Kentucky Derby Prep Review Feb. 18, 2026

Feb 18, 2026 James Scully

Paladin wins the Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds. (Photo by Hodges Photography)

The Road to the Kentucky Derby is now in high gear, with the Feb. 14 Risen Star (G2) at Fair Grounds representing the first of 15 races in the Kentucky Derby Championship Series. The top five finishers received points on a 50-25-15-10-5 scale toward a berth in the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 2.

The Feb. 15 Sunland Derby at Sunland Park remains part of the Kentucky Derby Prep Season, offering a combined 42 qualifying points (20-10-6-4-2 basis).

What Happened

A well-regarded winner of December’s Remsen (G2) at Aqueduct, Paladin opened his three-year-old season with a determined victory in the 1 1/8-mile Risen Star, wearing down pacesetter Chip Honcho in deep stretch to prevail by a half-length. The win put Paladin on top of the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard with 60 points.

Chad Brown trains the long-striding son of Gun Runner for owners Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Peter Brant, Brook T. Smith, and Jane Lyon’s Summer Wind Equine, and Tyler Gaffalione took over the reins from Flavien Prat, who missed the Risen Star due to a riding commitment in Saudi Arabia. Brown is seeking a coveted first Kentucky Derby win after finishing second with Sierra Leone (2024) and Good Magic (2018) and third with Zandon (2022).

Pavlovian earned his first Kentucky Derby qualifying points in the Sunland Derby, edging Remington Springboard Mile winner Express Kid by a nose in the 1 1/16-mile race. Edwin Maldonado rode the gray California-bred son of Pavel for owner Paul Reddam and trainer Doug O’Neill, the same owner/trainer combination of Kentucky Derby winners I’ll Have Another (2012) and Nyquist (2016).

Analysis

Listed as the morning line favorite among 39 individual interests, Paladin cemented favoritism in Pool 4 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager with his comeback win, closing as the 9-1 individual choice last weekend. It wasn’t flashy, as Paladin needed nearly the entire length of the long Fair Grounds stretch to get up, but the stiff test figures to benefit the inexperienced chestnut colt.

Paladin entered the Risen Star with a 2-for-2 record, winning his first start via disqualification and posting a two-length win in the Remsen, and his tactical ability served him well over a track that appeared to favor frontrunners. Paladin has a lot going for him at this stage.

He received a 97 Brisnet Speed Rating, a solid figure that is among the best earned by this year’s Kentucky Derby contenders. But I was hoping to see a triple-digit number, given Paladin earned a 98 rating in the Remsen.

The Risen Star is the starting point for an anticipated serious Kentucky Derby bid, and Paladin will look to keep showing more in his final prep, the Blue Grass (G1) at Keeneland on April 4.

Chip Honcho rebounded from a well-beaten fourth in the Jan. 17 Lecomte (G3) at Fair Grounds, showing the way on a clear lead during the opening stages and giving way grudgingly late. The Steve Asmussen-trained colt concluded last year on a good note, breaking his maiden and winning the Gun Runner S. at Fair Grounds in late December, and Chip Honcho experienced a tough trip chasing a hot pace while wide in the Lecomte. He promises to add speed to future engagements.

It's Risen Star weekend, and Lecomte winner GOLDEN TEMPO is hoping to take the second leg of the @fairgroundsnola Road to the @KentuckyDerby series! 🌹🏆

He is 3/1 on the ML for the @reredevaux barn. 🏇

Bet the races with TwinSpires! pic.twitter.com/9q5Nycwq2I

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) February 12, 2026

Lecomte winner Golden Tempo sustained his first career loss, finishing six lengths behind Paladin in the Risen Star. He didn’t have a serious chance racing so far behind a moderate early pace, nearly 10 lengths back in seventh with five-eighths of a mile remaining, but Golden Tempo offered another eye-catching late run to be a non-threatening third. His numbers remain light, and I want to see Golden Tempo take a significant step forward in the final prep.

Kudos to Pavlovian for turning things around in the Sunland Derby, snapping a six-race losing streak that included a runner-up finish in a $50,000 claimer, but he still has much to prove to be considered a legitimate Kentucky Derby contender.