Tales from the Crib: Express Kid

Feb 04, 2026 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Express Kid on the day after he was born at Barton Thoroughbreds in Santa Ynez, California

Express Kid on the day after he was born in Santa Ynez, California (Photo courtesy of Barton Thoroughbreds)

As a $2,000 yearling purchase turned Kentucky Derby (G1) hopeful, Express Kid is the very type of rags-to-riches story that fuels dreams. As the old adage goes, a good horse can come from anywhere, giving the sport of racing its fascinating texture and variety.

Yet Express Kid has a much better background than his auction price implies. He was bred by Richard Barton Enterprises, California’s leading breeder for the past three years, and you don’t have to look far into his pedigree to find classic bloodlines.

Express Kid comes from the sire line of 1990 Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) champion Unbridled, via his son Empire Maker, runner-up as the favorite in the 2003 Derby. Empire Maker went on to sire Bodemeister, second in the 2012 Derby (and later the sire of 2017 Derby hero Always Dreaming).

Express Kid is by another son of Bodemeister, Bodexpress, who was on the Triple Crown trail himself in 2019. Bodexpress was runner-up in the Florida Derby (G1) to champion Maximum Security and an also-ran in the Kentucky Derby.

But Bodexpress is best remembered for unseating his rider in the Preakness (G1) and completing the race on his own. In the aftermath of his solo act, he went viral on social media and became something of a cult hero. Bodexpress later could boast of a more substantial achievement, a coveted Grade 1 victory in the 2020 Clark H. at Churchill Downs.

Express Kid’s dam (mother), Sensationalize, is by champion Street Sense, the first horse ever to turn the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1)/Kentucky Derby double in 2006-07. Sensationalize’s own mother, Stormy West, was a multiple stakes winner who just missed in the 2008 Jenny Wiley (G2) at Keeneland.

Stormy West was herself a well-bred daughter of Gone West and a Storm Cat mare, a cross that involves inbreeding to 1973 Triple Crown legend Secretariat. Moreover, she descended from a notable female line that had produced such champions as Dayjur and Sky Beauty.

When Sensationalize was offered as a young broodmare at the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, though, it turned out that she had very limited market appeal. Her two minor wins did not add much to the family’s record on the racetrack. And her branch of the family appeared to be on the wane, with Stormy West not producing anyone of interest.

Sensationalize was available for a bargain-basement price. Richard Barton Enterprises, in the process of collecting a broodmare band for their nascent stallion operation, was able to snap her up for just $5,000.

Settling into her new home at Barton Thoroughbreds, in Santa Ynez Valley wine country, Sensationalize was bred to the farm’s own stallions. In 2022, she visited Bodexpress, and the resulting foal, the future Express Kid, arrived on Feb. 17, 2023.

Express Kid as a newborn at Barton Thoroughbreds in Santa Ynez, California

Express Kid as a newborn (Photo courtesy of Barton Thoroughbreds)

The bay colt had an uneventful babyhood, recalls Kate Barton Penner, Richard’s daughter, who manages the racing and breeding operations as the executive vice president.

“He had a smooth start to life – a quick delivery, standing and nursing on his own almost right away. He was healthy from the beginning and grew up spending all of his time turned out in the pasture before coming in for sale prep.”

That sale prep came as a yearling, when the colt was getting ready for the Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearlings Sale in Pomona. But he did not set off a flurry of bidding. Prospective buyers were not willing to go beyond a top bid of $12,000, which was below his reserve – the minimum price set by the seller – so he was led out of the ring unsold.

Express Kid as a yearling (Photo courtesy of Barton Thoroughbreds)

Express Kid as a yearling (Photo courtesy of Barton Thoroughbreds)

Express Kid poses for his yearling portrait (Photo courtesy of Barton Thoroughbreds)

Express Kid poses for his yearling portrait (Photo courtesy of Barton Thoroughbreds)

The colt then came into the hands of Ralph Fales of Fales Ranch in Arizona, best known for its Quarter Horses but also involved in Thoroughbreds. Fales put the yearling in the Arizona Thoroughbred Breeders Association Fall Mixed Sale, where he brought even less.

But this time, a mere $2,000 was enough to buy the colt. The winning bidder was Steve Haahr of Puyallup, Wash., who could not have known what good fortune awaited him.

Now named Express Kid, the colt flashed early promise as a two-year-old for trainer Wade Rarick. He showed speed and grit to hang on in a 4 1/2-furlong dash at Canterbury Park in Minnesota. Next, he traveled down to Iowa for the Prairie Meadows Freshman, placing second while outperforming his 16-1 odds.

Express Kid moved on to Remington Park in Oklahoma City. After tiring to sixth in the Clever Trevor S., he rebounded with a well-timed rally in a turf allowance. That race gave Express Kid valuable experience around two turns, which he put to good use in the Remington Springboard Mile.

Ignored as a 34.50-1 longshot in his first try on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, Express Kid blasted right to the lead despite the far outside post. He simply ran away from his better-fancied rivals in a 6 1/4-length rout.

The $300,000 Springboard Mile catapulted him, and his connections, into entirely different territory. Haahr’s previous marquee win had come with Coastal Kid in the $50,000 Muckleshoot Tribal Classic at Emerald Downs in 2021.

Beyond the purse money, Express Kid’s value skyrocketed. For the first time in his life, he was now a hot commodity – a Derby contender, with 10 points on the leaderboard.

Haahr decided to take the windfall that presented itself. He offered Express Kid, through consignor Paramount Sales, on Fasig-Tipton’s digital platform. There were no more bargains to be had.

By the time the flash sale ended, the price spiraled up to $800,000. His new owner, Brad Kleven, transferred the colt to trainer Justin Evans at Sunland Park. The Feb. 15 Sunland Park Derby reportedly is the plan.

Only time will tell whether Express Kid can keep the momentum going through the first Saturday in May. If so, he would become the fifth California-bred winner of the Kentucky Derby, following Morvich (1922), all-time great Swaps (1955), Decidedly (1962), and California Chrome (2014).

The Barton family’s longtime business is California Packaging, so it’s only fitting for them to deliver a surprise package on the Derby trail. You might say that a world of talent was initially hidden in a plain brown wrapper.

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