The colt was bred by Chester Thomas's Allied Racing, who also campaigned By My Standards to four graded wins, including the GII Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby at three over the eventual Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners.

“We are very happy with this colt,” said Nance. “He has good bone, a nice shoulder and hip, and a lot of leg. He's a great representation of By My Standards, and I know Chester looks forward to racing (the stallion's) offspring.”

By My Standards enters his second season at stud in 2023 and will stand at Spendthrift for $5,000 S&N.

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“I just really like the way the Louisiana program is heading,” said Thomas. “I think Mr. Money has everything it takes to be a successful sire, and I believe having him at a top farm in a growing regional market gives him the best chance to show what he can do. Most of my horses race in New Orleans in the winter anyway, and I'm sure going to have a lot of Louisiana-bred Mr. Money babies. I thought I might just as well take advantage of having Louisiana-sired as well as Louisiana-born Mr. Moneys.”

Mr. Money won six of 18 starts and amassed over $1.3 million in earnings. Five of those six victories came in Grade III events and he also finished second in the GI Pennsylvania Derby.

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“By My Standards came up with a quarter crack that was going to force us to miss the rest of our goals before the breeding season, so the decision was made for him to retire,” said Chester Thomas, owner and manager of Allied Racing Stable. “It's a bittersweet day because this is a special horse who deserved to win a Grade 1 and was very unlucky not to. However, I'm proud he is retiring happy and healthy, and I couldn't be more excited about him going to Spendthrift where he'll get the best opportunity to become a great sire, just like his sire and grandsire there.”

Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey added: “We are thrilled to be able to stand By My Standards and are thankful to Chester for the opportunity. Obviously, this is a sire line we know very well and just have tremendous confidence in. By My Standards really embodies the heart and ability that have become so signature to the Into Mischief line. In fact, only his sire Goldencents and Authentic have higher earnings than By My Standards among all the great racehorses from the Into Mischief sire line. Everyone who got in on the Share The Upside program for Into Mischief and Goldencents has enjoyed a lot of success, and we believe By My Standards is the next in line. I invite all breeders to come out and see him during the November sales, as he will be available for inspection immediately and will be shown Nov. 10-19 daily from 1-3 p.m.”

By My Standards will participate in Spendthrift's renowned “Share The Upside” breeding program for a fee of $8,500 for one year. Additionally, breeders must breed one mare in 2023 on a complimentary basis. After the breeder has a live foal in 2023, pays the stud fee, and breeds a mare back, he or she will earn a lifetime breeding right beginning in 2024.

Trained by Bret Calhoun, By My Standards broke his maiden and jumped straight into the $1-million Grade 2 Louisiana Derby a month later, taking down that major Triple Crown prep race over eventual Kentucky Derby winner Country House and eventual Preakness winner War of Will. He ran the 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.53 which marked the second fastest in 84 runnings of the Louisiana Derby at that distance.

As a 4-year-old, he captured his first three starts of the year including decisive victories in the $400,000 G2 New Orleans Classic at Fair Grounds and $600,000 G2 Oaklawn Handicap, running 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.80 in the latter to mark the fastest Oaklawn Handicap since Medaglia d'Oro in 2003. By My Standards went on to score his fourth Grade 2 win in the $400,000 G2 Alysheba at Churchill, defeating multiple Grade 1 winner McKinzie. He also was runner-up in Saratoga's prestigious G1 Whitney Handicap and in Churchill's G2 Stephen Foster.

This year, By My Standards won the $400,000 Oaklawn Mile in his seasonal debut before finishing runner-up in the storied G1 Met Mile at Belmont, beaten a length after a troubled trip. He retires to Spendthrift with a record of 7-5-1 from 17 starts, defeating 27 graded winners in his seven victories including five Grade 1 winners, two classic winners, and 10 Grade 2 winners. Only Horse of the Year Authentic ($7,201,200) and By My Standards' sire Goldencents ($3,044,000) earned more among all racehorses hailing from the Into Mischief sire line.

A $150,000 OBS 2-year-old purchased by agent Josh Stevens, By My Standards is one of two millionaires from the first crop of emerging young sire Goldencents. He is out of the multiple Santa Anita stakes winner and earner of $469,956, A Jealous Woman.

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“By My Standards came up with a quarter crack that was going to force us to miss the rest of our goals before the breeding season, so the decision was made for him to retire,” explained Chester Thomas, owner and manager of Allied Racing Stable. “It's a bittersweet day because this is a special horse who deserved to win a Grade I and was very unlucky not to. However, I'm proud he is retiring happy and healthy, and I couldn't be more excited about him going to Spendthrift where he'll get the best opportunity to become a great sire, just like his sire and grandsire there.”

