Plus Que Parfait

Plus Que Parfait, a Point of Entry colt owned by Imperial Racing and trained by Brendan Walsh, emerged on the early 2019 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve trail when he finished a good second behind Signalman in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes on Nov. 24 at Churchill Downs. He picked up four qualifying points for the 2019 Derby in that race.

The colt entered his stakes debut off of a nose win in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight at Keeneland on Oct. 7, his third career start.

In his 3-year-old bow, Plus Que Parfait stumbled at the start and finished fifth in the Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds on Jan. 19. He then finished a disappointing 13th in the Risen Star Stakes in February, prompting his owner and trainer to take a less conventional route to the Kentucky Derby, shipping him to Dubai to compete in the $2.5 million UAE Derby. Plus Que Parfait was behind horses early and had to weave among several to find running room in the stretch, but jockey Jose Ortiz guided him between the leaders in mid-stretch and the ridgling responded in earnest, surging past to win the race and 100 points toward a place in the Kentucky Derby starting gate. 

Plus Que Parfait finished eighth in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve.