The 73rd edition of the Curlin Florida Derby Presented by Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms at Xalapa drew last year’s champion 2-year-old male Fierceness among a compact, but talented cast for one of the most influential prep races for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve.

Historically, the Florida Derby is the most important steppingstone to the Kentucky Derby glory as a record 25 3-year-olds prepped in the race and went on to win the run for the roses, including Florida Derby runner-up Mage a year ago. Six horses since the turn of the century have won both the Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby: Monarchos (2001), Barbaro (2006), Big Brown (2008), Orb (2013), Nyquist (2016), and Always Dreaming (2017).

Other notable horses among the 15 to sweep the two races include Northern Dancer (1964) and Spectacular Bid (1979).

The $1 million, Grade 1 Florida Derby is the featured race on an action-packed 14-race card that features 10 stakes races, including five graded stakes, worth $2,425,000 in purses March 30 at Gulfstream Park. It will be televised on CNBC and streamed on Peacock and has a scheduled post time of 6:42 p.m. ET.

Sign up now!

In addition to live TV, the Florida Derby and two undercard races at Gulfstream will be showcased on a livestream produced by America’s Best Racing. Hosted by Dan Tordjman, Ren Carothers, and Alexa Zepp, the Florida Derby Watch Party show starts at 5 p.m. ET and will be streamed on several social media channels from both America’s Best Racing and Gulfstream Park. 

Get up to $175 in bonus cash when you sign up and bet the Florida Derby with 1/ST BET, the Official App of Gulfstream Park and the 1/ST Racing Tour. Download the 1/ST BET app and sign up with Promo Code ABR150 to receive a 100% Deposit Match on your first deposit, up to $150, plus an additional $25 Bonus if you deposit within 30 minutes of signing up. That way, once you get to know the Florida Derby contenders in this handy Cheat Sheet, you can bet the race with confidence on 1/ST BET on Saturday, March 30. 

Let’s examine the field for this year’s renewal of the 1 1/8-mile Florida Derby.

Gulfstream Park/Lauren King

1. Frankie’s Empire (12-1 morning-line odds)

Jockey: Miguel Angel Vasquez

Trainer: Michael Yates

Owner: Frank DeLuca

Career record: 8 starts – 4 wins – 0 seconds – 2 thirds

Career earnings: $225,700

Earnings per start: $28,213

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 99

Kentucky Derby points: 15 (not Triple Crown nominated)

Pedigree: Classic Empire – Donna D, by Dixie Union

Color: Dark bay or brown

Running style: Stalker/closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Frankie’s Empire won three of six starts as a 2-year-old and was stakes-placed, finishing a distant third in the Sapling Stakes at Monmouth Park. The Classic Empire colt showed significant improvement in his 3-year-old bow and first start for new trainer Michael Yates, powering clear to win the seven-furlong Swale Stakes by 3 ½ lengths Feb. 3 at Gulfstream Park. He earned a new career-best 94 Equibase Speed Figure for the win and improved that by five points in his next start when running third, beaten by two lengths by Dornoch, when stretching out to 1 1/16 miles for the Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes March 2. The Fountain of Youth was a promising race for Frankie’s Empire, but it’s tough to look past the fact that his four victories have all come in sprints and he has not shown as much late punch in his two-turn races. Frankie’s Empire should get a ground-saving trip from the inside post and could be in the mix approaching the stretch, but he looks more like a contender to fill out the exacta or trifecta in the Florida Derby rather than to post an upset win.

Bet Frankie's Empire in the Florida Derby

Eclipse Sportswire

2. Hades (7-2)

Jockey: Paco Lopez

Trainer: Joe Orseno

Owners: D. J. Stable and Robert Cotran

Career record: 3 starts – 3 wins – 0 seconds – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $225,000

Earnings per start: $75,000

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 97

Kentucky Derby points: 20

Pedigree: Awesome Slew – The Shady Lady, by Quality Road

Color: Bay

Running style: Pacesetter/press the pace

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Hades is unbeaten in three starts, winning by a combined margin of 10 ½ lengths, and enters off a two-length victory in his stakes debut in the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes Feb. 3 at Gulfstream Park. In that race, he dueled champion Fierceness early and edged away on this main track to post a 9.60-1 upset. The pace was very slow in the Holy Bull and, as a result, the speed figures came back uninspiring, but it would be a mistake to dismiss that win by Florida-bred Hades. He’s shown the ability to run faster early in races and still finish well, albeit in sprints, and he’s yet to be defeated. Hades will very likely need to improve his Equibase Speed Figure in the Florida Derby – the average winning figure over the last 20 years is a 104.3 and familiar foe Fierceness has a career-top 110 Equibase Speed Figure – but with seven weeks rest leading into his fourth career start he has every chance to take a step forward. Hades looks like a leading Florida Derby contender. Expect him to flash his speed under Paco Lopez from an inside post-position draw and dare the opposition to catch him late.

