75th Florida Derby Offers 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Derby Points To Top-Five Finishers

There's nothing like the Grade 1 Florida Derby! OTB lets you get in on the betting action and enjoy the moment as the industry's top horse owners, trainers and jockeys set the stage for the biggest race day in South Florida.

Between 1953 and 2026, a span of 73 years, the Florida Derby (G1), held annually at Gulfstream Park, has produced Twenty-five Kentucky Derby winners, a record unequaled by any other Road to the Kentucky Derby prep race.

The 75th Curlin Florida Derby on Saturday, March 28 will be a showcase of the world's best horses and jockeys, who all are competing for the coveted title of Florida Derby Winner on their road to the Triple Crown.

The Florida Derby will headline a program with 10 stakes, five graded, worth $2.45 million in purses. Forty-six starters in the 1 1/8-mile event for 3-year-olds have gone on to win a remarkable 62 Triple Crown races, including 26 Kentucky Derbys.

The $250,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2), a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies, will also be featured on the Florida Derby undercard along with the Orchid (G3), Ghostzapper (G3) and Pan American (G3) presented by Rood & Riddle.

2026 Florida Derby Entries & Odds

Entry	Horse	ML Odds	Jockey	Trainer
** Odds to be posted after draw **

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Commandment Possible Florida Derby

March 1 - Wathnan Racing's Commandment was looking good at Payson Park Sunday on the morning after passing the two-turn test in the $425,000 Fountain of Youth (G2) at Gulfstream Park.

"He looks great this morning," trainer Brad Cox said. "We're real pleased with him."

Commandment, who was coming off a 5 3/4 romp in the one-turn mile Mucho Macho Man at Gulfstream Jan. 3, dug deep in the final sixteenth of a mile to capture Saturday's 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth by a neck over Chief Wallabee. The son of Into Mischief rated off the early pace before moving into contention entering the turn into the homestretch and cutting the corner to pass inside leader Solitude Dude at the top of the stretch. Immediately, confronted by Chief Wallabee, who made a three-wide move past Solitude Dude, Commandment fought off his challenger to stamp himself as a prime prospect for the $1-million Curlin Florida Derby (G1) March 29 at Gulfstream.

However, Commandment's work was far from done when he hit the first finish line used for 1 1/16-mile races on Gulfstream's 1 1/8-mile main track. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. asked him for more, and the 2-1 favorite responded by continuing to gallop out with good energy to the second finish line.

"I think it was important that Irad asked him to run to the second wire there for the experience moving forward. If we pursue the Florida Derby, it makes sense to continue on to the second wire," Cox said. "You're only doing it if everything's going well. If you're fading or not doing well down the lane, you don't ask him, but if you have horse and you're finishing well, you may as well go ahead and educate him, stay on, and finish up."

Commandment, who rallied to finish fourth in his six-furlong career debut at Keeneland before winning a seven-furlong allowance at Churchill Downs and the Mucho Macho Man, has impressed Cox with his development leading into his successful graded stakes debut in the Coolmore Fountain of Youth.

"I think his first run at Keeneland, if you actually watch it and watch the gallop-out, he showed a good bit there as well. It was a better performance on tape than it was on paper. I think it was a fair way of looking at it," Cox said. "He's been nothing but impressive, the way I look at it, in the afternoons from the time he broke his maiden, won the Mucho Macho Man, and yesterday."

Commandment earned 50 Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifying points with his impressive Fountain of Youth score. Michael and Katherine Ball's Chief Wallabee earned 25 Derby points for his strong second-place finish in just his second career start.

Trained by Bill Mott, who saddled 2025 Horse of the Year Sovereignty for a victory in last year's Fountain of Youth, Chief Wallabee entered the 80th running of the important Triple Crown prep off just a 1 1/2-length debut victory in a seven-furlong maiden special weight at Gulfstream Jan. 10.

Mott said following the Fountain of Youth that there are 'four or five races to choose from' for the son of Constitution's next start.

Chris Fountoukis' Solitude Dude, who finished two lengths behind Chief Wallabee in third, earned 15 Derby points but isn't likely to need them. The son of Yaupon, who had won his first three career starts by a combined margin of more than 20 lengths around one turn, came up short in his two-turn debut Saturday.

"I thought Solitude ran great. Distance might have gotten the best of him. Incredible effort. I feel like he'll be tough when he gets back to one turn," trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said Sunday. "Two good horses beat him. We didn't lose anything in defeat."

