Derby 2023 pedigree: Dubyuhnell is a mud lover or maybe more

Dubyuhnell splashed his way to a narrow half-length victory over the second-favorite Arctic Arrogance in the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct on Saturday. Dubyuhnell kept early pressure on the pacesetter Artic Arrogance during the early race stages, sticking to the outside flank of his rival.

The race was on from the eighth pole through the stretch. The pair raced as a team, quickly separating from the rest of the field. Jockey Jose Ortiz and Dubyuhnell kept Artic Arrogance in close quarters on the rail as the pair fought, yet Dubyuhnell's ears went up the moment he conquered his foe, an indication that he had plenty more in the tank. It was 11 1/4 lengths back to the favorite, Tuskegee Airmen. Dubyuhnell completed 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.88 and got his final furlong in 13.41 seconds.

In his seven-furlong debut at Saratoga, Dubyuhnell was a distant fourth behind eventual Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes winner Instant Coffee.

Dubyuhnell returned a month later to outclass maidens by 2 1/2 lengths over a sloppy Aqueduct track. The Danny Gargan trainee impressed with his wide trip, going eight wide around the turn and finding another gear in the stretch to mow down the tiring pacesetters late. Gargan trained Tax to a third-place finish in the 2019 Remsen.

Dubyuhnell (Good Magic - Wild Gams, by Forest Wildcat) earned 10 qualifying points toward next year's Kentucky Derby. He owns two wins in three starts and has earnings of $196,050.

The Chestnut colt was bred by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings and was sold for $400,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale to West Paces Racing and Stonestreet Stables.

Sire

Good Magic (Curlin - Glinda the Good, by Hard Spun) showed his class early in his career, finishing second in his debut and the Champagne Stakes. He claimed his first victory in the 2017 Breeders' Cup Juvenile, earning year-end honors as champion 2-year-old colt.

As a 3-year-old, Good Magic earned Kentucky Derby points with a third-place finish in the Fountain of Youth (G2) and a victory in the Blue Grass (G2). He followed up with an excellent second-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, but after placing fourth in the Preakness, trainer Chad Brown gave the colt a month off. Then, Curlin's son returned to win the Haskell (G1) but did a disappearing act to the breeding shed a month after he finished ninth in the Travers (G1).

Culin's son is poised to follow in his sire's hoofprints. Good Magic is currently ranked number two by earnings on the first-crop sire list and is tied for first with Justify by number of graded winners, with four each. But Good Magic is the only first-crop sire with a Grade 1 winner (Blazing Sevens).

Besides Blazing Sevens and Dubyuhnell, the chestnut stallion is represented by Sorrento Stakes (G2) winner Vegas Magic and Iroquois Stakes (G3) winner Curly Jack. His daughter Bat Flip and son How Did He Do That also are stakes winners.

Good Magic's offspring have won from five furlongs to 1 1/8 miles, and they should handle classic distances over dirt and turf.

Female family

Dubyuhnell's extended pedigree includes 1992 Kentucky Oaks winner Luv Me Luv Me Not and Panamanian champion older horse Di Stefano. In addition, he is a direct descendant of Linaria, 1945 champion 2-year-old and 3-year-old filly in Ireland.

Good Magic and Wild Gams descend from the same female family, Lowe family 12-c. When the sire and dam trace back to the same foundation mare (in this case, Linaria), it is called a Formula One breeding pattern. How well does this work? Take a look at the pedigrees and careers of Man O' War, Quiet American, Numbered Account, Ring Weekend and Tapitsfly, to name a few.

Dubyuhnell is the fourth black-type earner out of multiple Grade 3-wining sprinter Wild Gams, who earned $1,198,486 in 23 starts and hit the top four in 17 stakes.

Besides Dubyuhnell, the 19-year-old mare bore Cazadero (Street Sense), a multiple graded-winning sprinter on dirt and turf; stakes-winning sprinter Mt. Brave (Malibu Moon) and Grade 3-placed miler Almost Famous (Unbridled's Song).

Wild Gams' full brother Diamond Wildcat wasn't as successful as his younger sibling, but he did win and place in two sprints on dirt and turf. Their dam Diamonds and Legs (Quiet American) hit the board in seven of eight attempts, including three stakes from six furlongs to 1 1/16 miles.

Forest Wildcat is the damsire of 88 black-type winners. The majority are sprinter/milers, although Paradise Woods (Union Rags), two-time winner of the 1 1/8-mile Santa Margarita, and 2019 Canadian horse of the year Starship Jubilee (Indy Wind), winner of the 10-furlong E.P. Taylor (G1), are a couple of exceptions.

Kentucky Derby contender or pretender?

The last colt to pull off the Remsen/Kentucky Derby double was Thunder Gulch in 1994, and the previous year, Go For Gin also completed the double. Bluegrass Cat won the 2005 Remsen but finished second to Barbaro in the following year's Derby.

To show how hard it is for 2-year-olds to get to Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May, only four of the last dozen Remsen winners made it into the Kentucky Derby starting gate, and the highest placing of the four was Mohaymen's fourth place in 2015.

But Remsen also-rans fare well in Kentucky. In the last decade, colts who placed in the Remsen and finished the Kentucky Derby superfecta include Zandon (2021), Mucho Macho Man (2010), Frosted (2014), Wicked Strong (2013) and Normandy Invasion (2012).

Our latest Remsen star is a large, well-balanced chestnut colt with classic conformation. He has powerful hindquarters, which will assist with longer distances. He runs straight without paddling but has slightly high knee action.

Dubyuhnell is 2-for-2 over a sloppy track, so he has to prove that he's as effective over fast dirt. There are some turf influences in his pedigree, so it's anyone's guess whether he wants to be a turf horse instead when he grows up.

Dubyuhnell's pedigree is classic stamina over speed, yet Storm Cat's distance-challenged sons don't always pass this trait to their daughters' offspring. For example, American Pharoah, Nyquist, and Princess of Sylmar all easily handled 10 furlongs.

Trainer Danny Gargan winters in Florida, so Dubyuhnell has options of Florida-based preps, or perhaps he'll continue on the New York path to Kentucky since he's proven at Aqueduct.