Renegade gives Pletcher record sixth ArkDerby
| Saturday, Mar. 28, 2026 |
| Stakes recaps by Robert Yates (Coady Media/Renee Torbit photo above of Renegade winning the Arkansas Derby) $1,500,000 Arkansas Derby (G1) Even-money favorite Renegade used an explosive late kick to post an easy victory in the $1.5 million Arkansas Derby (G1) Saturday afternoon at Oaklawn. Stamping himself a leading Kentucky Derby contender, Renegade rolled home by four emphatic lengths before an estimated crowd of 73,000, largest in Oaklawn history. Irad Ortiz Jr. rode Renegade for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, who won the Arkansas Derby for a record sixth time. A son of super sire Into Mischief, Renegade is owned by prominent New Yorker Mike Repole and Robert and Lawana Low of Springfield, Mo. Pletcher teamed with Repole to win the 2013 Arkansas Derby (Overanalyze) and with the Lows in 2018 (Magnum Moon). Renegade was last of eight after a half-mile in :47.80, but he began to advance toward the leaders on the second turn. Renegade moved to contention with a four-wide burst turning for home and roared to the front passing the eighth pole while racing in the middle of the track. Carrying equal top weight of 124 pounds, Renegade’s winning time was a sharp 1:49.70. Silent Tactic, who held a half-length lead in midstretch, finished second, two lengths ahead of Taptastic, who was making just his second career start. It was another 1 ¼ lengths farther back to fourth-place finisher Bricklin, who was followed, in order, by Blackout Time, Redland Rebels, Litmus Test and Exosome. Napoleon Solo was scratched. Renegade paid $4, $2.60 and $2.20. Silent Tactic paid $3.20 and $2.60. Taptastic paid $3.80. Silent Tactic was the only horse to compete in all four legs of Oaklawn’s Kentucky Derby prep series, winning the $1 million Southwest Stakes (G3) Feb. 6, and finishing Renegade collected 100 Kentucky Derby qualifying points for the victory, his second in five lifetime starts. He was exiting a 3 ¾-length victory in the Sam F. Davis Stakes Feb. 7 at Tampa Bay Downs. Renegade ($1,031,500) surpassed $1 million in career earnings with the victory. The Lows bred Renegade and secured half-interest in the colt after Repole purchased him for $975,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Renegade, who was bred in Kentucky, is the first foal out of Spice Is Nice, a Grade 3 winner for the Lows and Pletcher. Saturday’s total mutuel handle was $23,141,822. The previous record attendance (72,484) was set on Arkansas Derby Day in 2006. Racing resumes Thursday at 12:45 p.m. (Central). Arkansas Derby Quotes Winning Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. (Renegade): “He kicked home. The way he did it today, it was very special. I thought I could have been closer to it (pace), but he broke and put himself right there, so I left him there. Just wherever he wants to be. I wanted to ride him with confidence and that’s what I did. At the (half-mile pole), I had (Silent Tactic) right in front of me and he kind of like worked his way out. I had to wait a little bit, one jump, and right after that I asked him a little bit and he jumped on the bridle and I said: ‘All right, I have some horse.’ At the top of the stretch when I tipped him out to put him the middle of the track and I hit him one time – after that I was having fun. He was running and was going to hold it.” Winning Trainer Todd Pletcher via Phone (Renegade): “We were super excited about the way he ran. It looked like he got shuffled around a little bit in the first turn and down the backside. It looked like he was traveling well. It just kind of looked like Irad (Oritz Jr.) was biding his time to start advancing. I was really impressed by the way he finished coming home the last eighth of a mile the way he did.” Winning Co-Owner Robert Low (Renegade): “Just keep him together. If he runs like this, I think he’ll be really tough (in the Kentucky Derby). He really did (exceed my expectations). He just got out there and it was kind of a speed-favoring track – it seemed like – and then he closed like the way he did. Let’s go win one.” Second-Place Jockey Cristian Torres (Silent Tactic): “Second best. No excuses. Great race, great trip, just second best, honestly. We got beat by the best horse today. Now, we’ve got five weeks for the first Saturday in May. He ran his race. There was nothing else to do. We were just second best today.” Third Place Trainer Steve Asmussen (Taptastic): “He’s got a great amount of talent. He’s very young mentally, physically and with it being here had a little bit to do with running him. He represented well, but he needs more time to run against horses like these.” $500,000 Oaklawn Mile (G3) What’s new? Nu What’s New and his veteran trainer, Jimmy DiVito, are now Oaklawn stakes winners. A forward factor from the start under Luis Saez, Nu What’s New held off Grade 1 winners East Avenue and Full Serrano to win Saturday’s $500,000 Oaklawn Mile (G3) by three-quarters of a length. The Oaklawn Mile represented the first career stakes victory for the speedy Nu What’s New, the 9-5 favorite who was exiting a runner-up finish behind subsequent Dubai World Cup winner Magnitude in the $500,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) for older horses Feb. 28. The Oaklawn Mile was also the first career Oaklawn stakes victory for DiVito, who annually winters in Hot Springs. East Avenue, in his 4-year-old debut, finished second, three-quarters