Express Kid, a 2-year-old California-bred colt who was purchased for only $2,000 as a yearling, joined a growing group of prospects the road to the 2026 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve with a 34.50-1 upset win in the $300,000 Remington Springboard Mile Stakes during the late night of Dec. 20 at Remington Park.

The Bodexpress colt took the lead in the first turn of the two-turn, one-mile race and powered clear in the homestretch to win by 6 ¼ lengths over 9-10 favorite Arctic Beast, earning 10 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby. Artic Beast, who entered the Springboard Mile undefeated in three starts, earned 5 Derby points, with 3-4-5 finishers Royalamerican (3 points), Western Man (2), and Way Beyond (1) also joining the leaderboard.

To the winner's circle. (Dustin Orona/Remington Park)

Express Kid has come a long way from being an afterthought at the Arizona Thoroughbred Breeders' Association Fall Mixed Sale of October 2024, where owner Steve Haahr of Puyallup, Wash., picked him up at a bargain price. The colt’s bankroll through five starts is now $236,902.

Express Kid won his debut back in July sprinting 4 ½ furlongs at Canterbury Park and then finished second and sixth in stakes races at Prairie Meadows and Remington, respectively. Trainer Wade Rarick next tried Express Kid on turf Nov. 6 in a 7 ½-furlong Remington allowance, and the colt won by a head, setting him up for a big jump in class in the Oklahoma track’s Kentucky Derby prep.

In the Springboard Mile, jockey Jose Alvarez was aggressive with Express Kid straight out of the starting gate, urging him to the front of the field from the far outside post. Express Kid gained the lead by the time the field entered the backstretch and settled into a comfortable rhythm that carried him all the way to an upset victory.

“He broke really sharp,” Alvarez told Remington press officials. “And when I saw no one else go, I said, ‘This is my chance to go.’ I tried to relax a little bit on the backside and when I asked him at the quarter pole, he gave me everything he had. He ran great, really good.”