Kenneally takes Comport from sales ring to Ky. Derby trail
Like so many trainers and owners and bloodstock agents and consignors, Eddie Kenneally has been immersed this week in the annual September yearling sale in Kentucky.
“I’ve been participating in the Keeneland sale for quite some time,” he said, thinking back 38 years. “I was doing some yearling prep at a farm in Lexington and showed yearlings at the sale early on, just gaining some experience in the bloodstock world. That lasted for a while, but then I went on to the racetrack.”
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Nearly 32 years since Mertensia was the first horse he trained in a race, Kenneally still works the barns and the back ring and the sales ring every September at Keeneland. Almost exactly one year ago, he and owner Joe Sutton raised the paddle to pay $135,000 for hip 2763 during session 8 of the two-week sale.
That colt is known now as Comport. After winning the black-type, $200,000 Ellis Park Juvenile racing seven furlongs last month, the 2-year-old son of Collected steps up to the Kentucky Derby 2026 trail Saturday at Churchill Downs. That is where he is the 6-5 morning-line favorite for the Grade 3, $300,000 Iroquois Stakes, the traditional one-mile start of the eight-month Derby prep season.
“We know that he’s a quality horse,” Kenneally said this week on Horse Racing Nation’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod. “He relaxes nicely in his races. Seven furlongs is well within his scope. The extra furlong, the mile, we don’t know if that’s going to be something that’s going to be in his wheelhouse. He may even improve when he gets to the mile, but we think he will. You really don’t know until you try it.”
The 10 starters in the Iroquois will race a half-mile out of the backstretch chute to the only turn. With Tyler Gaffalione riding, Collected starts from post 7.
“I love his post,” Kenneally said. “I love the way he trains at Churchill. He’s already had two races at Churchill. I’d have to say we’re somewhat confident that the distance won’t be a problem for him, because he relaxes nicely in his races.”
Comport won his debut June 1 going 5 1/2 furlongs in a $120,000 maiden race at Churchill Downs. He came back four weeks later to contest Romeo’s hot early pace only to finish second in the listed, $225,000 Bashford Manor stretching to six furlongs at Churchill.
“The track was quick during that period, and it was also speed-biased,” Kenneally said. “We were second that day. Could not get by the leader. I think on a fairer track, I think we might have gone on, but I think it was favoring speed that particular time. It’s a new meet, so we don’t know, but I would assume it will be somewhat similar, so you don’t want to be too far back.”
Gaffalione, who missed nearly four months with a broken left ankle, rode Comport to victory at Ellis Park on Aug. 10, stalking early leader Spice Market before taking the lead in the turn and winning by two lengths.
“He definitely gave me the impression he wants to go longer,” Gaffalione told the Ellis Park media team right after the win. “He was so kind and did whatever I asked him. When I asked him to quicken down the lane, he kept getting stronger.”
“I think (Gaffalione) learned a lot about the horse when he rode him at Ellis,” Kenneally said. “We got a similar draw on Saturday, so I’m going to leave it as simple as possible and just let him ride the horse with confidence.”
Comport was the odds-on favorite in the Ellis Park Juvenile, and Spice Runner was 8-1. After their one-two finish, they are the top two morning-line choices in the Iroquois. Saturday’s race could be between those two again.
“On paper it probably is,” Kenneally said. “They’re the two maybe more experienced horses in the race and probably the two most accomplished horses in the race.”
Spice Runner, a Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred colt by Gun Runner, is trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen. Since his debut win May 23 in a five-furlong maiden race at Churchill, he finished a tiring fifth in the Bashford Manor and a game second in the Ellis Park Juvenile. Spice Runner carries 7-2 program odds and José Ortiz from post 5.
“I think the morning line is probably right,” Kenneally said. “I’m sure that’s how it’s going to be when they load the gate, and hopefully that’ll be how it is when they hit the wire.”
About to have its 44th running, the Iroquois never has produced a Derby winner. Last year, though, Owen Almighty finished fifth and Sandman seventh in the Derby nearly eight months after losing to Jonathan’s Way. Two years ago Seize the Grey finished fourth in the Iroquois on his way to winning Preakness 2024.
Kenneally is aware of the history of the race and of himself. A 59-year-old native of Ireland, he hopes to get a second horse to the Derby. He saddled Santiva for a sixth-place finish to Animal Kingdom in 2011.
“It’s a bit of a lottery,” Kenneally said. “It’s hard to get to the Kentucky Derby, but you’ve got to look at the bigger picture. It’s about developing young horses and trying to get the most out of them. Some of them make the Derby. Some of them don’t. I think the bottom line is just to develop them to be the best that they can be, whether it’s the Derby or a $200,000 allowance race or a listed stakes at Ellis Park. It’s about doing the best you can with each horse. Yeah, if you get a Derby horse, great. But if you don’t, it’s not that big of a deal, because we all know how difficult it is to get there. Or win it.”
Kenneally will be at Churchill for the Iroquois, but not before he spends another morning at the Keeneland yearling sale which began Monday of this week and runs through Friday of next. It has been the same way since he came to America in 1987.
“During the sales I’m not doing much sitting,” he said. “I’m on my feet all day. Just back and forth between the barns checking the upcoming horses and in the sales ring and the back ring following horses through that I have an eye on or a horse that I might have a little interest in. So yeah, I’m active around the sales ground all the next (eight) days or so.”