BENSALEM, PA. – The Puma (Essential Quality) had to wait for the third Saturday in September for his Derby victory.

Scratched from the GI Kentucky Derby with swelling in his leg due to a skin infection, The Puma dug down gamely to fend off favored ‘TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard’ Further Ado (Gun Runner) by a half-length in a thrilling renewal of the $1-million GI Pennsylvania Derby on a beautiful, late summer afternoon at Parx Racing Saturday. It was another 1 1/2 lengths back to Sassmaster (Curlin) in third.

The Puma and Further Ado were also one-two in the GIII Tampa Bay Derby Mar. 7, the first career victory for the former.



“You always want to win the Grade I,” winning trainer Gustavo Delgado said. “For all the people, the family, it’s very good. The best race for me is right now. Very happy and very exciting. Right now, we will wait before thinking about the Breeders’ Cup. We will go back to Saratoga, and we will meet with my partners and my son (assistant trainer Gustavo, Jr.) and then decide.”

Off as the 5-2 second choice, The Puma raced in eighth with Further Ado placed in a stalking, inside fourth as longshots Talk to Me Jimmy (Modernist) and Ponder and Dream (Uncle Lino) showed the way through fractions of :23.27 and :47.69.

Hall of Fame rider Javier Castellano took the overland route beneath The Puma and caught the eye with a powerful, sweeping move on the far turn while Flavien Prat waited for racing room with Further Ado.

The Puma struck the front at the top of the stretch and Further Ado was tipped out and the Tampa Bay Derby rematch was on.

The Puma had the jump, however, and opened up a three-length advantage at the stretch call. Further Ado kept on coming in the stretch with massive strides, but fell just short in a race that didn’t deserve a loser.

The Puma is campaigned by a large partnership group, led by the Delgado Family’s OGMA Investments, High Step Racing (Randy Guy, Joe Noble, Kevin Avera, Jim Ferreira and former Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Todd Perry), TCC Stables, YNG Stables and Jose Aguirre’s JR Ranch.

“We are excited,” Guy said. “It’s been a long ride. We scratched on the day of the (Kentucky) Derby, and it was frustrating. But it was the best thing. I was not overconfident coming here, but I knew he had that performance in him. We will let the boss (Gustavo Delgado) decide his future. He is the original Puma, before the horse came. What Gustavo is great about is letting the horse tell him what he wants to do. We knew he was happy coming into this race and it showed.”

The Puma, also a painful second, beaten only a nose in the GI Curlin Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park Mar. 28, rolled a pair of fours earlier this summer in the GI NYRA Bets Haskell S. at a sloppy Monmouth Park July 18 and the GI DraftKings Travers S. at Saratoga last time Aug. 29. He raced in first-time blinkers in the Pennsylvania Derby.

“With the blinkers, focused,” Castellano said. “I moved, when I asked he gave it to me right away. At some point I said, ‘Oh my God, you moved too early Javier.’ But he felt good, he was happy and it was a great performance.”

Pedigree Notes:

The Puma, a $95,000 RNA as a Keeneland September yearling turned $150,000 OBS April purchase by Ramiro Restrepo’s Marquee Bloodstock, is one of eight black-type winners and the lone graded winner for sophomore sire Essential Quality. He is the first Grade I winner for the two-time champion and Darley stallion.

The Puma, bred in partnership by Hidden Brook Farm and Brian Kahn, is the first foal out of Eve of War (Declaration of War), a runaway debut winner for owner/breeder Jeff Treadway and trainer Todd Pletcher at Gulfstream Park back in 2020. She finished a career-best third in that term’s GIII Monmouth Oaks.

Eve of War also has a yearling colt by Nyquist (scratched out of Keeneland September) and a Practical Joke colt of this year in the pipeline. She was bred back to Sierra Leone.

Eve of War RNA’d for $245,000 carrying The Puma at the 2022 Keeneland November sale.

 

THE PUMA gets it done in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby (G1)!

The son of @darleyamerica Essential Quality was ridden by @jjcjockey for trainer @GDS_Racing. Did you have him? pic.twitter.com/XJ7fPVbUDr

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) September 19, 2026

Saturday, Parx Racing
PENNSYLVANIA DERBY-GI, $1,000,000, Parx Racing, 9-19, 3yo, 1 1/8m, 1:49.10, ft.
1–THE PUMA, 124, c, 3, by Essential Quality
              1st Dam: Eve of War (GSP), by Declaration of War
              2nd Dam: Special Thanks, by Broken Vow
              3rd Dam: Bedanken, by Geri
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($95,000 RNA Ylg ’24 KEESEP; $150,000
2yo ’25 OBSAPR). O-OGMA Investments LLC, High Step
Racing, TCC Stables LLC, YNG Stables LLC and JR Ranch;
B-Hidden Brook Farm & Brian Kahn (KY); T-Gustavo Delgado;
J-Javier Castellano. $555,000. Lifetime Record: 7-2-2-1,
$1,122,280. Werk Nick Rating: A++.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or the free
Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Further Ado, 126, c, 3, Gun Runner–Sky Dreamer, by Sky
Mesa. ($275,000 Ylg ’24 KEESEP; $550,000 2yo ’25 OBSAPR).
O-Spendthrift Farm LLC; B-John C. Oxley (KY); T-Brad H. Cox.
$185,000.  ‘TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard’
3–Sassmaster, 122, c, 3, Curlin–Sass and Class, by Harlan’s
Holiday. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1
BLACK TYPE. ($550,000 Ylg ’24 FTKOCT). O-Mark D. Breen;
B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Todd A.
Pletcher. $92,500.
Margins: HF, 1HF, 3HF. Odds: 2.70, 2.00, 7.40.
Also Ran: Our Moneyman, Igniter, Talk to Me Jimmy, Iron Honor, Freedom’s Echo, Micanopy, Ponder and Dream. Scratched: Zihnal.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel Racing.