts, praising the sharp workouts from Fulleffort and Further Ado.
Hall of Famer John Velazquez, who picked up the ride on Further Ado when Irad Ortiz Jr. opted to stay aboard the Todd Pletcher-trained Renegade, was aboard Further Ado for the first time Saturday morning. Velazquez rides infrequently for Cox, but is a three-time Derby winner and has a winning association with owner Spendthrift Farm, having guided the Pletcher-trained Ted Noffey to an unbeaten, championship juvenile season last year. The latter will miss the Derby and other Triple Crown races this year due to recovery from bone bruising.
"Johnny Velazquez said to me this morning, 'I've never been so nervous to work a horse in my life." I said, 'Well, you do well under pressure,' Cox recalled.
Further Ado works 5F in preparation for the Kentucky Derby. pic.twitter.com/NdECUvakF8
— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) April 25, 2026
Cox said he opted for an in-company workout for Wathnan Racing's Florida Derby (G1) Commandment, knowing he doesn't extend himself as much as the others during morning training.
"He's more of an afternoon horse. He doesn't practice quite as well as he plays," the trainer said. "He's a big-time horse in the afternoon, obviously."
Commandment works 5F in preparation for the Kentucky Derby. pic.twitter.com/EeFV89gcG5
— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) April 25, 2026
Cox seemed relieved not only to have the works go to his satisfaction, but also for his horses to seemingly cool out well in the hours immediately following the drills.
Last year, he wasn't so fortunate. His top prospect for the 2025 Kentucky Derby, Florida Derby winner Tappan Street, exited his final Derby workout with a condylar fracture that sidelined him until this year. Cox was left with one participant in the Derby, Final Gambit, who rallied for fourth.
"So far we've had a better morning this year than we had last year," he said.
He acknowledged that physical setbacks are part of training racehorses. He said a healthy Tappan Street would run in the Alysheba Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Oaks Day, May 1.
Cox is in search of his second Derby victory after winning the 2021 race with Mandaloun via the disqualification of the Bob Baffert-trained Medina Spirit for a medication violation. Cox has said he wants to win the Derby outright to truly experience the moment of capturing the most prestigious race in North American racing.
Fulleffort works 5F in preparation for the Kentucky Derby. pic.twitter.com/WNpY41gq2b
— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) April 25, 2026
Further Ado and Commandment are expected to be two of the supporting morning-line favorites behind Renegade when post positions are drawn for the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Kentucky Derby Saturday afternoon, just after 2 p.m. ET. St. Elias Stable and Starlight Racing's Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) winner Fulleffort, who has raced exclusively on turf and all-weather tracks, and Chester Broman Sr.'s Right to Party will be longshots in the $5 million Kentucky Derby, contested at 1 1/4 miles on dirt.
McPeek called Right to Party's work "a nice, solid breeze," but not everything has gone exactly to plan with the son of Constitution .
"Yesterday, the colt carried his head like something was bothering him," McPeek said. "He had caps in his mouth that came loose, so we did some dental work on him and got those taken out, which, you know, the timing of that is a little tricky. But this morning he went super. He got his head down, and he was grabbing the bit a lot better, and it was good. I was pleased."
The morning training session at Churchill Downs also included one Kentucky Oaks worker: Red White and Blue Racing's Pashmina, who completed a half-mile in :49 3/5 for the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-old fillies.
