Flying Mohawk trainer, jockey, owner and more to know about 2025 Kentucky Derby horse
Flying Mohawk trainer, jockey, owner and more to know about 2025 Kentucky Derby horse
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Bob Baffert: Kentucky Derby, Triple Crown championships and controversy
Horse racing trainer Bob Baffert has multiple Kentucky Derby wins, two Triple Crown champions, and a career marked by both triumph and controversy.
Flying Mohawk will enter the Kentucky Derby off a runner-up finish in the Jeff Ruby Steaks
Flying Mohawk trainer Whit Beckman is a 2000 graduate of St. Xavier High School
Flying Mohawk is one of 20 horses expected to enter the 2025 Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs.
Spots for the Run for the Roses are earned by gaining points through a series of Kentucky Derby prep races that began last September.
The post-position draw for the Kentucky Derby is set for Saturday, April 26. Post time for the Kentucky Derby is set for 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, May 3.
Flying Mohawk will enter the Kentucky Derby off a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks on March 22 at Turfway Park. He currently ranks 15th on the Kentucky Derby points leaderboard with 50.
Color: Dark bay.
Bred in: Kentucky.
Sire: Karakontie.
Dam: Bonbons Fleur, by Twirling Candy.
Price tag: $72,000 at 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Owners: Two Eight Racing (Jayson Werth); Berry Family Racing (Jeff Berry); Kaleta Racing (Shawn Kaleta). Werth is 0 for 1 in the Derby after finishing 10th with Dornoch in 2024. First Derby for Berry and Kaleta.
Trainer: Whit Beckman. He's 0 for 1 in the Derby after finishing eighth with Honor Marie in 2024.
Jockey: Joe Ramos. First Derby.
Record: 2-2-0 in six starts.
Career earnings: $295,800.
Road to the Kentucky Derby points: 50 (No. 15).
Last race: Second in Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks on March 22 at Turfway Park, 3 ½ lengths behind Flying Gambit.
Running style: Closer.
Notes: Flying Mohawk's first five races came on turf before moving to the Tapeta surface at Turfway Park for the Jeff Ruby Steaks. The Kentucky Derby will be his first race on dirt. … Co-owner Jayson Werth is a former All-Star outfielder with the Philadelphia Phillies. His Two Eight Racing is a reference to his No. 28 jersey number as a major leaguer. … Beckman is a 2000 graduate of St. Xavier High School in Louisville. A former assistant to Chad Brown and Todd Pletcher, Beckman, 43, went out on his own in 2021.
What they're saying: 'Do we have the favorite? No,' Beckman said. 'But we still have a horse who earned his way into the race. No matter where he's run and what he's done, this is a race that long shots can win. This is not something where we go in hopeless. I get that we're going to be a long shot on the board, but the horse doesn't know that.'
Last May, NBC Sports announced a partnership with Churchill Downs to present the Kentucky Derby on NBC and Peacock through 2032.
The extension includes multiplatform rights to the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks and Derby and Oaks Day programming, which will be presented on NBC, Peacock, USA Network and additional NBCU platforms.
You can stream the 2025 Kentucky Derby on Fubo and Peacock.
Post time for the 151st Kentucky Derby is set for 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, May 3.
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com. Follow on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ.
More horse racing: Here's how Journalism, likely Kentucky Derby favorite, got his name from a former editor
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
33 minutes ago
- UPI
Sovereignty beats Journalism in Belmont Stakes
Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty ran by Preakness Stakes winner Journalism in the stretch to win Saturday's Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in New York. File Photo by John Sommers II/UPI | License Photo June 7 (UPI) -- Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty ran right by Preakness Stakes winner Journalism at mid-stretch and ran on to a definitive victory in Saturday's $2 million, Grade I Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. Sovereignty and Journalism finished first and second, respectively, in the Derby. While Journalism went on to win the Preakness Stakes, middle jewel of the Triple Crown, two weeks later, trainer Bill Mott rested Sovereignty for the Belmont Stakes. The five-week respite paid off. As the early leaders faded turning into the stretch run in the 1 1/4-mile Belmont, it was Journalism who surged to the front. But jockey Junior Alvarado aboard Sovereignty had that rival in his sights all the way and dominated the final 200 yards. He was going away at the finish, winning by open lengths. Sovereignty is owned by his breeder, Godolphin, founded by Sheik Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai. "To come back here again after that victory in the Kentucky Derby and to be a really, really good horse, it was a fantastic result for us today," said Godolphin's U.S. representative, Michael Banahan. "The form held up today," Mott said. "The first three horses in the Derby were the first three today."
Boston Globe
35 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Sovereignty reigns over Journalism in head-to-head battle at Belmont Stakes
Journalism ended up in second again and Baeza was third — the same 1-2-3 as the Kentucky Derby. Journalism entered the gate at the Belmont as the 2-1 favorite, with Baeza the third favorite at 7-2. Sovereignty led off the first leg of the Triple Crown by winning the Derby in early May. The Bill Mott-trained colt also edged Journalism in that race. Advertisement After the Derby win, the Godolphin-owned 3-year-old opted out of the Preakness to focus on the Belmont, forfeiting a shot at history to win the Triple Crown. The Triple Crown hasn't been won since 2018, when Bob Baffert's Justify won the 105th Belmont Stakes to secure the third jewel. Journalism was the only horse to run in all three legs, winning the Preakness.
CBS News
37 minutes ago
- CBS News
Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty defeats Journalism again to take the 157th running of the Belmont Stakes
In a rematch that lived up to its billing, Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty galloped to victory over heavy favorite Journalism in muddy conditions at the 157th Belmont Stakes in Saratoga Springs, New York, on Saturday in the third leg of the Triple Crown. Sovereignty, who entered the race with 2-to-1 odds, defeated a field of seven challengers. Journalism finished in second place. The race marked a kind of replay of the Derby, in which Sovereignty had finished in first and Journalism was the runner-up. Jockey Junior Alvarado reacts aboard Sovereignty as he crosses the finish line to win the 157th running of the Belmont Stakes horse race on June 7, 2025, in Saratoga Springs, New York. Jessica Hill / AP Sovereignty, a bay colt, is the first ever horse to win the Derby, skip the Preakness Stakes, and then win the Belmont. The last horse to run in an all three legs of the Triple Crown and win the Derby and Belmont was Thunder Gulch in 1995. Journalism had entered as the heavy favorite after winning the Preakness. Derby third-place finisher Baeza was also in the field of eight. Journalism was the only horse who ran in all three legs of the Triple Crown this year. Bob Baffert-trained Rodriguez was in the Belmont after being scratched from the Derby because of a minor foot bruise that also kept the colt out of the Preakness. Jockey Junior Alvarado, who rode Sovereignty to victory at the Derby, was also his mount on Saturday. was fined $62,000 and suspended for two racing days in Kentucky by the state's Board of Stewards for allegedly using his riding crop too much in the Derby. Alvarado is appealing the decision. The Belmont took place for a second consecutive time at the historic Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York. The New York Racing Association temporarily relocated it there while Belmont Park on Long Island undergoes nearly half-a-billion dollars in renovations. Because it was held at Saratoga, the Belmont was 1 1/4 miles long instead of the usual 1 1/2 miles, making the race known as the Test of the Champion the same length as the Derby. This is a developing story and will be updated.
