Kentucky Derby Pedigree Corner Presented By FanDuel Racing: Encino, T O Password, Forever Young, And Track Phantom

Nyquist was the winner of the 2016 Kentucky Derby, punctuating an eight-race winning streak to start his on-track career.

He was named the champion 2-year-old male of 2015 on the strength of a campaign with wins in the G2 Best Pal Stakes (6 ½ furlongs), G1 Del Mar Futurity (seven furlongs), FrontRunner Stakes (1 1/16 miles) and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (1 1/16 miles). He kicked off his 3-year-old campaign with victories in the G2 San Vicente Stakes (seven furlongs) and the G1 Florida Derby (1 1/8 miles), and he later finished third in the Preakness Stakes.

At stud, Nyquist has an average progeny winning distance of 7.20 furlongs, which puts him in the middle of the pack among Derby sires.

He was the leading freshman sire of 2020, led by Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner and champion 2-year-old female Vequist.

His leading earner is the versatile Slow Down Andy, who won the G3 Sunland Park Derby going 1 1/8 miles on the dirt, the G2 Del Mar Derby going the same distance on the turf, and the G1 Awesome Again Stakes over 1 1/8 miles on the main track.

Nyquist has four total Grade 1 winners, also including Randomized, who won the G1 Alabama Stakes going 1 1/14 miles, and Gretzky the Great, who took the G1 Summer Stakes over one mile.

Encino would be the first Kentucky Derby starter for Nyquist.

Glittering Jewel won one of 13 career starts, graduating in a maiden weight for age race going 1 3/16 miles over the all-weather surface at Wolverhampton in England.

Encino is her first foal to race.

#10 - T O Password
Copano Rickey x T O Rachel, by King Kamehameha

Copano Rickey raced from ages two to seven, and he was Japan’s champion dirt horse of 2015. His 16 career victories include two runnings of the Group 1 February Stakes, held at 1,600 meters (about one mile). He also won the G1 Tokyo Daishoten at 2,000 meters (about 1 ¼ miles) and the G2 Tokai TV Hai Tokai Stakes going 1,800 meters (about 1 1/8 miles).

He is still seeking his first group stakes winner from four crops of racing age. His closest so far was Arms Reign, who finished second in the G3 Negishi Stakes at 1,400 meters (about seven furlongs). However, that runner is a multiple stakes winner at 1,200 meters (about six furlongs).

Copano Rickey’s average progeny winning distance of 6.85 furlongs is in the lower half of this year’s Derby sires.

T O Password would be Copano Rickey’s first Kentucky Derby starter.

T O Rachel is a three-time winner from 28 starts, notching victories from 1,200 meters (about six furlongs) to 1,400 meters (about seven furlongs). None of those wins came in stakes company.

All four of T O Rachel’s foals to race are winners. T O Columbus, a colt by Daiwa Major, won once in 30 tries, taking a race at 1,300 meters (about 6 ½ furlongs). T O Chance, a filly by Majestic Warrior, is a two-time winner from 33 starts, with both victories coming at 1,500 meters (about 7 ½ furlongs).

T O Rachel’s most prolific runner is T O la Tour, a filly by Black Tide who has won eight of 62 starts. All but one of those wins has come at 1,400 meters (about seven furlongs).

#11 - Forever Young
Real Steel x Forever Darling, by Congrats

Real Steel was a winner in four of 17 career starts in Japan and the U.A.E., with all of those victories coming at 1,800 meters (about 1 1/8 miles). Among those wins were the Group 1 Dubai Turf, the G2 Mainichi Okan, and the G3 Kyodo News Service Hai.

Races in Japan are typically carded at longer distances than their U.S. counterparts, and that is put on display by Real Steel’s average progeny winning distance of 7.66 furlongs, which is the highest among Derby sires.

Forever Young is one of three group stakes winners by Real Steel, with the other two coming in Japan. Lebensstil won the G2 St. Lite Kinen at 2,200 meters (about 1 3/8 miles), while All Parfait won the G2 Daily Hai Nisai Stakes at 1,600 meters (about one mile).

Forever Young will be the first Kentucky Derby starter for Real Steel.

Forever Darling won two of nine career starts, beginning with a Santa Anita Park maiden special weight race in her second start as a juvenile, going 6 ½ furlongs. She then kicked off her 3-year-old season with a victory in the G2 Santa Ynez Stakes, also at 6 ½ furlongs. Her most notable effort around two turns was a fourth-place effort in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks, where she stalked the leader then faded in the 1 1/16-mile race.

Forever Darling is the dam of three winners from four foals to race.

Mon Favori, by Frankel, is a three-time winner, all at 1,200 meters (about six furlongs) including a stakes score in the Teineyama Tokubetsu. Danon My Soul, by Deep Impact, won once, taking a maiden race at 1,700 meters (about 1 1/16 miles). Pignus Amoris, by Heart’s Cry, is unplaced in seven starts, but she finished second in maiden races at 1,600 meters (about a mile) and 1,800 meters (about 1 1/8 miles).

#12 - Track Phantom
Quality Road x Miss Sunset, by Into Mischief

Quality Road is a multiple Grade 1 winner around two turns, boasting victories in the 1 1/8-mile Florida Derby, Woodward Stakes, and Donn Handicap. He also won the G1 Metropolitan Handicap at a mile.

That propensity for going long has been passed along to his foals. His average progeny winning distance of 7.47 furlongs is in the top quarter of Kentucky Derby sires.

Quality Road was represented by his first classic winner last year when National Treasure won the Preakness Stakes. National Treasure then started his 2024 campaign with a victory in the G1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes at 1 1/8 miles.

Quality Road is also responsible for 2017 Kentucky Oaks winner Abel Tasman.

Quality Road’s lengthy list of high-level route runners includes City of Light, winner of the Pegasus World Cup and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile; Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Hootenanny, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Caledonia Road, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Corniche, and Santa Anita Derby winner Corniche.

Quality Road’s top Kentucky Derby finisher is Roadster, who ran 15^th in 2019.

Miss Sunset won 10 of 20 starts, highlighted by a victory in the G2 Raven Run Stakes at Keeneland, going seven furlongs. Nine of the California-bred’s career wins came in stakes company, ranging from six furlongs to one mile. She also finished second in the G1 Madison Stakes at Keeneland, contested over seven furlongs.

Track Phantom is the second foal out of Miss Sunset, following the Curlin colt O’Conner Sunset. That runner did his best work in the Mid-Atlantic, graduating in a 6 ½-furlong maiden special weight at Charles Town, and later taking a six-furlong allowance race at Colonial Downs and a seven-furlong allowance back at Charles Town.