Auctions

Apr 14 Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale 2026 HIPS
Apr 21 Fasig-Tipton April Digital Sale 2026 HIPS
Apr 22 Goffs UK Breeze Up Sale 2026 HIPS
Apr 24 Keeneland April Horses of Racing Age Sale 2026 HIPS
May 18 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2YOs in Training Sale 2026 HIPS
View All Auctions

Potente, Intrepido Set Track Ablaze in Final Derby Work

Chief Wallabee, Incredibolt, Pavlovian among other April 26 Derby workers.

Potente breezes outside of stablemate Embry Show

Potente breezes outside of stablemate Embry Show

Anne M. Eberhardt

Southern California-based trainers are generally known to have their horses work quickly in tune-ups for major stakes races, a philosophy that often stands in contrast to more measured approaches elsewhere. On the morning of April 26 at Churchill Downs, that reputation was reinforced by two West Coast trainers in Kentucky preparing horses of the May 2 Kentucky Derby (G1).

Bob Baffert and Jeff Mullins sent out their Kentucky Derby hopefuls for works that lit up the stopwatch during Sunday's training window for Derby and Kentucky Oaks participants.

San Felipe Stakes (G2) winner Potente, trained by Baffert, blitzed 5 furlongs in :57 4/5, and 2025 American Pharoah Stakes (G1) winner Intrepido, conditioned by Mullins, sizzled a half-mile in :45. Both workouts, coming over a dry Churchill Downs strip that appeared to play quickly, ranked as two of the fastest from about 120 workouts logged Sunday morning.

Three other Derby horses breezed a half mile. Incredibolt breezed in :47; stablemate Albus went in :49; and Chief Wallabee was timed in :49 1/5.

Two-time Derby-winning trainer Doug O'Neill took a different approach than his other Californians, giving his two Derby entries slow breezes over 5 furlongs. Derby longshot Pavlovian and Derby also-eligible Robusta worked separately from the gate in 1:03 2/5 and 1:03 3/5, respectively. 

Martin Garcia, who will ride Baffert's other Derby horse, 2025 Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) winner Litmus Test, was aboard Potente in an in-company breeze and finished about a half-length ahead of the maiden Embry Show. Potente galloped out 6 furlongs in 1:10 2/5.

"It looks like it took nothing out of him," said Baffert, a six-time Derby winner, at his barn after Potente was in the midst of cooling off from his morning activity. "So that's the important thing. You don't really want to see him work that fast, but I've had horses work that fast and run really well."

The Hall of Fame trainer added of Garcia's feedback, "He said, 'I think he's pretty good.'"

California jockey Juan Hernandez rides Potente in the Derby.

Speedway Stable's Potente—the most expensive auction purchase of any Derby competitor, having sold for $2.4 million at Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale in 2024—lost for the first time in three starts when second to So Happy in the April 4 Santa Anita Derby (G1). Preceding his March 7 San Felipe triumph, the Into Mischief  colt took a maiden race on debut at Santa Anita Jan. 31.

Baffert also breezed his two Kentucky Oaks entrants on Sunday: Bottle of Rouge, who covered a half-mile in :48 4/5, and Explora, timed covering 5 furlongs in :59 4/5. Bottle of Rouge was then announced as a scratch a few hours later, allowing Go Go Greys Stable's Lovely Grey to draw into the field.

Read: Bottle of Rouge Out of Oaks; Lovely Grey Gains Berth

In other Oaks news, Military Pike Racing Stables' Resist, who is the second also-eligible for the Oaks, worked a half-mile in :47 2/5 for trainer Tommy Drury Jr. 

Intrepido's Love of Churchill Downs on Display in Quick Breeze

Mullins was not on hand at Churchill Downs Sunday morning, expecting to arrive later in the week. However, jockey Hector Berrios shipped in to work the horse before flying back to California, where he is scheduled to ride Sunday's third race at Santa Anita.

Alejandro Galindo has been the Maximus Mischief  colt's exercise rider since arriving at Churchill Downs last week and has been overseeing his care. To Galindo, the lightning-quick bullet work of :57 for 5 furlongs and a gallop out of 1:10 1/5 is a sign of how much the horse appears to love being in Kentucky.

Intrepido is based in barn 41, which sits alongside a big patch of grass that he grazes on every day. The barn is also right alongside the road, occupying Intrepido's observant nature.

"He's been holding the track very well. He loves it here," Galindo said. "He loves this area, just go and grazing, just walking. He loves this place. I don't know if it's the weather or the grass. He looks a lot better, (his coat is) more shiny and everything. He put on more weight. Things are getting better and better. I hope the day of the race, things are better too."

Intrepido Training at Churchill Downs on April 26, 2026.
Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Intrepido breezes with Hector Berrios aboard at Churchill Downs

The colt owned by Dutch Girl Holdings and Irving Ventures returned to the barn like the work was nothing.

"He did everything in hand," Galindo said. "The good thing is he came (back to the barn) nice and relaxed, not blowing so hard or getting so tired. He breezed really well; he moved really well. (Berrios) told me he switched leads and everything; he was focused on the work. Just crossing fingers now until the last day."

