Ted Noffey, It’s Our Time, Desert Gate lead fields for Saturday Kentucky Derby qualifiers

Sep 30, 2025 J. Keeler Johnson/TwinSpires.com

Hopeful (G1) hero Ted Noffey is another budding star for leading sire Into Mischief (Photo by Chelsea Durand/Coglianese Photos)

The 2025-26 Road to the Kentucky Derby heats up this Saturday with a trio of Grade 1 races across the country. All award Kentucky Derby (G1) qualification points to the top five finishers on a 10-5-3-2-1 basis.

Breeders’ Futurity (G1)

The richest prize of the day is the $650,000 Breeders’ Futurity (G1) at Keeneland. Unsurprisingly, the 1 1/16-mile race has drawn a stellar field.

Leading the charge is Ted Noffey, whose 2-for-2 record includes an 8 1/2-length romp in the Hopeful (G1). The son of Into Mischief hails from the barn of Todd Pletcher, the Hall of Fame trainer who boasts two wins in the Kentucky Derby.

𝙏𝙚𝙙 𝙉𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝟭𝟮𝟭𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙪𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙩 𝙁𝙖𝙧𝙢 𝙃𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 (𝙂𝙄).

The 2yo son of @spendthriftfarm Stallion Into Mischief was brilliantly ridden by jockey @ljlmvel and conditioned by Todd Pletcher. pic.twitter.com/D8jV6mo9YP

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) September 1, 2025

Spice Runner tops the current Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard after rallying gamely to win the Iroquois (G3), the opening leg of the series. He and Saratoga Special (G2) winner Ewing are formidable opponents to Ted Noffey.

Litmus Test is shipping in from California after finishing fourth in the Del Mar Futurity (G1). Diciassette brings a 2-for-2 tally from Florida, where he won the Proud Man S. two months ago. Maiden winners Big Dom and Blackout Time complete the seven-horse field.

Champagne (G1)

At Aqueduct, the $500,000 Champagne (G1) has drawn nine juveniles to race one mile. The headliner is It’s Our Time, who was the talk of the racing world after smashing his debut at Saratoga by 17 3/4 lengths. The son of Not This Time could be any sort of talent for trainer Tom Amoss.

Fellow Saratoga maiden winners Talkin, Napoleon Solo, Stickupwithoutagun, and Universe are likewise talented and relatively untested. The latter two colts are trained by Kenny McPeek, who saddled Mystik Dan to win the 2024 Kentucky Derby.

Hopeful (G1) third-place finisher Curtain Call has already run well at the Grade 1 level, and he looms as a primary challenger to It’s Our Time. Sapling S. runner-up Just Asap adds further depth to the Champagne field, while Hopeful fifth-place finisher Aye Eye and the winless Stradale round out the field.

American Pharoah (G1)

Entries for the 1 1/16-mile $300,000 American Pharoah (G1) at Santa Anita are dominated by six-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Bob Baffert, who conditions four of the six entrants.

Best Pal (G3) winner and Del Mar Futurity (G1) runner-up Desert Gate leads the Baffert brigade. Still, fast debut winner Kristofferson, Del Mar Futurity fifth-place finish Balboa, and Del Mar Juvenile Turf (G3) runner-up Plutarch have all shown talent as well.

Civil Liberty, who ran third in the Del Mar Futurity, is a major player from the barn of two-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Doug O’Neill. Intrepido, a Jeff Mullins-trained maiden winner, completes the American Pharoah lineup.