He's back: Render Judgment is entered into Kentucky Derby 2025

Just a day after the plan was to bypass the run for the roses, Render Judgment was entered in Kentucky Derby 2025, with Julien Leparoux named to ride.

Trainer Kenny McPeek, who won the Kentucky Derby a year ago with Mystik Dan, announced both the entry and the jockey assignment in a post on X on Saturday morning.

Render Judgment will draw into the main field of 20. His 39 qualifying points became enough after Tappan Street was taken out of the race after coming out of a Saturday workout at Churchill Downs with a condylar fracture.

A son of Blame out of the Commissioner mare Barbara Gordon, Render Judgment has only won once, a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight at Churchill Downs in October where he beat fellow Kentucky Derby qualifier American Promise by half a length. He accrued most of his Kentucky Derby points in the Virginia Derby on March 15, where he was runner-up behind American Promise. He also earned points from a fifth-place finish in the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2), a third in the Gun Runner, and a fifth in the Blue Grass (G1).

Leparoux will ride Render Judgment for the first time in the Kentucky Derby. Colby Hernandez rode him on debut, Brian Hernandez Jr. rode him for his next four starts, and Sheldon Russell had the call in both the Virginia Derby and the Blue Grass. Leparoux has ridden in 14 editions of the Kentucky Derby, with his best record being a fourth-place finish with Classic Empire in 2017.