Kentucky Derby 2018 pedigrees: Evaluating Promises Fulfilled
Can these emerging 3-year-olds get the distance in the 2018 Kentucky Derby? Let's find out!
Verdict: Challenge Accepted (I'm 70-30 he can get 1 1/4...)
Sire Shackleford, the 2011 Preakness Stakes winner who also won the Grade 1 Met Mile and Grade 1 Clark Handicap, was a gutsy runner who did his best work on the lead, a dangerous place to be in Classic races. He finished 4th after doing all the dirty work in the 2011 Kentucky Derby and turned the tables on Animal Kingdom two weeks later to win the 9.5-furlong Preakness in a driving finish. So far, Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes winner Promises Fulfilled has inherited his sire's need for the lead as well as his chestnut coat color. Shackleford is a young sire, with only 130 runners averaging a winning distance of 6.5 furlongs. This has more to do with opportunity rather than proficiency, as there are simply more sprints in which younger horses to compete. Promises Fulfilled is similar in style and build to Malagacy, winner of the 2017 Rebel stakes, but Promises Fulfilled has a much better female family.
Sire Curlin, two-time Horse of the Year and winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic and Dubai World Cup, has so far sent seven crops to the races with an average winning distance of 7.5 furlongs. He has a 12-furlong Belmont Stakes winner in Palace Malice and a 10-furlong Travers winner in Keen Ice among his sons and daughters, and has 2-year-old champ Good Magic near the top of the Derby list this year. All three of those notable sons have miler-type dams. Curlin's Honor does, too. Franscat won 2 of 20 starts, with victories at 6 furlongs and at 8 furlongs. As a broodmare, she has produced three stakes winners at a mile by sires Medaglia D'Oro, Street Sense and Fusaichi Pegasus. Franscat is by Stormin Fever, a sprinter who got some routers as sire, including Biofuel, Canadian Horse of the Year. Franscat is out of Hopespringsagain, a half sister to G1 winner Ogygian (by Damascus), also a miler-type. We'll find out more when Curlin's Honor, who's 2-for-2 following a recent allowance win at Fair Grounds, steps up in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes on March 17.
Hofburg is by 3-time Belmont Stakes sire Tapit. His dam, Soothing Touch, has already produced multiple G1 winner Emollient (by Empire Maker), whose wins came on turf and synthetic at 8.5, 9, and 10 furlongs. Soothing Touch is by Touch Gold, also a Belmont Stakes winner. This guy, who broke his maiden Saturday going 1 1/16 miles at Gulfstream, screams "BELMONT STAKES" or "TRAVERS"!
• ICYMI | Last week's Kentucky Derby pedigree insights focus on Justify