Spendthrift General Manager Ned Toffey added, “We are thrilled to be able to stand By My Standards and are thankful to Chester for the opportunity. Obviously, this is a sire line we know very well and just have tremendous confidence in. By My Standards really embodies the heart and ability that have become so signature to the Into Mischief line. In fact, only his sire Goldencents and Authentic [both standing at Spendthrift] have higher earnings than By My Standards among all the great racehorses from the Into Mischief sire line.”

Trained by Bret Calhoun, the $150,000 OBS juvenile purchase broke his maiden and followed up with a score in the GII Louisiana Derby, winning over eventual GI Kentucky Derby winner Country House and GI Preakness S. winner War of Will. At four, he captured his first three starts of the year, including the GII New Orleans Classic at Fair Grounds and the GII Oaklawn H. and subsequently added a victory in the GII Alysheba S. at Churchill Downs. He also was runner-up in Saratoga's GI Whitney H. and GII Stephen Foster S. This term, the 5-year-old won the Oaklawn Mile before finishing runner-up in the GI Met Mile at Belmont. He retires to Spendthrift with a record of seven wins and five seconds from 17 starts and earnings of $2,294,430.

By My Standards will participate in Spendthrift's “Share The Upside” breeding program for a fee of $8,500 for one year. Additionally, breeders must breed one mare in 2023 on a complimentary basis. After the breeder has a live foal in 2023, pays the stud fee, and breeds a mare back, he or she will earn a lifetime breeding right beginning in 2024.

“Everyone who got in on the Share The Upside program for Into Mischief and Goldencents has enjoyed a lot of success, and we believe By My Standards is the next in line,” said Toffey. “I invite all breeders to come out and see him during the November sales, as he will be available for inspection immediately and will be shown Nov. 10-19 daily from 1-3pm.”

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Born Great in his last start finished second by a neck in a Churchill Downs turf sprint won by graded-stakes winner Angaston.

“He's doing great,” Walsh said. “We'll see how it goes, but hopefully it will set him up good for Kentucky Downs. He really liked it there last year. He might be as good this year as last, if not better. He ran a really good race at the end of the Churchill spring meet and was very unlucky. Five-and-a-half (furlongs) is probably as short as he would want. But the 6 1/2 at Kentucky Downs set him really well last year.

“But this is a tough race. There are two or three really nice horses in there. It's a good race.”

Walsh also has Ethical Judgement in Saturday's $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Dueling Grounds Derby, Amazima in Sunday's $100,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Ladies Sprint, and the 4-year-old filly Family Way taking on the boys in the $125,000 Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Turf Cup.

Ethical Judgement gets back to turf for the first time since he was second in his first race. He ran well in three starts rained off the turf before finishing fifth in the Ohio Derby at 1 1/8 miles on dirt, the same distance as the Preview Dueling Grounds Derby.

“He seems to be good on the dirt as well,” Walsh said. “But he's another one we'd like to try him back on the grass. And if that worked well, maybe he'd be a horse for the Dueling Grounds Derby at Kentucky Downs.”

Amazima did not run well over Arlington Park's Polytrack in the Grade 3 Matron Stakes. But before that, she was a good third in a turf sprint after shortening up in distance.

Family Way ran seventh in Arlington's Grade 3 Modesty at 1 3/16 miles on turf after having a win and a second in two allowance starts since arriving from France.

“Why not?” the Irish-born Walsh said of taking on males. “In Europe, we do it all the time. The distance is what I really like about it. The mile and a quarter would really hit her right between the eyes. There isn't a whole lot around that distance.”

Walsh is a big fan of Ellis' Kentucky Downs Preview series.

“We've got a barn at Ellis, so we don't have to go too far to run,” he said. “They're nice prep races for Kentucky Downs.”

Walsh will saddle the 4-year-old Maxfield in Saturday's Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Maxfield, who is 4, never ran at Ellis Park but spent all summer of his 2-year-old season training at the Pea Patch before launching his career at Churchill Downs. The Whitney's field of five is composed of all Kentucky-based horses, including Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Knicks Go and By My Standards, owned by Chester Thomas of Madisonville. The 5-year-old Knicks Go broke his maiden at Ellis Park and finished second the next year in the Ellis Park Derby.

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So while Thomas didn't buy any 2-year-olds as he has the previous two years, he did acquire 15 mares whose pedigrees worked well with Mr. Money. Had he not suddenly found himself in the stallion business, Thomas said no way he'd have gone on such a broodmare spending spree.

