Entering the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park Feb. 21, bettors were keyed in on the top-two finishers of the Leonatus Stakes, Street Beast and Fulleffort. However, it was that local prep’s fifth-place finisher, Great White, who would take the largest bite out of the Battaglia’s $174,835 purse.

In the Jan. 17 Leonatus Stakes, Great White had drawn the rail and encountered a rough trip but still managed to finish fifth, beaten by 4 3/4 lengths. Out clean while breaking from post-position 8 this time, the Volatile gelding raced within a few lengths of the pace under jockey Alex Achard.

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“Last race, everything was against us,” Achard said. “Today, we just came back and knew we had to be more aggressive and closer. He put me right there and he did it in a good way.”

Achard settled Great White into a stalking position in third as Street Beast and Attfield battled through quarter-mile fractions of :23.88, :48.84, and 1:14.65. Poised on the outside, Great White seized command on the final turn and opened a clear lead into the stretch. Fulleffort, as he did in the Leonatus, gobbled up ground late, but he fell a neck short as Great White completed 1 1/16 miles in 1:46.83.

The gray or roan gelding was purchased for $55,000 out of Taylor Made Sales Agency’s consignment at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton December Digital Selected Sale by Three Chimneys Farm. Trainer John Ennis had shown interest in the youngster at the sale, and a few weeks later was approached by Three Chimneys to join them in the partnership.

“I was privileged to even be asked by Three Chimneys to be involved with a horse of theirs,” Ennis said.

Great White proved perplexing to train, with Ennis describing the challenge as taking one step back for every two steps forward. Ennis finally got him to the races for a debut victory at Turfway Dec. 12 that preceded the unplaced finish in the Leonatus Stakes. Ennis entered the Battaglia thinking there was plenty of room to improve.

Great White wins Battaglia Memorial (Eclipse Sportswire)

“I’ve always liked the horse, but I thought he was a little weak,” Ennis said. “I spoke to Gonçalo [Torrealba, chairman of Three Chimneys] and the guys at Three Chimneys and said, ‘Look, he’s just not there yet. He’ll be a nice horse in the summer, a proper horse in the summer, but he’s just not there yet. But whatever he does today, he’ll improve for the next day.’ I think every race you’ll see a significant improvement with him.”

The May 14 foal seems to be ahead of schedule in terms of reaching his true potential. Saturday’s victory, for which he paid $32.32, earned him 20 qualifying points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. The remainder of the top five finishers — Fulleffort, Maximus Prime, Baytown Dreamer, and Steel Imperium — earned points on a 10-6-4-2 scale.

Ennis had his first taste of the Kentucky Derby in 2024 with Epic Ride, who had finished second in that year’s Battaglia and finished 14th at Churchill Downs after drawing in off the also-eligible list.

“This doesn’t happen to somebody like me. It’s crazy just be in the picture now,” Ennis said of a potential second Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve runner.

Epic Ride would prove to be more of a turf miler than a classic-distance dirt horse, winning the Mint Millions Invitational Stakes at Kentucky Downs last summer. Great White’s sire, Three Chimneys stallion Volatile, was a Grade 1-winning sprinter. However, Ennis believes this gelding will be able to get the added distance.

“There’s so much more improvement in this horse,” Ennis said. “He’s obviously by Volatile, who was a quick horse, but [Great White] gets the two turns so well. I don’t think distance is going to be a problem with him.”

The diminishing margin of victory may leave some doubters of his ability beyond 1 1/16 miles, but both Ennis and Achard believed it was partially due to him reaching the lead so early and waiting on competition.

“I took the lead pretty early and I was kind of by myself for a bit,” Achard said. “So, he was getting tired and was waiting as well for the other. ... He’s going to get better and better. He’s massive. Physically, he’s going to change a lot, and mentally as well.”

Ennis did say he believes the horse will improve with more spacing between races. He did not commit to returning to Turfway in four weeks for the March 21 Jeff Ruby Steaks, but said the colt will most likely make his final Derby prep in Kentucky. The other option would come six weeks from now in the April 4 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, which would be Great White’s first start on dirt.

“I think the bigger the track, like Keeneland, he could be even better on it,” Ennis said. “He works phenomenal [on dirt] on the Thoroughbred Training Center in Lexington, and that’s a deep track.”