When Incredibolt won the 2025 Street Sense Stakes (G3) going around two turns at Churchill Downs, the colt’s connections began thinking about the first Saturday in May. It was the Pin Oak color bearer's second victory in as many starts over the track – something no other Derby contender has on his resume. And as trainer Riley Mott put it: Winning around two turns at Churchill Downs can give you [a lot of] confidence.”
With Incredibolt having earned 50 points in winning the March 14 Virginia Derby, enough to get him into the starting gate for the Derby, Mott felt it unnecessary to get another race into him. He instead has trained steadily at Palm Meadows in Florida and will have his final serious move before the Derby this weekend in Louisville.
The colt, from whom Pin Oak paid $75,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale, began his career on Aug. 22 at Ellis Park, finishing a one-paced fourth going 6 furlongs – clearly not his forte. Stretched to a mile a month later at Churchill Downs, Incredibolt stayed inside, close to honest fractions of 46.70 and 1:10.84, before being tipped outside by Jaimie Torres, gaining the lead a sixteenth of a mile out and going on to a two-length win.
Next up was the Street Sense, which he also won impressively but in a decidedly different fashion. Off a half-step slow, Incredibolt found himself last of seven on the outside, but never more than five lengths off the pace. He began moving up on the turn, put himself into contention with a furlong to go and surged past the leaders to hit the wire 1 ¾ lengths in front.
“He was in the back of the pace with a slow pace and was still able to circle the field and close,” said Mott. “Not only was he able to pass the two-turn test, he showed he can overcome a little bit of adversity.”
In his sophomore debut, the Holy Bull Stakes (G3) Incredibolt was sent off as the third choice in the field of six but never picked up his feet and retreated to finish 25 ¼ lengths behind the winner Nearly. Unperturbed, both Mott and Torres attributed Incredibolt’s performance, or lack thereof, to his inability to handle the track surface, and pressed on to the Virginia Derby.
“He came out of the [Holy Bull] better than he went in,” said Mott.
Rolling through even fractions and completing the final 3 furlongs in 36.15, Incredibolt’s impressive four-length Virginia Derby victory earned him a career-high Equibase speed figure of 95.
Torres, who piloted Seize the Grey to win the 2024 Preakness Stakes (G1) for the late D. Wayne Lukas, was given the choice of riding Pin Oak’s other Derby horse, Albus, and chose to stick with Incredibolt for his first Derby mount
Incredibolt’s Equibase rating is 91, and his highest speed figure is 95.
Having shown both an early turn of foot and the ability to close, Incredibolt has the right blend of speed and style to figure prominently in the Derby, and the pedigree (Medaglia d’Oro is his grandsire, and Awesome Again his maternal grandsire) to back it up.
Draw a line through the Holy Bull, and while Incredibolt’s resume isn’t up there with the likes of Grade 1 winners Commandment, Further Ado, Renegade and So Happy, he is an improving horse who seems to check all the boxes. Include him underneath.
- This will be the first Kentucky Derby for Mott, Torres and Dana Bernard, whose late husband Jim, a Louisiana business executive, bought Pin Oak in 2022.
- Jim Bernhard passed away in November at the age of 71 after a brief illness. The family had gotten into horse ownership in 2021, when Jim paid $350,000 for a Candy Ride colt who became Grade 1 winner Geaux Rocket Ride. “The family’s been through a lot these past six months,” said Mott. “With these two horses [Albus and Incredibolt], they’re everything Mr. Bernhard had foreseen. They’re a top-class operation.”
- Mott’s father, Hall of Famer Bill Mott (who will saddle Chief Wallabee in the Derby) is 14-2- 0-1 in the Run for the Roses.
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.