“I've been trying to downsize,” Thomas said with a laugh. “The answer's not no. It's hell no! But Mr. Money was such a nice horse, and he still is. Everybody who goes out and sees Mr. Money are like, 'OK, what kind of deal can I get if I bring four mares here?' He's going to have a heck of a nice book, and we were three or four weeks late to the game.

“We're really excited about Mr. Money, and it seems like the folks in Florida are very excited about him. He's getting a lot of new girlfriends.”

The original plan was to race Mr. Money at age five. That changed after a post-work endoscopic exam in late November revealed a breathing obstruction, which Thomas believes explained a poor performance in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile after Mr. Money's snappy victory in Churchill Downs' GIII Ack Ack. Rather than roll the dice that a surgical procedure would return the horse to peak form, the decision ultimately was made to retire him. Mr. Money is one of four stallions at Journeyman, standing for $5,000.

Brent Fernung, who with wife Crystal owns and operates Journeyman, had never met Thomas. After more or less rejecting the horse when Thomas's main trainer, Bret Calhoun, first made an overture, Fernung then looked at Mr. Money's race videos, loved what he saw “and now I've got to crawfish my way out of this mess,” he said. He called Thomas “and he had me talked into it lock, stock and barrel five minutes into the conversation.”

Fernung quickly learned that, given the choice between going small and big, Thomas opts for bigger. Thomas told Fernung he'd breed “10 or 12” mares to Mr. Money. The number for 2021 right now is set for 23. Thomas also funded a substantial advertising campaign.

Chester Thomas | Sarah Andrew

Owner support “is important anywhere, but it's particularly important down here in Florida, where if you look historically stallions have been made by their owners,” Fernung said. “When I heard the enthusiasm that Chester had for this, combined with the quality of the horse, it was a no-brainer for me to want to get involved. Chester has been great. You can't ask any more of an owner than to support his own stallion. It's not cheap to do, but it's a necessity if you really want to make a horse down here.

“I always look for a horse that has something that just makes you turn your head. When I got to watching Money's races, he's winning by five, six, seven in $500,000 races. He's beating these horses for fun. He's got to have enough pedigree to make a stallion, which he does, but they have to rise above just another stakes horse. He certainly did this, the way he won those four races in a row.”

Even with Mr. Money arriving right before New Year's, whereas Fernung would prefer a new stallion be on hand by early November, he said the reception has been excellent. He expects Mr. Money will be bred to between 75 and 100 mares.

He can only hope that Mr. Money mirrors Thomas's ascent in horse racing.

Four years ago, Thomas decided to switch his focus from mainly a claiming operation and inexpensive auction purchases to investing in better-bred and pricier yearlings and 2-year-olds to upgrade his stock with the goal of participating in racing's biggest events. With Josh Stevens his main bloodstock agent, Thomas's Allied Racing soon reaped the results.

Mr. Money provided Thomas with his first Breeders' Cup starter, finishing fourth in the 2018 GI Juvenile at Churchill Downs straight from a maiden victory.

In 2019, By My Standards (Goldencents) became Thomas's first graded stakes winner in the GII TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby. Mr. Money followed with Grade III victories in the Pat Day Mile, Matt Winn, Indiana Derby and West Virginia Derby. He just missed on bagging the coveted Grade I when collared on the wire of the Pennsylvania Derby by Math Wizard (Algorithms), whom Mr. Money had decisively defeated at Indiana Grand and Mountaineer Park.

Today, Allied Racing is one of the top owners in the country, checking in at No. 13 in purse earnings for 2020, including By My Standards winning a trio of Grade II stakes. In addition, Mr. Big News (Giant's Causeway) finished third in the 2020 GI Kentucky Derby, giving Thomas a runner in America's greatest race for the second straight year, following By My Standards' 11th in 2019.

While upgrading his racing stock, Thomas also began a breeding program, concentrating on Louisiana.

Thomas with his new stallion last September | Coady

Thomas, who continues to own 75% of Mr. Money to 25% for Spendthrift Farm, believes had Mr. Money held on in the Pennsylvania Derby, he would be residing at Spendthrift in Lexington today. Fernung agrees and says “it was a long neck from Lexington to Ocala,” making it possible for them to have a stallion in Florida with legitimate Kentucky credentials.

“We're benefiting from the fact that he got snagged at the wire in the Pennsylvania Derby,” he said.

Thomas and his team opted to give Mr. Money the chance to make it big in a regional market rather than getting overlooked in the hyper-competition for mares in Kentucky.

“We want him to be successful,” Thomas said. “There's nothing like conquering and winning.”

