Coach Pope, Endrush Excite With Churchill Maiden Wins

This column highlights the performances of 2- and 3-year-old maidens (the latter category only through June) with the potential for graded stakes success based on criteria such as a horse that has made no more than five starts and either sold for more than $500,000 at public auction, has siblings that are graded/group winners, or has dams that are graded/group winners. BloodHorse research shows maiden winners who meet these criteria are more likely to go on to be graded stakes winners. 

Well-bred 2-year-olds Coach Pope and Endrush are BloodHorse Maiden Watch Hot Prospects after notching swift maiden victories at Churchill Downs.

Coach POPE Runs Up The SCORE

Backed to 2-5 favoritism after a debut second at Saratoga Race Course last month, Coach Pope was expected to win the fifth race Sept. 12 at the Louisville, Ky., oval, but few could have forecast him prevailing by as commanding a margin as he did.

Stretching out from 6 furlongs to a mile, he crossed the wire 12 1/2 lengths ahead of his next closest pursuer, stopping the clock in 1:35.77. His time was faster than the winners of both the Pocahontas (G3) and Iroquois (G3) stakes run hours later on the card, and resulted in a 98 Equibase Speed Figure and an 86 Beyer Speed Figure.

Beyond his fast time, he passed a visual test, showing speed but rating kindly in third for the first half-mile in :45.79 before taking over with 6 furlongs in 1:10.66. His final quarter was a sharp :25.11, even though he was confidently handled with the outcome never in doubt under Jose Ortiz.

Bred in Kentucky by Tall Oaks Farm and Tapit Syndicate, Coach Pope is a bay son of the legendary Tapit  out of the Ghostzapper mare Gamble's Ghost, a $1 million earner and winner of seven stakes, five of them grade 3s. Her two other foals to race are also winners. As agent, trainer Kenny McPeek bought Coach Pope for $350,000 at the Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale in 2025 from the Gainesway consignment. Gainesway, Shamrock Stables and Mike Mackin own the colt

Coach Pope, named after University of Kentucky men's basketball coach Mark Pope, has long been held in high regard. He was beaten just a half-length by Gaudreau Aug. 8 at Saratoga in one of the better 2-year-old maiden races of the meet. Coach Pope is now the third losing horse from that race to blowout maidens in his next start. Others to do so include third-place U. S. S. Valor, who romped by 13 1/4 lengths Sept. 5 at Saratoga, and eighth-place Hemingway, an 8 1/4-length victor when shifted to turf Sept. 6 at Kentucky Downs . The latter was spotlighted last week as a BloodHorse Hot Prospect.

Coach Pope appears to have the promise to warrant consideration for the 1 1/16-mile Breeders' Futurity (G1) Oct. 3 at Keeneland or another graded stakes down the road. If he runs at Keeneland, it would be a "home game" for his namesake to attend, with the University of Kentucky located just miles down the road, also in Lexington.

McPeek, a 1984 graduate of the University of Kentucky, has won the Breeders' Futurity three times, most recently with Rattle N Roll in 2021. Mackin co-owned that horse with his family when racing as Lucky Seven Stable.

🏀𝗖𝗢𝗔𝗖𝗛 𝗣𝗢𝗣𝗘 travels to Louisville and secures the blowout W!@jose93_ortiz assists with a confident ride for trainer @KennyMcPeek.#TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/wyawVacz9S

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) September 12, 2026

EndRush Lives Up to Name With FINISH

Two days before Coach Pope overwhelmed rivals, Endrush turned heads by rallying from eighth to win on debut at 4-5 odds at Churchill Downs in the sixth race Sept. 10.

Eighth of 10 after the opening quarter mile in the 6-furlong main-track contest, Endrush worked his way into midpack, reached contention on the turn, and after shaking free of traffic in the stretch, passed four rivals and pulled away to prevail by 1 3/4 lengths. He was clocked in 1:10.89 for the distance on a "good" track under Ortiz. That time earned the Eddie Kenneally trainee a 92 Equibase Speed Figure and an 80 Beyer Speed Figure.

Green Lantern Stables bred Endrush in Kentucky and placed the chestnut son of Curlin  in the Gainesway consignment at the 2025 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Green Lantern Stables brought him home to race after he went unsold there as a $325,000 RNA.

Besides being by Hill 'n' Dale Farms' Curlin—one of the top stallions in North America—Endrush is out of the multiple stakes-winning A. P. Indy mare Ender's Sister, a producer of two graded stakes winners, led by dual grade 1 winner A. P. Indian (Indian Charlie). Though he was a sprinter who memorably took the Forego Stakes (G1) and Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) in 2016, some of Ender's Sister's other foals have been effective over a route, including her other stakes winner, Tiz Shea D (Tiznow), winner of the 2015 Indiana Derby (G2). Curlin's influence further points to two-turn promise for Endrush.

👀Impressive debut winning move by 𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗛 to break his maiden @ChurchillDowns!@jose93_ortiz piltoed the 2y/o son of @HillnDaleFarm stallion Curlin for trainer @kenneallyracing & owner Green Lantern Stables.#TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/jTI3bg5i8q

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) September 10, 2026