Ky. Derby trail: Owen Almighty is pointed to Blue Grass

Owen Almighty, winner of the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby, will remain on the Kentucky Derby trail, and the plan is for him to make his next start in the Blue Grass (G1) on April 5.

Trainer Brian Lynch confirmed a Daily Racing Form report that the Speightstown colt will not aim for the Pat Day Mile (G2) as had been the plan after Owen Almighty finished second in the Sam F. Davis in February.

Owen Almighty’s next start was the Tampa Bay Derby, which he led gate to wire to win by 3 1/2 lengths. The win earned him 50 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby, giving him a total of 65 and assuring him of a spot in the Churchill Downs starting gate. Still, Lynch said the Pat Day Mile remained a possibility. 

Lynch told Horse Racing Nation on Tuesday that Owen Almighty’s owner, Flying Dutchmen Racing and Breeding, favored the Blue Grass for his next start.

“I’m still up in the air about it,” Lynch said. “But he will more than likely go to the Blue Grass. … I’m comfortable with whatever they want to do.”

Owen Almighty won his debut at Churchill Downs last June and then returned to win a stakes at Ellis Park before finishing second in the Iroquois (G3). He opened the year with a fifth-place finish in the Pasco Stakes before moving on to his two graded-stakes starts. 

Lynch has had one Kentucky Derby starter, Classic Causeway, who won the Sam F. Davis and Tampa Bay Derby in 2023 but was 11th in the Kentucky Derby.