Expert Pick of the Week: 2025 Remsen Stakes

Dec 03, 2025 John Mucciolo/TwinSpires.com

Paladin wins at Aqueduct. (Photo by Coady Media)

An exciting field of 12 two-year-old horses will travel 1 1/8 miles on the Aqueduct dirt surface in Saturday’s $250,000 Remsen S. (G2). The event will serve as a qualifier for the 2026 Road to the Kentucky Derby challenge series, with points being awarded to the top five finishers on a 10-5-3-2-1 structure.

The Chad Brown-trained Paladin only has one race to his credit, but I really liked what I saw from the colt in his debut, and I feel that he has a lot of upside going forward. By 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner, the chestnut horse was purchased as a yearling in 2024 at Saratoga for a whopping $1.9 million and ran a big race at first asking here on Oct. 17.

𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐘 𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐁𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇: 𝐏𝐀𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐒 𝐕𝐈𝐀 𝐃𝐐

🏇 Paladin
🏇 Confessional
🏇 Dr. Kapur
🏇 Mr. A.P.https://t.co/0UcKIfAoAA

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) October 21, 2025

Paladin crossed the wire in second but was elevated to the win when his main foe was disqualified and placed second in that race. He displayed early speed and a nice closing kick in that contest, and he hasn’t missed a beat since posting five well-timed morning workouts on the Belmont Training track. Horses from this barn often do better with more experience in general, which tells me that the youngster will be ready to roll in this difficult assignment. Top jockey Flavien Prat will ride the colt for the second straight time.

Renegade, one of three in the group for standout trainer Todd Pletcher, went toe-to-toe with Paladin last time and rates a big chance on Saturday if he gets even a little bit faster. The bay horse is by perennial leading sire Into Mischief and was bought for $975,000 at Keeneland in 2024. He is from a family full of excellent runners and will aim to give his trainer a fourth lifetime victory in the historic race.

Talkin beat some really good horses in his debut at Saratoga in the summer and returned with a nice second-place result in the Champagne S. (G1). The grandson of Curlin does his best running in the stretch and will like the move to 1 1/8 miles for the first time on Saturday. Trainer Danny Gargan has saddled the winner of this race in two of the last three years, and he will have Talkin ready with Kendrick Carmouche riding him for the third consecutive time.

Expert Pick

An exacta with #2 Paladin on top of #9 Renegade and #11 Talkin in the 2025 Remsen Stakes is the Best Bet of the Week.

Wager

$10 exacta 2 with 9,11

Bonus Play (Demoiselle -- Race 3)

$10 win and place #6