Red Route One

Red Route One began his career racing on turf and finished fifth in his career debut before winning his second start by 3 ¾ lengths Sept. 5, 2022, at Kentucky Downs.

Subsequently shifted to the main track to assess his chances as a contender for the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and 2023 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, Red Route One showed some versatility. The Gun Runner colt finished third in the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity Oct. 9 at Keeneland in his first try on the dirt and then was unplaced on a loppy track in the Grade 3 Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs. Red Route One closed out his 2-year-old season with a fourth-place finish, beaten by 1 ½ lengths, in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill.

In his 3-year-old debut, Red Route One showed nice improvement as he closed powerfully on a sealed-sloppy main track Jan. 28, 2023, at Oaklawn Park to finish second to Arabian Knight in the $750,000 Southwest Stakes.

Red Route One ended up back on a sloppy track again in his next start, which came in the Grade 2 $1 million Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Feb. 25. In the Rebel, Red Route One closed from far back in an 11-horse field and passed horses from last to second to finish within a length of the winner, Confidence Game. Red Route One added another 20 points to his total on the Road to the Kentucky Derby courtesy of his runner-up finish in the Rebel.

Steve Asmussen’s charge ended up bypassing the 2023 Kentucky Derby and instead ran in the Bath House Row stakes at Oaklawn two weeks earlier, winning that 1 1/8-mile race by a rallying head. He then finished fourth in the Preakness Stakes and an eased-up eighth in the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets.

Red Route One ran perhaps his best race of the year on Aug. 6, 2023, when he scored a powerful three-length victory in the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park. He later finished his 3-year-old season with three more races, including a second-place finish by a nose in the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park, and a third-place finish in the $300,000 Zia Park Derby.

Red Route One returned to the track early in his 4-year-old season with a trio of races at the Fair Grounds including the Grade 3 Louisiana Stakes in January 2024, and Grade 3 Mineshaft Stakes in February, and the Grade 2 $500,000 New Orleans Classic on March 23. After finishing second in the Louisiana and fourth in the Mineshaft - both at 1 1/16th miles - Red Route One returned to the winner's circle with a come-from-behind score in the Louisiana Classic at 1 1/8 miles.

Red Route One subsequently finished third in the Oaklawn Handicap in April and fourth in the Pimlico Special Stakes Preakness weekend at Pimlico. He regained his top form in the $310,430 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap July 6 at Prairie Meadows, where he closed from eighth in a 10-horse field to prevail by a half-length as the 7-2 third choice in the betting under Cristian Torres.

Red Rourte One was back in the winner's circle again as a 5-year-old at Oaklawn Park where he took the Grade 3 $500,000 Essex Handicap going 1 1/8 miles with a last-to-first move to top a six-horse field on March 22, 2025.

Red Route One was produced by the unraced Tapit mare Red House, a full-sister (same dam, same sire) to 2014 champion 3-year-old filly Untapable.