Since launching their careers back in 2021, veteran geldings Durante and Tejano Twist have, between them, started 97 times, winning 23 of those (including five graded stakes), finishing second or third in 36 others, and earned $3,938,688 – more than the rest of the field for Saturday’s $275,000 Aristides Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs combined.
Durante, the Distorted Humor gelding trained by David Jacobson, enters off his first win since taking last year’s Aristides Stakes at 33-1, having eked out a neck victory in the John A. Nerud (G3) at Aqueduct on May 9. He’s 10-1 on Saturday.
Tejano Twist has been no worse than third in five of his six 2026 starts, including a two-length win in the Whitmore Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park on March 16. He’s 12-1.
Despite those credentials, the two are likely to be largely overlooked in the wagering as Roll On Big Joe, winner of three of his four starts at Churchill Downs, including the 2025 Kelly’s Landing Stakes, has been tabbed the 9-5 morning line favorite for the 6-furlong sprint.
Trained by Bob Hess, Roll On Big Joe also won the Bet On Sunshine Stakes at Churchill Downs and an optional claimer in 2025. His lone 2026 start came at Oaklawn Park, in which he finished second to fellow Aristides entrant Mad House in the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap on April 11 at Oaklawn.
The gray son of Prospective began his 6-year-old season at Oaklawn with a victory in the King Cotton Stakes.
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has entered two, including the lightly raced Cornucopian, entering off a fifth-place finish in the Churchill Downs Stakes (G1). Prior to that, he won the San Carlos Stakes (G3), earning a career-high 113 Equibase speed figure, and started his 2026 campaign with an optional claiming win at Santa Anita.
Also from Baffert’s barn is the peripatetic Madaket Road, winner of his 2026 debut in an allowance race on May 8 at Churchill Downs.
Rounding out the field are Mad House (7-2), 2-for-2 in 2026, including a front-running victory in the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) over Roll On Big Joe on April 11 at Oaklawn, and Gold Sweep (15-1), 1-2-2 from four starts as a 5-year-old, most recently winning the Lake Hamilton on May 1 at Oaklawn.
Jenny Kellner is an award-winning journalist and teacher who has covered thoroughbred racing for years. As a reporter for both United Press International and The Associated Press, her work has appeared in publications and on websites around the world. Jenny has also written for The New York Times, the New York Post, Newsday and Sports Illustrated.
