Paladin

Paladin made his career debut as a 2-year-old on Oct. 17, 2025, in a one-mile maiden race at Aqueduct and battled to within a head of the winner and was declared the winner of the race via DQ after being bothered nearing the wire. He then went up to face stakes company in his second career start in the Grade 2 $250,000 Remsen Stakes and this time left no doubt, crossing the wire in front by two lengths as the 1.88 favorite in the 1 1/8-mile race at Aqueduct on Dec. 6. The Remsen was a points race on the Road to the 2026 Kentucky Derby and with his victory, Paladin earned 10 qualifying points.

Paladin's next outing came in his 3-year-old debut in the Grade 2 $500,000 Risen Star Stakes going 1 1/8 miles at Fair Grounds on Feb. 14, 2026. Sent off as the 0.70-1 favorite in a field of eight, Paladin stalked the pace biding his time in mid-pack for much of the race. He made his move to try to catch leading Chip Honcho at the top of the long Fair Grounds stretch and grinded his way to a victory by a half a length with Tyler Gaffalione aboard. As an important 50-points to the winner prep race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, Paladin increased his total to 60 points which was good enough for the top spot on the leaderboard as of Feb. 14. 

Paladin is trained by Chad Brown. He was bred in Kentucky by the sire Gun Runner out of the mare Secret Sigh by Tapit. He was purchased by Coolmore for $1.9 million as a yearling at the Fasig-Tipton August 2024 sale at Saratoga.