Welcome to Kentucky Derby Prospect Profiles, where we take a look each week at a recent winner on the Road to the Derby schedule that offers qualifying points to the 1 ¼-mile classic race May 2, 2026, at Churchill Downs.

We take a closer look this week at Paladin, a half-length winner of the $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Risen Star Stakes Feb. 14 at Fair Grounds. He banked 50 points for the win and rose to first on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 60 points total.

Racing Résumé: Paladin improved to 3-for-3 with a determined half-length win in the Risen Star Stakes. Last year, he won his career debut via the disqualification of Renegade and then defeated Renegade by two lengths in the 1 1/8-mile Remsen Stakes, a $250,000, Grade 2 race Dec. 6 in New York.

The Gun Runner colt did not race again until the Risen Star, but his Remsen win was flattered when Renegade dominated the Sam F. Davis Stakes by 3 ¾ lengths Feb. 7 at Tampa Bay Downs.

Paladin followed suit by stalking the pace from fourth under Tyler Gaffalione and reeling in game runner-up Chip Honcho in deep stretch, using a final quarter-mile in :24.82 and a final eighth of a mile in :12.52 to get the job done.

Paladin will be pointed to the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes April 4 at Keeneland.

“He’s an incredibly talented horse,” co-owner Brook Smith said. “Hopefully, we’ll have him back in Kentucky in April then onto the Derby a month later.”

Speed Figures: Paladin earned a new career-best 93 Beyer Speed Figure for the Risen Star, a six-point improvement from his best number as a 2-year-old. His 93 Equibase Speed Figure was three points less than the 96 he earned for winning the Remsen. Perhaps most promising was the 6 ¾ he earned on the Ragozin Sheets (lower is better).

Running Style: Paladin has enough tactical speed to race within a few lengths of the pace and he stalks easily enough that he’s still able to finish fast. That should enable him to get good early position in his races up to and, perhaps, including the Kentucky Derby and avoid trouble when he launches his rally.

Pedigree Notes: Paladin is from the fifth crop of 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner, sire of 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and champion Sierra Leone as well as champion 2-year-old fillies Echo Zulu and Super Corredora.

Paladin’s dam is unraced Secret Sigh, by leading sire and stamina influence Tapit. Paladin’s grandam (maternal grandmother), India, won the 2006 Cotillion Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Parx Racing.

Derby Potential: Trainer Chad Brown has won the Preakness twice and twice finished second in the Kentucky Derby (Good Magic, 2018; Sierra Leone, 2024). Brown has a great opportunity to win the Derby for the first time with Paladin, who ran a big race in his season debut and should improve with seven weeks of rest before the Blue Grass Stakes. He’s bred to relish added distance, showed grit in the late stages of the Risen Star, and is fast enough to be a serious contender.