BY BROCK SHERIDAN

For the third consecutive day, Florida-bred Neoequos jogged over the Churchill Downs main track at 7:15 a.m. EST for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. in preparation for Saturday’s $5 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve. The bay colt has been training at Churchill Downs since Sunday after arriving in Louisville, Ky., Saturday morning from his base in Joseph’s barn at Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach, Fla.

Neoequos drew post two in the field of 20 3-year-olds who will go a mile-and-a-quarter at Churchill in the first leg of Thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown. He will be the 121st Florida-bred to start in the Kentucky Derby and first since Tami Bobo and Tristan de Meric’s Simplification finished fourth in the 2022 edition won by longshot Rich Strike.

Neoequos will race in the orange and blue colors of C2 Racing Stable, the nom de course of brothers Mark Cornett of Naples, Fla., and Clint Cornett of Flower Mound, Tex. They own him in partnership with Stefania Farms (Thomas Carney of Del Ray Beach, Fla., Edwin A. Wilson and Stefanie Wilson of Boca Raton, Fla.,), Shining Stable LLC (Morgan Lynn Joseph of Hollywood, Fla.), and Ian Parsard of Jamaica.

Neoequos qualified for the Derby with 40 points on the Derby Leaderboard of which 15 points were earned when third in the $401,650 Coolmore Fountain of Youth (G2) won by Derby contender Sovereignty on March 1. He then earned 25 points for finishing third behind winner Tappan Street in the $1.02 million Curlin Florida Derby presented by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms at Xalapa (G1) on March 29. Neoequos led through the first six furlongs in each of those races, both at Gulfstream Park.

Neoequos is by Pleasant Acres Stallions’ Neolithic out of Bold Birdie, by Birdstone and was bred in Florida by Helen and Joseph Barbazon and Matalona Thoroughbreds LLC. He has won two with two seconds and two thirds from seven starts with earnings of $291,050.

He was purchased by Joseph at the 2023 Ocala Breeders’ Sales October Yearling Sale for $22,000 out of Lisa McGreevy’s Abbie Road Farm consignment and received his early training from Susan Montanye’s SBM Training and Sales based in Ocala.

Neoequos By the Numbers and Other Derby Fun Facts

Neoequos will be ridden by Flavien Prat, who won the Kentucky Derby in 2019 aboard Country House at odds of 65-1, the third longest odds for a Derby winner behind Donerail (91-1) in 1913 and Rich Strike (80-1) in 2022. Country House was placed first in the Derby after Prat claimed foul against winner Maximum Security, who was disqualified for interference and placed 17th.

Prat has six other Derby mounts with a second on Hot Rod Charlie (2021) and three thirds with Battle of Midway (2017), Zandon (2022) and Angel of Empire (2023). He was also fourth on Catching Freedom last year and tenth on Solomini in 2018.

This will be the fourth Kentucky Derby starter for Joseph, with is best finish coming when Ny Traffic finished eighth in 2020. He also saddled White Abarrio (16th in 2022) and Catalytic (19th last year). 

There have been 95 Derby horses start from post two in records dating back to 1930 with seven winners and six second-place finishers. There have been more horses finish third from post two (13) than any other post position. The last horse to win the Kentucky Derby from post two was Affirmed, the Florida-bred winner of the Triple Crown in 1978. Last year, Sierra Leone finished second from post two. Horses starting from post two in the Derby have a 7.4% win percentage and have finished in the top three at rate of 27.4%.

Neoequos will attempt to add to the record 57 number of bay horses who have won the Kentucky Derby. There have been 50 chestnut winners, 17 brown horses, 11 dark bay or browns, eight gray or roans, four blacks and three dark bays to don the blanket of roses.

There have been 42 Derby starters whose names begin with the letter N—three of them winners with Nyquist being the most recent in 2016. Florida-bred Needles won in 1956 and Northern Dancer won in 1964.

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