Springboard Mile offers 2026 Kentucky Derby qualifying points

Remington Park has an opportunity for a full-field of 12 in the $300,000 Springboard Mile for the second consecutive year. The top stakes race of the season for 2-year-olds drew a full gate, featuring four stakes winners including morning-line favorite Spice Runner.

The winner of the Grade 3, $300,000 Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. in September, will leave from post-position seven in the field of 12. Owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds of Las Vegas, NV. and trained by the all-time leading trainer by wins in North America, Steve Asmussen, Spice Runner is 3-1 in the morning-line odds. Stewart Elliott has been named to ride for the first time.

The Springboard Mile once again carries valuable 2026 Kentucky Derby qualifying points for the top five finishers in a 10-5-3-2-1 fashion.

2025 Springboard Mile Field & Odds

Race 12 at Remington Park

Saturday, December 20 - Post 11:26 PM

Entry	Horse	ML Odds	Jockey	Trainer
1	Arctic Beast	4-1	Ricardo Santana, Jr. 121 Lbs	Michael Maker
2	Time for Music	9-2	Erik Asmussen 121 Lbs	Steven Asmussen
3	Essential Time	6-1	Iram Diego 121 Lbs	Danny Pish
4	Royalamerican	12-1	David Cabrera 121 Lbs	C. Trout
5	My Dream Zapper	20-1	Ernesto Valdez-Jiminez 121 Lbs	Stetson Rushton
6	Supreme Good (IRE)	8-1	Christopher Elliott 121 Lbs	Kenneth McPeek
7	Spice Runner	3-1	Stewart Elliott 121 Lbs	Steven Asmussen
8	Way Beyond	12-1	Ramon Vazquez 121 Lbs	Steven Asmussen
9	Western Man	20-1	Richard Eramia 121 Lbs	Joe Offolter
10	Big Apple Patrick	15-1	Walter Rodriguez 121 Lbs	Daniel Leitch
11	Jets Rio	30-1	Rene Diaz 121 Lbs	Ron Moquett
12	Express Kid	20-1	Jose Alvarez 121 Lbs	Wade Rarick

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Spice Runner was seventh, beaten 15 lengths, in his last out, the Grade 2, $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill on Nov. 29. He will seek a cleaner trip in the Springboard where he is the top earner in the field with a bankroll of $316,426.

Trainer Mike Maker will send Arctic Beast to the Springboard from his Oaklawn Park-base in Arkansas. A New York-bred, Arctic Beast has won all three of his career attempts, including the $156,000 New York Breeders' Futurity in his last start on Oct. 13 at Finger Lakes. The second-choice in the morning-line odds at 4-1, Arctic Beast will be ridden by Ricardo Santana, Jr. who has been up for his last two triumphs.

Artic Beast has the most wins in this Springboard Mile with three. He is second in earnings with $205,503.

Essential Time, winner of the $150,000 Clever Trevor Stakes on Sept. 28 at Remington Park will return to the main track after trying turf at 7-1/2 furlongs here on Nov. 6, finishing third. Trained by Danny Pish, Iram Diego will have the return mount at 6-1 odds.

Owner/trainer C.R. Trout has entered Oklahoma-bred Royalamerican for the Springboard. The gelding by Upstart is on a two-stakes winning streak after scoring the Oklahoma Classics Juvenile on Oct. 17 and the Don McNeill Stakes on Nov. 7, both events for Oklahoma-breds.

Royalamerican is one of just four in the Springboard who have won a race at one mile or more. Jockey David Cabrera will seek his third straight stakes on Royalamerican, who is 12-1 in the morning-line odds.

The owners of the top three finishers in the Springboard Mile will have the opportunity to a special season in 2026 to Senor Buscador, standing at Lane's End in Versailles, KY.

The Springboard Mile will be the final race of the 2025 Thoroughbred Season at Remington Park, scheduled as race 12 on Saturday, Dec. 20 with an approximate post of 10:26pm.

2025 SPRINGBOARD MILE NOMINATIONS DOMINATED BY STEVE ASMUSSEN

Steve Asmussen, the all-time winningest trainer in North American history, is gunning for 2026 Kentucky Derby points, and consequently has nominated five horses to Remington Park's $300,000 Springboard Mile on Saturday, Dec. 20.