Bet Hades in the Florida Derby

Gulfstream Park/Ryan Thompson

3. Bail Us Out (15-1)

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Owner: Repole Stable

Career record: 2 starts – 1 win – 0 seconds – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $45,000

Earnings per start: $22,500

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 86

Kentucky Derby points: 0

Pedigree: Lookin at Lucky – Joffe’s Run, by Giant’s Causeway

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Bail Us Out makes the jump from a maiden win to a Grade 1 race after winning a 1 1/16-mile race Feb. 3 on the all-weather surface at Gulfstream Park. Prior to that, he finished fourth in his career debut in a dirt sprint for trainer Todd Pletcher and owner Mike Repole, who also send out champion Fierceness in this race. While Bail Us Out’s maiden win was a quality race, he will be trying to win on dirt for the first time in a $1 million race at the top stakes level. The Florida Derby is a challenging assignment for Bail Us Out to say the least. On the bright side, this colt out of the multiple stakes-winning Giant’s Causeway mare Joffe’s Run has shown ability and has some upside entering his third start for a potent trainer-jockey tandem in Pletcher and Irad Ortiz Jr., who have won at a 28% clip at Gulfstream Park since the start of 2023. In fact, Pletcher and Ortiz paired to win this race last year with Forte, who was co-owned by Repole. Hall of Famer Pletcher has won the Florida Derby a record seven times with Scat Daddy (2007), Constitution (2014), Materiality (2015), Always Dreaming (2017), Audible (2018), Known Agenda (2021), and Forte. Ortiz won the race in 2021 on Known Agenda as well as last year aboard Forte.

Bet Bail Us Out in the Florida Derby

Eclipse Sportswire

4. Grand Mo the First (15-1)

Jockey: Emisael Jaramillo

Trainer: Victor Barboza Jr.

Owner: Granpollo Stable

Career record: 5 starts – 2 wins – 0 seconds – 3 thirds

Career earnings: $121,650

Earnings per start: $24,330

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 91

Kentucky Derby points: 15

Pedigree: Uncle Mo – Lilies So Fair, by Giant’s Causeway

Color: Dark bay or brown

Running style: Stalker

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Grand Mo the First made a nice first impression as a 2-year-old, winning by 2 ¼ lengths in his debut in August 2023 in a sprint on the all-weather surface at Gulfstream Park. He followed with another all-weather sprint win at Gulfstream before shipping to Southern California and running third behind the talented Endlessly in the Grade 3 Zuma Beach Stakes. Trainer Victor Barboza Jr. transitioned the Uncle Mo colt to dirt as a 3-year-old and the results have been solid: third in both the Swale Stakes and Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby. In the Tampa Bay Derby, Grand Mo the First finished just a neck behind winner Domestic Product in a very slowly run race that might be better than it looks on paper. That said, he very likely will need to boost his Equibase Speed Figure 10-15 points to be a win candidate in the Florida Derby. Grand Mo the First has proved capable of competing in two-turn races at the graded stakes level. Can he take the next step and prove he’s a bona-fide Kentucky Derby contender? We’ll learn the answer in the Florida Derby. An interesting pedigree note is Grade Mo the First’s winning dam, Lilies So Fair, by Giant’s Causeway, is a half-sister (same dam, different sire) to 2015 Florida Derby winner Materiality.

Bet Grand Mo the First in the Florida Derby

Gulfstream Park/Angelo Lieto

5. Real Macho (20-1)

Jockey: Javier Castellano

Trainer: Rohan Crichton

Owners: Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Rohan Crichton, Daniel Walters, and Dennis Smith

Career record: 5 starts – 2 wins – 0 seconds – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $88,320

Earnings per start: $17,664

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 90

Kentucky Derby points: 10

Pedigree: Mucho Macho Man – Hedonism, by Curlin

Color: Chestnut

Running style: Stalker

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Real Macho made his stakes debut in the Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes and raced within a length of the pace through a half-mile before fading badly late and finishing fourth, 7 ¾ length behind winner Dornoch. Prior to that he had won two of four races, both in one-mile races at Gulfstream. It’s worth taking another shot on the Kentucky Derby trail after the Fountain of Youth, in which he earned a new career-best 90 Equibase Speed Figure, but Real Macho will very likely need to run the race of his life to finish in the top three against a field of this quality. Jockey Javier Castellano, who won the Florida Derby in 2014 aboard Constitution, should be able to settle Real Macho into a comfortable stalking position a few lengths behind Hades.