Pavlovian, Robusta Breeze from the Gate

Also settling in well to barn 41 are the O'Neill trainees, Pavlovian and Robusta.

With 10 starts, Pavlovian leads the Kentucky Derby field in experience, but it really has been his last two—a win in the Sunland Park Derby and a narrow defeat in the Louisiana Derby (G2)—that have turned him from a promising participant in California-bred stakes to a full-fledged Kentucky Derby contender for Reddam Racing. In addition to increasing maturity, the son of Pavel has also benefited from the addition of blinkers and jockey Edwin Maldonado.

The 43-year-old Maldonado was aboard Sunday morning as Pavlovian worked from the starting gate, a now key component to his final pre-race breeze that O'Neill believes has contributed to recent success. O'Neill said he got the work on his stopwatch faster than the official 1:03 2/5, but regardless, he was pleased by the work.

"It's been working for us in the past, getting a gate work into him, the final work before his races," O'Neill said. "Just seeing Edwin happy, visually, I was really happy with the way he looked, and then cooling out at the barn, he cooled out very quickly. He's kind of checking all the boxes, now we just got to keep him sound, injury-free until the big dance."

Equally pleased was Maldonado, who said the colt seems to really like the track.

"He felt great, he skipped through it," Maldonado said. "He likes the track, and that's a plus. Everything's perfect. Everything we asked for, he gave us. We're very happy. He's doing everything he's supposed to."

Entered as No. 23, Robusta needs three scratches before Friday morning to draw into the 20-horse Derby field for Calumet Farm, and O'Neill said he will run in the May 16 Preakness Stakes (G1) at Laurel Park if he does not make it to the Derby. Like Pavlovian, he broke from the gate with Maldonado aboard.

"He had an equally impressive work today, same kind of thing as Pavlovian from the gate," O'Neill said. "(Maldonado) was very happy with him. He's doing very well."

Emisael Jaramillo will ride Robusta in the Derby should he draw in.

Chief Wallabee Turns in Maintenance Work

Many of the other works on the Sunday tab were more maintenance in nature, including that of Chief Wallabee, who was kept under a hold throughout by jockey Junior Alvarado in a move with his workmate, Steel.

"We had a good work last week, and I asked for :49, and that's what we got (:49 1/5)," Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said.

Mott and Alvarado teamed to win the Derby last year with Sovereignty. Mott also won the 2019 Derby with the Flavien Prat-ridden Country House , who was elevated to first upon the disqualification of Maximum Security  for interference.

Despite his modest clocking, Chief Wallabee again drew favorable reviews from observers, training with enthusiasm while wearing blinkers—gear he is slated to wear for the first time for a race in the Derby. Alvarado spent more of his energy slowing him down than urging him forward.

Mott said Chief Wallabee's breezes and energy have compared favorably to some of his top-training horses in the race from his 14 Derby starters. Sovereignty also trained sharply last year.

Chief Wallabee, a 3-year-old homebred son of Constitution  for owners Mike and Katherine Ball, is a leading Kentucky Derby prospect. Second in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) and third in the Florida Derby (G1), he is the 8-1 fourth choice on the morning line. Only Renegade (4-1), Further Ado (6-1), and Commandment (6-1) are pegged at lower prices.

Renegade had his first day of training at Churchill Downs on Sunday morning after arriving this weekend from South Florida.

Riley Mott Puts Final Touches on Incredibolt, Albus

Bill Mott will have a new competitor in this year's Derby, his son Riley Mott, who trains both Incredibolt and Albus for Pin Oak Stud. The younger Mott has seen first-hand what goes into the preparations of a Derby horse, working alongside his father in the past, and he put the final touches on his own Kentucky Derby contenders Sunday morning.

As far as how he plans to get himself through the final week before the excitement of his first Derby, he's going to stick with doing what he knows best.

"You just have to stick to your routine," he said. "There's plenty of stuff going on, but I think it's important to stay focused. I'm a horse trainer, I need to stick to training my horses. But we certainly want to enjoy the moment, that's for sure."

Sunday's moment was certainly enjoyable as both horses executed what Riley was looking for. Virginia Derby winner Incredibolt was breezed by his Derby-booked rider, Jaime Torres.

"It was excellent," Riley said. "(Torres) did perfect. It was what we were looking for, and the horse came home in like 23 seconds, finishing up and did it well within himself. It looks like he recovered very quickly after the work."

The son of Bolt d'Oro  was recording his first official work at Churchill Downs since his 2-year-old season after returning from Florida last week. He burst onto the Derby scene last October over the surface with an impressive late rally that snatched a victory in the 1 1/16-mile Street Sense Stakes (G3).

"He loves it," Riley said about the Churchill Downs track. "He works very good on it. He'd outwork anybody in the barn over this track. Hopefully it translates to the Derby."

Wood Memorial (G2) winner Albus was ridden for his work by his regular exercise rider, Antonio Garcia. Although the time was slower than his stablemate, it was exactly the kind of work he was expected to put in.

"Just what we were looking for and what we expected," Riley said. "He's very workmanlike, and it looked like he had plenty of energy going to the pole and coming back to the barn."

Most Popular

Related News