Jace's Road

Jace's Road made his career debut in a 2-year-old maiden race at Ellis Park on Aug. 6, 2022 and won at first asking with a big 6 1/4-length victory going six furlongs. The win earned him a stakes entry in his next race, which was in the Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs on Sept. 17. Jace's Road ran admirably that day, finishing third in his first stretchout to 1 1/16 miles, beaten a total of just 1 1/2 lengths by the winner, Curly Jack. For his show finish, Jace's Road earned three points in the Iroquois, which was the very first points race on the Road to the 2023 Kentucky Derby.

Things did not go to plan in the next start for Jace's Road, which came in the Grade 3 Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs on Oct. 30. Jace's Road acted up and dropped the rider before the start of the Street Sense, then did not look comfortable on a sloppy sealed racetrack and struggled to finish the race when crossing the line eighth out of 10 in the race.

Jace's Road rebounded in fine fashion in his final race of 2022, which came in the $100,000 Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds going 1 1/16 miles on Dec. 26.  In the Gun Runner, Jace's Road set a pressured pace through moderate fractions, put away the challenger, and drew off to a comfortable 5 1/2-length win in a final time of 1:44.85. As the second choice on the tote board in the seven-horse field, Jace's Road paid $6.80 to win.

Unfortunately for Jace’s Road, he was forced to race on a sloppy track again for his 3-year-old debut. The result was a distant fifth-place finish in the $750,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Jan. 28.

Jace's Road made his next start in the Grade 2 $1 million Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds on March 25. He pressed a slow pace and held on for third place in the 12-horse field, which was good enough to earn him 30 qualifying points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

Jace's Road is trained by Brad Cox. He was bred in Kentucky by Quality Road out of the mare Out Post by Silver Deputy.