Grande trainer, jockey, owner and more to know about 2025 Kentucky Derby horse

USA Today

03-05-2025

Grande trainer, jockey, owner and more to know about 2025 Kentucky Derby horse
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Watch 2025 Kentucky Derby contender Grande work at Churchill Downs
2025 Kentucky Derby contender Grande works at Churchill Downs on April 27, 2025. Trainer is Todd Pletcher. Career is three starts for 2-1-0.
Grande will enter the Kentucky Derby off a second-place finish in the Wood Memorial on April 5
Grande trainer Todd Pletcher has won the Kentucky Derby twice with Super Saver (2010) and Always Dreaming (2017)
Grande 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.
Grande will enter the Kentucky Derby off a second-place finish in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial on April 5 at Aqueduct. He currently ranks 16th on the Kentucky Derby points leaderboard with 50.
Color: Dark Bay.
Bred in: Kentucky.
Sire: Curlin.
Dam: Journey Home, by War Front.
Price tag: $300,000 at 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Owner: Repole Stable (Mike Repole). He's 0 for 8 in the Derby, best finish coming with Mo Donegal (fifth) in 2022.
Trainer: Todd Pletcher. He's 2 for 65 in the Derby, winning with Super Saver (2010) and Always Dreaming (2017). No trainer has entered more horses in the Derby than Pletcher.
Jockey: John Velazquez. He's 3 for 26 in the Derby, winning with Animal Kingdom (2011), Always Dreaming (2017) and Authentic (2020).
Record: 2-1-0 in three starts.
Career earnings: $228,200.
Road to the Kentucky Derby points: 50 (No. 16).
Last race: Second in Grade 2 Wood Memorial on April 5 at Aqueduct, 3 ½ lengths behind Rodriguez.
Running style: Stalker.
Notes: Grande did not race as a 2-year-old and won two starts at Gulfstream Park before his runner-up finish in the Wood Memorial. … Grande will try to become the fifth horse to win the Kentucky Derby after just three career starts, joining Regret (1915), Big Brown (2008), Justify (2018) and Mage (2023). … Repole, Pletcher and Velazquez teamed on the favorite in last year's Derby with Fierceness, who faded to 15th after battling near the lead early.
What they're saying: 'I thought he ran super,' Pletcher said after the Wood. 'He didn't break real well. He got shuffled around a little bit going into the first turn. (Jockey Dylan Davis) said he kind of had to check off heels, which forced him to go really wide. He advanced nicely down the backside while out in the middle of the track. He still got hung out pretty wide on the far turn and I think compared to the ground saved that the winner had, it was a very creditable effort.'
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; [e-mail]. Follow on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ.
More horse racing: Here's how Journalism, likely Kentucky Derby favorite, got his name from a former editor