Among his five is Spice Runner, a winner at Churchill Downs in the Grade 3, $300,000 Iroquois Stakes in Louisville, Ky., on Sept. 13. The 2-year-old Kentucky-bred colt by Gun Runner, out of the Cowboy Cal mare Simple Surprise ran his best race in the Iroquois, winning by a head at the one-mile distance. Spice Runner is owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds (Ron Winchell) of Las Vegas, Nev. Asmussen indicated it was most likely that Spice Runner would be in the Springboard Mile.

A total of 31 horses were nominated to the Springboard Mile, Remington Park's cornerstone race for 2-year-olds at the end of every year. The top five finishers in the Springboard Mile earn points toward the 2026 Kentucky Derby on a 10-5-3-2-1 scale.

Asmussen has won the Springboard Mile seven times since the race's inception in 2001. His winners are Shawklit Man (2002), Smooth Bid (2004), Test Boy (2005), Bayerd (2014), Long Range Toddy (2018), Shoplifted (2019) and Otto the Conqueror (2023).

The 2024 winner was Coal Battle for trainer Lonnie Briley and owner Norman Stables. Jockey Juan Vargas won the race for the first time. Coal Battle went on a run as a 3-year-old, winning the Smarty Jones Stakes and the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., which catapulted him to the Kentucky Derby. Coal Battle finished 11th in the derby.

Among Asmussen's other Springboard nominees are Chip Honcho, a maiden winner at Churchill Downs by 1-1/4 lengths at one mile; Speed it Up, a maiden winner Saturday, Dec. 6 at Remington Park at one mile-70 yards; Time for Music, a maiden winner at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., at seven furlongs, and Way Beyond, who ran fourth in his last start in the $100,000 Jean Lafitte Stakes at Delta Downs in Vinton, La.

Asmussen currently sits third in the national trainer standings in earnings behind Brad Cox and Chad Brown. He is well on his way to his 20th training title at Remington Park.

Other prominent trainers that have nominated multiple horses are Chad Summers (3), Scott Young (3), Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Famer Joe Offolter (2), Ken McPeek (2), Michael Maker (2) and Austin Gustafson (2).

Maker has indicated chances are pretty good that Crown the Buckeye will go in the Springboard Mile. That Ohio-bred colt by Yaupon, from the Unbridled's Song mare Feisty Tomboy, has won his last two starts, both in stakes company. On Oct. 25 at Mahoning Valley Race Course, Crown the Buckeye won the Best of Ohio Juvenile Stakes by 4-1/4 lengths at 1-1/16th miles. Prior to that win, he won the $100,000 Cleveland Kindergarten Stakes on Aug. 14 at Thistledown by 12-1/4 lengths, sprinting six furlongs.

Maker's other nom is Arctic Beast, an undefeated winner of three races including two stakes events at Finger Lakes in New York and a maiden race at Saratoga in upstate New York. All three wins were against fellow New York-breds. He is owned by Paradise Farms Corp., JP Racing Stable, David Staudacher, Zilla Racing Stables and Jennifer Rice

The 2-year-old with arguably the best resume among the nominations is Napoleon Solo, winner of the Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne Stakes at Belmont at Aqueduct's meet on Oct. 4 for trainer Chad Summers and owner Gold Square LLC. Napoleon Solo, a Kentucky-bred colt by Liam's Map, out of the Scat Daddy mare Atomic Blonde, has exploded to impressive wins, breaking his maiden at Saratoga on Aug. 8 by 5-1/4 lengths and then the Champagne by 6-1/2 lengths.

Summers conditions horses on the East Coast and is a multiple graded stakes winner. Not only does he have Napoleon Solo in his barn, but also trains Mind Your Biscuits, who won the Dubai Golden Shaheen Stakes and has earned $3,484,200 as a result. Summers' other two noms for the Springboard are a pair of maidens in Baltimore and Relevance.

McPeek's pair of noms are Universe, who is two-time graded stakes placed and ran third behind Napoleon Solo in the Champagne; and Very Connected, who has finished behind Universe in his last two starts in the Grade 3, $200,000 Street Sense Stakes and the Grade 2, $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes. Both of those races were at Churchill Downs at 1-1/16th miles. Universe ran second in both events while Very Connected was third in the Street Sense and fourth in the Kentucky Jockey Club.