Bet Real Macho in the Florida Derby

Adam Coglianese/NYRA

6. Le Dom Bro (15-1)

Jockey: Edwin Gonzalez

Trainer: Eniel Cordero

Owners: Vicente Stella Stables

Career record: 6 starts – 1 win – 4 seconds – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $168,450

Earnings per start: $28,075

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 99

Kentucky Derby points: 25

Pedigree: Mucho Macho Man – Valiant Emilia, by Pegasus Wind

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker/press the pace

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Outside of a terrible start on a muddy track in his stakes debut in the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes, Le Dom Bro has been very good and quite consistent. The Mucho Macho Man colt out of Peruvian champion Valiant Emilia has one win and four seconds in his other five starts and enters the Florida Derby off runner-up finishes in the seven-furlong Swale Stakes and Grade 2 Coolmore Fountain of Youth Stakes. Le Dom Bro was 1 ¾ lengths behind Dornoch in the Fountain of Youth and earned a career-best 99 Equibase Speed Figure. If he can take a step forward in his third start of the year and improve his speed figure by five to 10 points, Le Dom Bro could post the upset, but a top-three finish in which jockey Edwin Gonzalez uses the colt’s tactical speed to rate just off the pace feels like a more realistic outcome. That would very likely be sufficient to punch his ticket to the Kentucky Derby.

Bet Le Dom Bro in the Florida Derby

Gulfstream Park/Nicole Thomas

7. Catalytic (20-1)      

Jockey: Julien Leparoux

Trainer: Saffie Joseph Jr.

Owners: Tami Bobo, Julie Davies, and George Isaacs

Career record: 2 starts – 1 win – 1 second – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $30,825

Earnings per start: $15,413

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 85

Kentucky Derby points: 0

Pedigree: Catalina Cruiser – One Show Only, by Distorted Humor

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Catalytic is one of several 3-year-olds entered in the Florida Derby that have flashed promise in lower-level races and step up into graded stakes competition in this key Kentucky Derby prep race. Such a move makes sense, as there is a little more than five weeks until Kentucky Derby day so it’s now or never for owners and trainers with grandiose aspirations. Catalytic won his debut by 5 ½ lengths in October at Gulfstream Park in a dirt sprint and then finished a fast-closing second March 6 at Tampa Bay Downs in a three-quarter-mile sprint. Returning from a five-month layoff, Catalytic probably was not 100% for his season debut and he’s eligible to improve in his second race of the year. He will need to do just that to be a factor in the Florida Derby while stretching out in distance to 1 1/8 miles for his stakes debut. Catalytic’s best Equibase Speed Figure is about 20 points slower than the average winner of this race over the last 20 years. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. won the Florida Derby in 2022 with White Abarrio; jockey Julien Leparoux won the race in 2011 on Dialed In. Part-owner Tami Bobo finished third in the 2022 edition with Simplification, who ran fourth in that year’s Kentucky Derby.

Bet Catalytic in the Florida Derby

Gulfstream Park/Lauren King

8. Seminole Chief (30-1)       

Jockey: Joel Rosario

Trainer: Jack Sisterson

Owners: Brad Grady and David Grund

Career record: 5 starts – 3 wins – 0 seconds – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $254,435

Earnings per start: $50,887

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 96

Kentucky Derby points: 0

Pedigree: Girvin – Secret Song, by Dunkirk

Color: Gray or roan

Running style: Press the pace

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Seminole Chief won two of three starts, including a stakes win, as a 2-year-old in 2023 before a disappointing 3-year-old debut when last of nine in the Grade 3 Withers Stakes Feb. 3 at Aqueduct. Seminole Chief was bumped at the start in that race, which was his first try on an “off” track, and he was eased and then walked off on the muddy surface. The Girvin colt bounced back nicely in his next race, a 1 1/16-mile allowance-optional claiming race at Gulfstream Park that originally was scheduled to be run on turf but was moved to the all-weather surface due to rain. Seminole Chief led from start to finish in a 1 ¾-length win at 14.80-1 odds despite showing some signs of immaturity when failing to change leads in the stretch. He earned a new career-best 96 Equibase Speed Figure for that win – his best figure on dirt is an 84 – and needs to take a big leap in the Florida Derby to be a threat to win the race. There is not a ton of speed in Saturday’s renewal, so if jockey Joel Rosario can tuck in just behind Hades and Fierceness, Seminole Chief could get the jump on the stalkers and closers and finish in the top three at double-digit odds.

