{"id":95485,"date":"2025-08-27T04:03:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T04:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/95485\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T04:03:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T04:03:21","slug":"2025-nashville-derby-invitational-stakes-at-a-glance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/95485\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 Nashville Derby Invitational Stakes at a Glance"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you are wondering why 14 3-year-olds are entered in Saturday\u2019s Grade 3 DK Horse Nashville Derby Invitational Stakes<\/a> at Kentucky Downs<\/a>, there are 3.5 million reasons for Kentucky-breds. Each of them dollars. The Nashville Derby is one of the sport\u2019s richest races and has attracted an overflow field of 14, with two also-eligible entrants.<\/p>\n

The Nashville Derby promises to be a challenging puzzle for handicappers with the purse enticing the connections of several graded stakes-caliber dirt horses to tackle turf for the first time.<\/p>\n

1. Hill Road<\/a>\u00a0(6-1 morning-line odds): He started his career on turf in Europe, but was third in the 2024 FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance<\/a> and won the Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes<\/a> in May on dirt at Aqueduct. Trainer Chad Brown likes his turn of foot on turf and that makes him a main contender here.<\/p>\n

JOCKEY: Tyler Gaffalione<\/a>; TRAINER: Chad Brown<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Test Score<\/a>\u00a0(4-1): He is in great form right now. Was a close third in the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational<\/a> and in his last three starts, all in Grade 1 company, he has a first, second, and third. Definitely belongs in the exotics.<\/p>\n

JOCKEY: Manny Franco<\/a>; TRAINER: Graham Motion<\/a><\/p>\n

3. King of Ashes<\/a>\u00a0(30-1): Didn\u2019t fire last time but before that was a neck behind World Beater<\/a>, who went on to win the Saratoga Derby. Worth a look if the price is long enough.<\/p>\n

JOCKEY: Ben Curtis<\/a>; TRAINER: Brendan Walsh<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Tomasello<\/a>\u00a0(20-1): Has a nice turn of early speed but has yet to race beyond 1 1\/8 miles and this may be too long for him.<\/p>\n

JOCKEY: Fernando De La Cruz<\/a>; TRAINER: Mark Casse<\/a><\/p>\n

5. Burham Square<\/a>\u00a0(6-1): A winner of the Grade 1 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes<\/a> on dirt, this is his turf debut. He\u2019s been training on an all-weather surface and is out of a Scat Daddy mare who won a graded stakes race on grass, so he deserves some consideration.<\/p>\n

JOCKEY: Brian J. Hernandez Jr.<\/a>; TRAINER: Ian Wilkes<\/a><\/p>\n

6. Simulate<\/a>\u00a0(10-1): Seems to be on the upswing with a second in the Secretariat Stakes<\/a> last time out. He\u2019s bred for the distance and has a Hall of Fame trainer in Bill Mott. An interesting possibility<\/p>\n

JOCKEY: Junior Alvarado<\/a>; TRAINER: Bill Mott<\/a><\/p>\n

7. Tiztastic<\/a>\u00a0(20-1): Showed little in his last two starts on turf and this seems a tough spot for a bounce-back effort.<\/p>\n

JOCKEY: Joel Rosario<\/a>; TRAINER: Steve Asmussen<\/a><\/p>\n

8. Sandman<\/a>\u00a0(5-1): Another Grade 1 winner trying turf for the first time. His pedigree does not scream turf and with a highly popular social media influencer owning a share of him, he will most likely be overbet. Might be worth taking a stand against him, especially in the win pool.<\/p>\n

JOCKEY: Jose Ortiz<\/a>; TRAINER: Mark Casse<\/a><\/p>\n

9. Noble Confessor<\/a>\u00a0(20-1): Has stakes experience but earned his first career win in seventh start last time out. Will need to take a very big step forward here.<\/p>\n

JOCKEY: Irad Ortiz Jr.<\/a>; TRAINER: Todd Pletcher<\/a><\/p>\n

10. Maximum Promise<\/a>\u00a0(30-1): Showed little in his lone turf stakes. Pass.<\/p>\n

JOCKEY: Luis Saez<\/a>; TRAINER: Ken McPeek<\/a><\/p>\n

11. Final Gambit<\/a>\u00a0(8-1): Lacked a strong closing kick in both the Belmont Derby Invitational<\/a> and Saratoga Derby. Seems to be best-suited to an all-weather surface.<\/p>\n

JOCKEY: Florent Geroux<\/a>; TRAINER: Brad Cox<\/a><\/p>\n

12. Wimbledon Hawkeye<\/a>\u00a0(7-2): European invader should feel right at home on this course. He arrived in the United States after a nose loss in a Group 3 stakes and a second by two lengths in a Group 2 stakes, both in Great Britain. Was also beaten by less than four lengths in a Group 2 stakes at Royal Ascot. Should be a force here.<\/p>\n

JOCKEY: Frankie Dettori<\/a>; TRAINER: James Owen<\/a><\/p>\n

Also-Eligible – 13. Iron Hand<\/a>: On the also-eligible list and would need one defection to draw into the race. He has some speed and was a close third in a minor stakes at Gulfstream Park, but has yet to race beyond a mile and a sixteenth.<\/p>\n

JOCKEY: Edwin Gonzalez<\/a>; TRAINER: Jose D\u2019Angelo<\/a><\/p>\n

Also-Eligible – 14. Native Runner<\/a>: Second 3-year-old on the also-eligible list, he was a well-beaten eighth in the prep race for this stakes at Ellis Park.<\/p>\n

JOCKEY: Brian J. Hernandez Jr.<\/a>; TRAINER: Ken McPeek<\/a><\/p>\n

THE PICK: Wimbledon Hawkeye<\/a><\/p>\n

LIVE LONGSHOT: Simulate<\/a><\/p>\n

SUPERFECTA: 12-1-2-6<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you are wondering why 14 3-year-olds are entered in Saturday\u2019s Grade 3 DK Horse Nashville Derby Invitational…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95486,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-95485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}