Saturday guide: Dozen line up for Derby points in Remsen
For the final time, Aqueduct hosts the Grade 2, 1 1/8-mile Remsen Saturday for 2-year-olds as an early step on the road to the Kentucky Derby. The race offers 10-5-2-3-1 qualifying points to the top five finishers. A full field of 12 has entered the race, with the morning-line attention on Paladin out of the Chad Brown barn.
Paladin broke his maiden in a hard-fought race at the Belmont at Aqueduct meet on Oct. 17. He was elevated to first place due to interference in the stretch by runner-up Renegade, who meets this rival once again here. This son of Gun Runner was a $1.9 million sales purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sale.
Renegade is a son of Into Mischief and one of three in the race trained by Todd Pletcher. He doesn't have an official win yet in two career starts, but the Remsen could be his ticket.
Courting, a full brother to Grade 1 winner Clairiere, is the other big-money yearling in the Remsen. A $5 million Keeneland September yearling, Courting is owned by Whisper Hill Farm, Windancer Farm and Stonestreet and is also trained by Todd Pletcher. He broke his maiden at Aqueduct on Nov. 9 with a 98 HRN speed fig.
The third Pletcher horse is Mike Repole-owned Grittiness, who ran second to Courting in his last start and is also still a maiden. Grittiness is also a son of Curlin and is out of the stakes-winning dam Coach Rocks.
Others of note in this big field are former Baffert trainee Balboa, who now runs out of the Brittany Russell barn and comes here off a win in a listed stakes at Laurel, Talkin, runner-up in the Champagne trained by Danny Gargan and Chambersville, a Kenny McPeek trainee who has a win at the distance that he tallied on turf at Keeneland.
The Remsen is part of the traditional December stakes card at Aqueduct that will move to the new Belmont Park next year. This is the final time the Ozone Park, New York oval will host the Cigar Mile, Remsen and Demoiselle before it shutters for good next spring.
The Remsen is race 9, post time 3:08 p.m. EST.
Coverage of Aqueduct is on Fox Sports' America's Day at the Races. Saturday's live broadcast begins at 11 a.m. EST on FS1 and continues for the major graded stakes on FS2 at 2 p.m. EST.
Horse Racing Nation has free past performances for this weekend's stakes courtesy of Brisnet.
Here are the top 2025 speed figures for the Remsen entrants.
| No. | Horse | Beyer* | TFUS* | Brisnet | HRN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Day One Starter | 83 | 96 | 85 | 107 |
| 2 | Paladin | 86 | 105 | 91 | 112 |
| 3 | I Did I Did | 74 | 102 | 88 | 103 |
| 4 | Grittiness | 71 | 105 | 73 | 94 |
| 5 | Chambersville | 68 | 99 | 83 | 91 |
| 6 | Courting | 77 | 106 | 85 | 111 |
| 7 | Igniter | 81 | 110 | 88 | 114 |
| 8 | Concarneau | 59 | 81 | 77 | 91 |
| 9 | Renegade | 86 | 105 | 91 | 112 |
| 10 | Balboa | 80 | 105 | 91 | 117 |
| 11 | Talkin | 83 | 108 | 92 | 114 |
| 12 | Probably Dreaming | 73 | 95 | 91 | 115 |
*Beyer and TimeformUS speed figures are provided courtesy of Daily Racing Form.
HRN Handicappers
HRN's Ed DeRosa sees a real Kentucky Derby contender in the Remsen favorite, Paladin. Find out why and how to use this expensive youngster in your bets.
HorseCenter's Brian Zipse and Matt Shifman have analysis and plays for the Cigar Mile and Remsen.
On this week's Ron Flatter Racing Pod, NYRABets and Gallop Out podcast co-host Kaylie Shapiro dials-in to talk all things Aqueduct while trainer Gregg Sacco has the inside story on his Cigar Mile horse, Crazy Mason, Mike Shutty joins with a look at the Cigar Mile and Remsen through the Super Screener lens. Listen here.
Speaking of Super Screener, the best bet of all the stakes Saturday is probably the final one. See why here. Get analysis of all six stakes on the Aqueduct card today, plus weekly analysis on the road to the Kentucky Derby.