Albert Ciuffetelli, Stepanie Brennan and Shining Stable's Bravaro, who finished second behind Nearly in the Jan. 31 Holy Bull (G3), disappointed Joseph with Saturday's fourth-place finish, 8 3/4 lengths behind Solitude Dude, under Tyler Gaffalione.

"I thought he would run better than that. He had a hard time early in the race, he got checked twice. He was in a compromised spot. He was close enough at the 3/8ths pole to the first two and he didn't continue that momentum. That for me, I do question distance as well," Joseph said. "In the Holy Bull we thought he needed the race. He didn't need this race, obviously. His forward progression stalled. I don't know if it was because of the trip, Tyler was confident it was the trip that caused that stall, but distance is a question mark, and he'll have to prove himself. We're going to wait a little bit before we decide what we do next time. We'll talk it over with the owners."

Holy Bull Winner Nearly Possible for 2026 Florida Derby (G1)

Feb 1 - Centennial Farms' Nearly was feeling his oats at Palm Beach Downs Sunday morning in the aftermath of his eye-catching 5 3/4-length triumph in Saturday's $275,000 Holy Bull (G3) at Gulfstream Park.

"He came back well," trainer Todd Pletcher reported. "He was feeling frisky this morning."

Making his two-turn and stakes debuts in the 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds, Nearly stamped himself as a leading prospect for this year's Kentucky Derby (G1) with his dominating effort, in which he pressed the pace set by 3-2 favorite Cannoneer into the home turn before pulling away and drawing clear to his third straight victory at Gulfstream.

"We thought it was a really strong performance. He put himself in a good spot. They were going pretty quickly early on, but it seemed like he was in a good cruising speed," Pletcher said. "We liked the two-turn stretch-out. It was pretty much what we were hoping for."

The son of Not This Time, the 8-5 second betting choice ridden by John Velazquez, had previously bounced back from a disappointing sixth-place finish in his Oct. 26 debut at Aqueduct with a pair of overpowering victories at Gulfstream by a combined 14 1/4 lengths.

"I haven't had a chance to sit down with anybody to talk about what we're doing for sure. I don't like making any decisions immediately after a race. One of the things we talked about was [Saturday's] race was his third race in a relatively short period, but we wanted to give him some two-turn experience and he handled that," Pletcher said. "Now that he handled that, we're probably in a position where we can give him a little extra time for the next one."

Due to his frequent participation at Gulfstream, Nearly is more likely to train up to the $1-million Curlin Florida Derby (G1) March 28 at Gulfstream than return in the $400,000 Fountain of Youth (G2) Feb. 28.

"Since he's 3-for-3 at Gulfstream, I think the Florida Derby would be a logical target, but we'll see how he does and how he bounces back, which will kind of dictate what we do. I would say once we have that discussion, that's probably the most likely scenario," Pletcher said.

Pletcher-trained Audible won the 2018 Holy Bull before going on to win the Florida Derby in his next start and finishing third in the Kentucky Derby (G1). With Saturday's victory, Nearly earned 20 qualifying points toward starting eligibility in the May 2 classic at Churchill Downs.

Pletcher has saddled eight winners of the Florida Derby.

Bravaro, who finished second in the Holy Bull, is likely to return in the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said Sunday. The New York-bred son of Upstart was closest in pursuit of the dueling pacesetters and held well in the stretch to finish second, 2 3/4 lengths ahead of late closing Project Ace, who was 1 1/4 lengths ahead of a late-fading Cannoneer.

Bravaro, campaigned by Albert Ciuffetelli, Steffani Brennan, Shining Stables LLC, BAG Racing Stables, and Paul Braverman, was undefeated in two starts in New York-bred company at Aqueduct and had been inactive since winning the Oct. 25 Sleepy Hollow

"We wanted him to show up around two turns off the layoff, and he did," Joseph said. "He's a very nice horse and should move forward off that race."

Bravaro's sire Upstart captured the 2015 Holy Bull before finishing second in the Fountain of Youth and the Florida Derby.

Joseph raised the possibility that Chris Fountoukis' Solitude Dude, whom he saddled for a 3 3/4-length victory in the Swale, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds, could join Bravaro in the Fountain of Youth. However, he continued to express doubts about the son of Yaupon's breeding for two turns.

"Nothing yet as far as we're we'll go. If he did stretch out it would be the Fountain of Youth," Joseph said.

Undefeated Solitude Dude is 3-for-3 around one turn. He entered the Swale 2-for-2 by a combined 17 1/2 lengths.

"I think he's an upper-level talent. Two turns is a question mark, but I think he's an upper-level talent," Joseph said.

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