Bet Seminole Chief in the Florida Derby

Gulfstream Park/Ryan Thompson

9. Conquest Warrior (3-1)

Jockey: Jose Ortiz

Trainer: Shug McGaughey

Owner: Courtlandt Farms (Donald Adam)

Career record: 3 starts – 2 wins – 0 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $96,000

Earnings per start: $32,000

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 85

Kentucky Derby points: 0

Pedigree: City of Light – Tea Time, by Pulpit

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker/closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Conquest Warrior generated some buzz with a five-length romp in a 1 1/8-mile allowance-optional claiming race March 1 at Gulfstream Park. That followed a fast-closing half-length win going one mile at Gulfstream in which he overcame significant trouble at the start and mid-race to prevail. The City of Light colt from the family of champion Althea is stepping up significantly in class in the Grade 1 Florida Derby and probably needs a top-two finish to qualify for the Kentucky Derby. He very likely will need to improve his Equibase Speed Figure by 15 to 20 points in his fourth career start for Hall of fame trainer Shug McGaughey, who won this race in 2013 with future Kentucky Derby winner Orb, but 3-year-olds in early spring can take big leaps in terms of progress. Conquest Warrior is an intriguing Florida Derby candidate with significant upside if jockey Jose Ortiz can guide him over from a tricky outside post to save some ground entering the first turn of the 1 1/8-mile race.

Bet Conquest Warrior in the Florida Derby

10. Fierceness (8-5)

Jockey: John Velazquez

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Owner: Repole Stable

Career record: 4 starts – 2 wins – 0 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $1,127,250

Earnings per start: $281,813

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 110

Kentucky Derby points: 36

Pedigree: City of Light – Nonna Bella, by Stay Thirsty

Color: Bay

Running style: Press the pace

Notable achievements and interesting facts: When Fierceness is at his best and things go his way, he can be absolutely dazzling. In fact, his record indicates he’s probably the fastest of his crop of 3-year-olds. But we’ve seen him derailed a bit by adversity in his four starts, including a distant seventh-place finish on a sloppy track in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes after a slow start and a fading third-place finish in his 3-year-old bow in the Holy Bull Stakes on Feb. 3 after another troubled start. The Holy Bull Stakes was Fierceness’ first start in three months and he very likely needed the race from a fitness perspective, so expect an improved effort in the Florida Derby. Last year’s runaway FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Presented by TAA winner and champion 2-year-old male probably will be favored in the Florida Derby, but as he faced in the Holy Bull, Fierceness should expect early pressure from Hades, who beat him by 3 ½ lengths in that race. He also has a tough outside post position to navigate with a short run into the first turn. With 36 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, a top-three finish should secure his starting spot in the starting gate for the first jewel of the Triple Crown. Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher has won the race a record seven times with Scat Daddy (2007), Constitution (2014), Materiality (2015), Always Dreaming (2017), Audible (2018), Known Agenda (2021), and Forte (2023). Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez also holds the record for Florida Derby wins with five: Quality Road (2009), Orb (2013), Materiality, Always Dreaming, and Audible. Owner Mike Repole was co-owner of 2023 Florida Derby winner Forte. 

Bet Fierceness in the Florida Derby

Gulfstream Park/Lauren King

11. Iris’s Dream (30-1)           

Jockey: Jorge Ruiz

Trainer: Cheryl Winebaugh

Owner: Iris Cotto

Career record: 3 starts – 1 win – 1 second – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $42,860

Earnings per start: $14,287

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 81

Kentucky Derby points: 0

Pedigree: Jess’s Dream – Smart Kiara, by Lion Heart

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker

Notable achievements and interesting facts: There is a very good chance Iris’s Dream leaves the starting gate at the highest odds on the toteboard for the Florida Derby. The Florida-bred Jess’s Dream gelding enters the race off a maiden-optional claiming win at 1 1/16 miles on the grass Feb. 29 at Gulfstream Park. Prior to that, Iris’s Dream had run fourth then second in two starts on the dirt main track at Gulfstream Park. With no wins on dirt, a career-best 81 Equibase Speed Figure, and the outside post position while moving up to the Grade 1 level, Iris’s Dream has his work cut out for him in the Florida Derby with a champion directly to his inside in the starting gate.

Bet Iris's Dream in the Florida Derby