It’s time for Disco Time to get down – or at least get back on the dance floor.
The unbeaten Grade 3 winner will make his first start since January on Friday in the $250,000 St. Louis Derby at Fairmount Park.
He will start as one of the top contenders in the 1 1/16-mile race that drew 11 but will lose morning-line favorite Chunk of Gold, who instead will run Saturday in the Bourbon Flight at Churchill Downs.
Other chief contenders in the St. Louis Derby include Hypnus, who is coming off a third-place finish in the Smarty Jones at Parx Racing, and Brotha Kenny, who was third to Chunk of Gold last out in the West Virginia Derby.
Disco Time went through his conditions last fall. He won a seven-furlong maiden special weight in his career debut Nov. 1 at Churchill, then accounted for a first-level allowance at a mile at Churchill on Nov. 30. He moved to two turns and beat 12 rivals in the Grade 3 Lecomte at Fair Grounds going 1 1/16 miles in his most recent start on Jan. 18.
“He’s been training really well,” said Brad Cox, who trains Disco Time for his breeder, Juddmonte. “I’d say he’s been ready for a race over the last two, three weeks. We thought about going to Churchill with him, seven-eighths off the layoff, but we think he’s a two-turn horse. He showed that in his last run in the Lecomte.
“I’m excited about getting his year started again, and hoping he can improve. This is a race to get him back going, but he’s shown a lot of talent, obviously, being three for three, and we think he’s a good colt.”
Cox said Disco Time was given a break from racing in February.
“We had a big delay in training down there, we had the snowstorm hit,” Cox said of New Orleans. “He trained. We just never got him back on the work tab there in February. He was in training for a good bit of February – it just wasn’t quite what we needed to see from him to press forward and we gave him some time off. He just was a horse that needed a break and he got it.”
Cox said he’s pleased with how Disco Time has come back. As part of his prep work he breezed five-eighths in 1:00.40 on Sept. 12 at Churchill.
“He looks fantastic, he’s filled out,” Cox said. “I’m excited about getting him started and hoping he can step up and be a big horse the rest of this year and into 2026.”
Disco Time is a son of Not This Time and the mare Disco Chick, a four-time stakes winner who won 10 races and earned $735,250.
Florent Geroux, who has been aboard Disco Time for all of his starts, has the mount from the rail Friday.
Hypnus, who is cross-entered in the Bourbon Flight, will run at Fairmount, where trainer Kenny McPeek won the 2022 St. Louis Derby with Rattle N Roll. Hypnus became stakes-placed last out, when he closed for third in the Smarty Jones.
“He ran fair enough,” McPeek said. “I thought he got a little too far back. I think he’s capable of laying closer if you need him too. We even contemplated sprinting him, but at this stage we’re going to give him another two-turn try.”
Hypnus is a son of the top-class sire Into Mischief. His dam is the Grade 1 winner Dream Tree.
Hypnus registered his last win at this distance, closing from off the pace in a June allowance at Churchill. His cause would be served if a few horses dueled up front. He will start from post 4 under Colby Hernandez.
“I don’t worry about what I can’t control,” McPeek said of the pace scenario.
Brotha Kenny is also cross-entered in the Bourbon Flight. On Monday, trainer William Morey said plans were not yet determined. Brotha Kenny had a breakout season at Horseshoe Indianapolis, where he won back-to-back races and finished third in the Grade 3 Indiana Derby. He was third in the West Virginia Derby in his last start Aug. 3.
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“He’s done great ever since he started winning at Indiana,” Morey said. “He gained some confidence. He’s a good finisher. He’s been finishing well those last two races. They’ve been tough races. The horses that beat him were very legitimate, strong 3-year-olds, and we thought he ran well.”
J.D. Ramos has the mount from post 6.
Smoken Boy won the Grade 1 Clasico Agustin Mercado Reveron Stakes last December in Puerto Rico.
Excite, who is making his stakes debut, is a son of the multiple Grade 1-winning mare Elate.
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