Owen Almighty, the Tampa Bay Derby winner who finished in a dead heat for sixth in the Blue Grass Stakes on April 8, is back in the field for the 151st Kentucky Derby on May 3, his connections said Wednesday.
“We’re going to give it a shot,” said Hunter Rankin, president of Flying Dutchmen Breeding and Racing, the racing operation of Travis Boersma. “He’s earned a spot, we’re going to use it and take a shot as long as he’s doing well going into the race.”
Owen Almighty is trained by Brian Lynch, who even before Owen Almighty romped by 3 1/2 lengths in the Tampa Derby on March 8, was championing the Grade 2, $600,000 Pat Day Mile on the Derby undercard for the Speightstown colt.
Following the Tampa Derby, Boersma wanted to keep Owen Almighty on the Derby path and he was entered in the Blue Grass, where he found himself chasing the pacesetting East Avenue before fading in the stretch to finish in a dead heat with Chancer McPatrick. It was Chancer McPatrick, a two-time Grade 1-winning 2-year-old, whom Owen Almighty beat in the Tampa Derby.
:: KENTUCKY DERBY 2025: Top contenders, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more
“He’s probably better on the lead,” Rankin said. “[East Avenue] was just bound and determined to get to the front. We thought [Owen Almighty] would rate and he did. If you watch his race in the Sam F. Davis,” where he dueled on the lead with ultimate winner John Hancock, Owen Almighty “just doesn’t seem like the same horse going longer if he rates. I think that may have played into that and he only got beat four lengths and he’s come out of it better than he went into it.”
Initially, after the Blue Grass, Lynch said that Owen Almighty was going to pass the Derby. A Tuesday night meeting between all parties resulted in a change of heart.
“The family that we work for, I can’t say enough great things about them, and they want to experience it,” Rankin said of the Boersmas. “Brian has been amazing to deal with through this whole process. He’s 100 percent on board and we’re heading that direction assuming he trains well into the race.”
Rankin said Owen Almighty moved from Keeneland to Churchill Downs on Monday. At 2, Owen Almighty won his debut going 5 1/2 furlongs at Churchill. After winning the Ellis Park Juvenile, Owen Almighty finished second in the Grade 3 Iroquois, a one-mile race at Churchill.
Rankin said as of Wednesday he does not have a rider for Owen Almighty. Irad Ortiz Jr. and Jose Ortiz have combined to ride him in six of his seven starts. Both of them are committed elsewhere for the Derby.
Cristian Torres rode Owen Almighty to a victory in the Ellis Park Juvenile last August.
The inclusion of Owen Almighty pushes several horses with varying degrees of Kentucky Derby interest back one spot.
On Tuesday, when it was announced that River Thames would pass the Derby, Built moved into the body of the race. Built, whose connections have not yet committed to running in the Derby, now would need a defection to get into the field.
The connections of Florida Derby runner-up Neoequos want to run in the Derby and now need two defections to get in. Render Judgment and Baeza are now 23 and 24 on the points list with Baeza’s connections definitely wanting to get in.
Flavien Prat, the reigning Eclipse Award-winning jockey, would ride Baeza should he get in, his agent Brad Pegram said.
The Derby field is limited to 20 runners, but 24 can be entered on April 26 when entries close and post positions are assigned.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.