Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert believed that Salahudin, his favorite for the $300,000 Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes, would appreciate stretching out to a mile and every inch of the long Churchill Downs stretch. That statement turned out to be prophetic.

Salahudin, a big, still-maturing colt, was away last in the field of seven but found his best gear late and grinded out a half-length victory in the Iroquois Sept. 12 in the first official prep race on the road to the 2027 Kentucky Derby. Zedan Racing Stables' Salahudin is the first colt to put his name atop the points leaderboard for the Derby with his victory in the one-turn mile.

"He still has a lot to learn," Baffert said. "He's still a baby. He's a big baby still."

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Earlier on the card, Manuka Honey won the sister race, the $297,750 Grade 3 Pocahontas Stakes on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks.

The two races awarded points to the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks to the top five finishers on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale. In addition, both races also were part of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Dozen Bonus Series. The Iroquois and Pocahontas each awarded $30,000 to the winner, $15,000 to the runner-up, and $7,500 to the show finisher to be applied toward entry fees for the Oct. 30 FanDuel Breeders' Cup Juvenile presented by TAA and NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, respectively.

Jose Ortiz, who won his first Kentucky Derby this year on Golden Tempo, picked up the mount on Salahudin from Florent Geroux, who remains out of action after a spill in the fourth race Sept. 10. Both Baffert and Ortiz acknowledged the work Geroux has put into developing Salahudin, riding him to wins in his first two starts, including the 7-furlong Ellis Park Juvenile Stakes on Aug. 9. Ortiz said he reviewed the replays of Geroux riding the colt and thus did not panic when he broke slow and had to find a rhythm.

"I see that he kind of breaks slow the first step," Ortiz said. "I tried to help him and put him in the clear because Flo did that. He put him in the clear and let it roll. He's a big horse, so I did that. I just rode him like Flo was riding him. I watched the replay and tried to do the same thing as he did."

Salahudin had just one horse beaten at the midway point as leading Bearamour ticked off the half mile in :46.35 on a fast track. Coming around the far turn, Salahudin began unfurling his stride. He slingshot up four wide as He Is No Lie assumed command ahead of the fading Bearamour. Meanwhile, the eventual winner relaxed a bit.

Salahudin put his mind to business late and finally put away He Is No Lie. It was another 2 3/4 lengths back to the rallying Caribbean Life in third. The time for the mile was 1:36.54. Salahudin returned $3.98 as the favorite.

"He's a true mile-and-a-quarter kind of horse," Baffert said. "Turning for home, I'm glad he didn't make the lead too early, because he'll do that, he'll idle a little bit. But it's just perfect progression the way he's going. He's still growing and still learning, so it's exciting."