Hotazhell, Juwelier, Tiberius Thunder Ship In For Saratoga Derby Invitational
A trio of top contenders for Saturday's $750,000 Saratoga Derby Invitational (G1) – Hotazhell (GB), Juwelier (IRE), and Tiberius Thunder (Ire) – arrived at the Spa on Friday and cleared quarantine to stretch their legs over the Oklahoma dirt training track on Sunday.
The three colts took their first steps onto a sloppy Oklahoma track a little after 10:30 a.m. (ET) on a rainy Saratoga morning. The Saratoga Derby is run at 1 3/16 miles on turf.
The Jessica Harrington-conditioned Hotazhell kicked off his career with a fourth to subsequent Group 1 winner Scorthy Champ at Leopardstown before graduating at The Curragh and being kept busy in four more group stakes, including ladder-ascending victories in the Group 3 Tyros at Leopardstown, Group 2 Beresford at The Curragh, and Group 1 Futurity Trophy at Doncaster, as well as a good second to subsequent Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) winner Henri Matisse (IRE) in the Group 2 Futurity at The Curragh.
The Too Darn Hot bay has raced twice this year, finishing third to Europe's top-rated sophomore Field of Gold in the Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas in May at The Curragh and then fifth in the star-studded Group 1 Eclipse on July 5 at Doncaster behind Delacroix, a foe he previously defeated.
Eadaoin Byrne was aboard Hotazhell for his morning visit to the Oklahoma training track with regular pilot Shane Foley slated to travel to Saratoga for the mount.
'He traveled really well,' Byrne said. 'He's eating great – calm and relaxed. He can be spicy sometimes when we bring him to ride out, but that's just how he is. We're very happy with him. It was great to get him out today and let him stretch his legs.'
Hotazhell was a tenacious winner of the Futurity Trophy traveling a straight mile over soft going at Doncaster, battling furiously to the wire with Delacroix and prevailing by the narrowest of margins.
'He was out of the gates well. Shane Foley had him very relaxed and he traveled really well,' recalled Byrne. 'This fellow grows another leg on that ground – he loves the soft ground. It looked like he was flat out, but he found more with a furlong to go and took off again.
'It looked like he was actually off the bridle, but he was just fine,' Byrne added. 'It just takes him a while to get going, stepping him up in trip will probably help him, too.'
Hotazhell, out of the Danehill Dancer mare Azenzar, was purchased for $261,362 at the 2024 Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale. His second dam, Dashing, is a half-sister to Alexander Goldrun, who won five Group 1 races in four countries.
'He's strong and a lovely mover – very well balanced. Everything you would want in a colt,' Byrne said.
The Alessandro Botti-trained Juwelier, by Wootton Bassett and out of a full-sister to French Derby winner Intello, kicked off his career with a fourth at Deauville behind subsequent multiple Group 1 performer Frankly Good Cen. Victorious in April at Fountainebleau, he was then fifth in the Prix de Suresnes (L) at Chantilly before a breakthrough victory in the Group 3 German Derby Trial at Baden-Baden.
Umberto Rispoli will ship in from the West Coast to pilot Juwelier.
Trainer Adrian Murray's Irish-bred Tiberius Thunder carries the colors of rising power AMO Racing and enters off a fourth-of-12 in Royal Ascot's Group 3 Hampton Court behind Trinity College, who would lose the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris by a nose four weeks later. Earlier this year, he was third to one of Europe's top horses, the aforementioned Delacroix, in the Group 3 Ballysax in late March, which was followed by a fourth in the Listed Blue Riband Trial at Epsom and a fifth in the Group 3 Gallinule.
Frankie Dettori will have the call on Tiberius Thunder.
For the third consecutive year, per a partnership between the New York Racing Association Inc. (NYRA) and Moonee Valley Racing Club, the winner of the Saratoga Derby will receive an exclusive invitation into the prestigious AUD$6 million Ladbrokes Cox Plate (G1), set to take place on October 25.
This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Jul 27, 2025, where it first appeared.
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