Track Phantom trainer, jockey, owner and more to know about 2024 Kentucky Derby horse
Jason Frakes
Track Phantom is one of 20 horses expected to enter the 2024 Kentucky Derby on May 4 at Churchill Downs.
Spots for the Run for the Roses are earned by gaining points through a series of Kentucky Derby prep races that began last September.
The post-position draw for the Kentucky Derby is set for Saturday, April 27. Post time for the Kentucky Derby is set for 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, May 4.
Track Phantom will enter the Kentucky Derby off a fourth-place finish in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby on March 23 at Fair Grounds. He currently ranks 10th on the Kentucky Derby points leaderboard with 70.
Track Phantom
Color: Bay
Bred in: Kentucky
Sire: Quality Road
Dam: Miss Sunset, by Into Mischief
Price tag: $500,000 at 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale
Owners: L and N Racing (Lee Levinson), Clark Brewster, Jerry Caroom, Breeze Easy (Mike Hall). L and N is 0 for 1 in the Derby, finishing second with Lookin At Lee (2017). It’s the first Derby for Brewster, Caroom and Breeze Easy.
Trainer: Steve Asmussen, 0 for 25 in Derby. Three second-place finishes with Nehro (2011), Lookin At Lee (2017) and Epicenter (2022).
Jockey: Joel Rosario, 1 for 12 in Derby. Won with Orb in 2013.
Record: 3-2-1 in seven starts
Career earnings: $405,000
Road to the Kentucky Derby points: 70 (No. 10)
Last race: Fourth in Grade 2 Louisiana Derby on March 23 at Fair Grounds
Running style: Front-runner
Notes: Track Phantom never had finished out of the money in his first six starts — going 3-2-1 — before his fourth-place finish in the Louisiana Derby. He led with a furlong to go before fading. … Track Phantom broke his maiden last November in his third race at Churchill Downs. … Asmussen ranks sixth all-time with 25 Derby starters but is the only one in the group without a victory. … Co-owner Clark Brewster is a lawyer for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.
What they’re saying: “He ran very nice out there,” Rosario said after the Louisiana Derby. “I don’t know if it was the distance. It looked like it was a comfortable pace. He was relaxed and he gave me a kick, but the others came strong at the end. Sometimes it’s hard to tell, but maybe he got tired at the end.”
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com. Follow on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ.
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