of a length ahead of third-place finisher Neoequos, who was followed, in order, by Full Serrano, Will Take It, Gun Party and Awesome Aaron, who pressed Nu What’s New early. Millionaire multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Coal Battle was scratched. Full Serrano, the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner, was beaten 2 ¾ lengths after stumbling badly at the start and racing last of seven after a half-mile in :46.90. New What’s Nu, after shaking Awesome Aaron, opened a clear led turning for home and held off East Avenue, who captured the Breeders’ Futurity Stakes (G1) as a 2-year-old. Carrying equal top weight of 124 pounds, Nu What’s New covered a mile over a fast track in 1:37.34. Nu What’s Nu paid $5.80, $3.40 and $2.60. East Avenue paid $5 and $3.60. Neoequos paid $3.40. DiVito trains Nu What’s Nu for longtime client Richard Templer’s Doubledown Stables. Nu What’s Nu has been one of the breakout stars of the 2025-2026 Oaklawn meeting after he was gelded and began targeting two-turn races. Before running second to Magnitude, Nu What’s New broke his maiden by 7 ½ lengths in one of the fastest mile races in Oaklawn history (1:35.52) Dec. 26. Nu What’s New returned to win a first-level allowance race at 1 1/16 miles by 12 ½ lengths Feb. 5. Nu What’s New, a 4-year-old son of Munnings, raised his career earnings to $564,134 following his Oaklawn Mile victory, his third in nine starts overall. DiVito, as an agent, purchased Nu What’s Nu for $300,000 at the 2024 OBS Spring Sale of Two-Year-Olds in training. Oaklawn Mile Quotes Winning Jockey Luis Saez (Nu What’s New): “Pretty nice horse and I really wanted to ride him last time (Razorback Handicap) he ran, but I had to go out of here. But today we had the opportunity to get back to him and he’s just a horse that he was begging for the distance. When they put him at a distance, he’s turned into a different horse and today he won a big race with tough horses. So, that’s a step forward. He’s a very game horse. I don’t know, he’s pretty fast from the gate. I don’t think he has to be on the lead because he relaxed pretty well, too, and when I asked he kept going.” Winning Trainer Jimmy Divito (Nu What’s New): “He loves it here. All of his races have been really strong. He finished second to the horse that won the Dubai (World) Cup today (Magnitude). That was a big omen for me. I said this horse, ‘Oh, he’s going to run big.’” Second-Place Jockey Cristian Torres (East Avenue): “He performed well off the layoff. He broke good. Luis (Saez) sent (Nu What’s New) to the lead and I just sat behind him and he finished well for not running in six months.” Fourth-Place Jockey Antonio Fresu (Full Serrano): “So unfortunate. He stumbled really bad out of the gate and I think that cost him the race. That’s it. I thought he was much the best. The plan is to be either on the lead or sit in second because that’s his style. When I tried to break, the horse just stumbled behind and in front. Like, he stumbled a couple of times in a fraction of a second and I had to ride him from last, which is not easy to do on this track, especially when the winning post is down there (inside) because it’s a mile race. I tried to just make one run, but it was too much to do.” $200,000 Temperence Hill Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott’s mastery at the 2025-2026 Oaklawn meeting continued Saturday when even-money favorite Parchment Party edged Jokestar by a half-length to win the $200,000 Temperence Hill Stakes for older horses at 1 ½ miles. The Temperence Hill moved Mott’s record at the meeting to a sparkling 4-2-0 from six starts. Mott also won the local prep for the Temperence Hill, the inaugural $135,000 Pig Trail Stakes at 1 ½ miles March 1, with Batten Down. Parchment Party was making his first start since finishing 20th in the Melbourne Cup (G1) at about 2 miles on the turf Nov. 4 in Australia. Jokestar finished 1 ½ lengths ahead of pacesetting Forged Steel, who was followed, in order, by Tracking Error, Happy Strike and Compton. After crawling through a 1:43.28 mile, Forged Steel was joined by Jokestar (middle) and a three-wide Parchment Party, who were abreast turning into the stretch. Parchment Party, under Luis Saez, grabbed the lead with approximately a sixteenth of a mile remaining in the race that ended at the sixteenth pole. The winning time over a fast track was 2:33.43. Parchment Party carried 117 pounds, 7 less than Jokestar. Parchment Party paid $4, $2.60 and $2.10. Jokestar paid $2.60 and $2.10. Forged Steel paid $2.20. Parchment Party earned an automatic berth into the Melbourne Cup with a victory in the off-the-turf Belmont Gold Cup Stakes (G3) last June at Saratoga. He returned to win the Birdstone Stakes in August at Saratoga. Both races were 1 ¾ miles. Mott trains Parchment Party, a 5-year-old son of Constitution, for famed Pin Oak Stud (Dana Bernhard). Parchment Party raised his career earnings to $593,985 with his fifth victory from 13 starts. Parchment Party is a $450,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale graduate. Mott was Oaklawn’s leading trainer in 1986. Temperence Hill Quotes Winning Jockey Luis Saez (Parchment Party): “Bill (Mott), he always does a great job with the horses and I appreciate the opportunity. We were kind of a little stuck the whole way, so that’s why we decided to take a little hold and go around. It was a little slow in the beginning. It was a duel. It was pretty exciting.” |