Universe is a Kentucky-bred colt by Global Campaign, from the Quality Road mare Equalityforall, and is owned by 4 G Racing, Gregg Day, Steven Crain and Magdalena Racing. Very Connected is a Kentucky-bred colt by Connect, out of the Awesome Again mare C J's Gal, and is owned by Dream Big Racing.

Carrying the local flag into this year's edition of the Springboard will likely be Essential Time, Royalamerican and The Hell We Did.

Essential Time, a Kentucky-bred gelding by Essential Quality, out of the Twirling Candy mare Twilight Curfew, won the $150,000 Clever Trevor Stakes on Sept. 28, sprinting 6-1/2 furlongs, for trainer Danny Pish and owners Duffy's Racing Stable and Heider Racing Stables.

Royalamerican, an Oklahoma-bred gelded son of Upstart, out of the Creative Cause mare Scat for the Cause, has won two Oklahoma-bred stakes at Remington, the $100,000 Oklahoma Classics Juvenile and the $50,000 Don McNeill Stakes. If he were to be entered in the Springboard Mile by owner-trainer-breeder C.R. Trout, it would be his first start in open company in five races. The gelding won the Oklahoma Classics Juvenile by 3-1/2 lengths at six furlongs on Oct. 17 and then stretched out to a one-mile win by three-quarters of a length in the Don McNeill on Nov. 7.

The Hell We Did, a Kentucky-bred colt by Authentic, from the Desert God mare Rose's Desert, broke his maiden for trainer Todd Fincher at Remington Park by a neck at six furlongs on Oct. 16. He then shipped to Zia Park in New Mexico on Nov. 25 for his first stakes race, running second in the $100,000 Zia Juvenile Stakes, beaten 3-3/4 lengths at six furlongs. He is owned by the Peacock Family Racing Stable and is a half-brother to newly inducted Oklahoma Horse Racing Hall of Fame member, Senor Buscador, the winner of the 2020 Springboard Mile. Senor Buscador went on to earn just shy of $13 million in his career, with victory in the world's richest race, the $20 million Saudi Cup in 2024, greatly increasing his bankroll.

Another nomination of note is that of trainer Victoria Oliver, who will be trying to sweep the two major thoroughbred stakes at Remington Park after winning the Oklahoma Derby in September here with Bracket Buster.

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Springboard Mile Stakes Race History

Remington Park's signature race for juveniles was given its current name and mid-December calendar slot in 2009, having previously been run as the Remington MEC Mile Stakes. In the years since, steady purse increases have served to significantly raise the profile of the one-mile race.

In multiple respects, the Remington Springboard Mile ranks among the youngest Kentucky Derby prep races. It's also one of the fastest-growing prep races in terms of national recognition and impact.

Case in point? During the first decade of its revamped conditions, the Springboard Mile produced five Derby starters. Leading the charge was the aptly named Will Take Charge, who turned in a gallant front-running effort to finish second in the 2012 Springboard Mile. The following season, Will Take Charge ran in all three legs of the Triple Crown and was voted champion three-year-old male.

The rising prominence of the Springboard Mile didn't go unnoticed by Churchill Downs. In 2017, the Springboard Mile was added to the Road to the Kentucky Derby prep race schedule, offering qualification points to the top five finishers on a 10-5-3-2-1 basis.

The horses aren't the only stars competing in the Springboard Mile. Prominent jockeys and trainers have also set their sights on the increasingly rich prize. In 2017, three-time Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Victor Espinoza guided Greyvitos to victory in the stakes-record time of 1:37.14. Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen has saddled seven winners, including It'sallinthechase, who parlayed victory in the 2001 Remington MEC Mile into a start in the 2002 Kentucky Derby.

Asmussen also saddled 2018 Springboard Mile winner Long Range Toddy, who inadvertently had an outsized impact on the 2019 Kentucky Derby. When the ultimately victorious Maximum Security ducked out sharply on the final turn, Long Range Toddy was forced to steady sharply in traffic, part of a chain reaction that famously led to the disqualification of Maximum Security.

Suffice to say, the Remington Springboard Mile has earned its place on the Road to the Kentucky Derby and should only continue to grow in stature.