Thomas said he will sell some of his mares in foal at regional markets with the hopes of getting Mr. Money progeny into the northeast. Some will foal in Florida and a few could land in Texas, but the bulk of babies will be born in Louisiana, he said. Under those states' current rules, those horses can be made eligible for the Florida Stallion Stakes Series as well as Louisiana-bred stakes.

“Florida is a great place for a stallion,” Thomas said. “They've got a lot of horses there. They've got that stakes series. They have good incentives, stallion rewards. They race year-round down there, so that seemed like a good regional market for us to introduce Mr. Money to. And it's not that far from Louisiana.

“I really like the Louisiana program. Our Louisiana-bred horses are carrying the weight for us now,” he continued, referencing his racing stable.

Thomas is putting the same calculated acceleration into his newfound stallion operation that he utilized for his racing operation. Having missed out on the early-November broodmare auctions, he worked with highly regarded pedigree consultant Alan Porter to secure nicely bred fillies and mares via the claim box. He also bought one mare at auction and another privately.

“I am very competitive,” Thomas said. “I don't like losing. So when I focus on something, I really give it my best… It's a numbers game. So the more mares they get, especially if they're the right bloodline crosses, the better odds you get of getting some good racehorses. When you look at the stallion awards, the breeders' awards, look at the purse money, it makes sense–as much as I like to race horses and as competitive as I am–to support this stallion.

“As an owner, I think some of my most fun years are ahead of me. It's 2021. We'll have foals in '22 and '23. It will be 2024 with the first Mr. Money 2-year-olds. The first Mr. Money that wins, now that will be fun.”

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But showing how difficult it is for the overwhelming majority of horsemen to even get a horse to the Triple Crown, Calhoun only last year had his first Kentucky Derby (G1) starter in Chester Thomas' By My Standards. This year he and Thomas had their second Derby starter in Mr. Big News, whose rallying third now is giving the men their first horse in the Preakness Stakes (G1).

“It's exciting. You always have that dream to have a Triple Crown horse,” said Calhoun, whose large stable is a force in Kentucky, Texas and Louisiana. “The horses that I've had the opportunity to train for years haven't necessarily been 3-year-old classic types as far as pedigree or conformation, really. I always would have loved to have competed in the classics but never thought it was realistic until here recently when we got just a little bit better caliber of horses that had talent and could develop into that kind of a horse.”

The like-minded Thomas appreciated Calhoun's work with 2-year-olds and began sending him horses a few years ago at the same time he was going to the sales to upgrade his stock. Another major client, Texan Tom Durant, was doing the same.

“Obviously it gives you a little bounce in your step to know you have those kinds of horses in your barn,” Calhoun said at Churchill Downs.

The son of a Texas school teacher who also owned and trained horses, Calhoun opened his own stable in 1994. His first graded-stakes score came in 2003 with Toby Keith's Cactus Ridge in Chicago's Arlington-Washington Futurity (G3).

A critical career move came in 2007 when Calhoun began a Churchill Downs-based division in Louisville for spring, summer and fall. Three years later, he won a pair of Breeders' Cup races with Chamberlain Bridge in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) and Dubai Majesty in the $1 million Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) on her way to the female sprinter championship.

Finding the right 2-year-old to join the Triple Crown trail the next spring proved more elusive.

When By My Standards won the Louisiana Derby (G2) at 22-1 odds off a maiden victory, it was Calhoun's biggest victory with a 3-year-old. The Kentucky Derby didn't turn out well, an 11th-place finish in a roughly run race played out over a horribly muddy track, but By My Standards has emerged among this season's top older horses. When By My Standards got a break after the Derby last year, Calhoun and Thomas' Mr. Money picked up the slack by reeling off four graded-stakes victories.

Thomas, the Madisonville, Ky., entrepreneur who races in the name of Allied Racing, looked like he had several promising 3-year-olds in the spring. Others seemed more advanced, but Calhoun and Thomas believed the Giant's Causeway colt would thrive at the longer distances.

Mr. Big News finished fifth behind stablemate Mailman Money's fourth in a division of the Fair Grounds' Risen Star (G2). In only his third start, Mailman Money lost by only 2 1/4 lengths with a wide trip.

When it came time to enter the $1 million Louisiana Derby, staged right after COVID-19 began shutting everything down, Mailman Money got in the race and Mr. Big News landed on the also-eligible list, needing a scratch to run.

“We felt (Mailman Money) deserved to run, but honestly we were desperate to run Mr. Big News because he was doing so, so well,” Calhoun said. “At the last minute we decided to run Mailman Money and not Mr. Big News. And of course Mailman Money didn't run well that day and Mr. Big News worked incredible that next day. I was just sick that I didn't run him.”

With Keeneland canceling its spring meet and options shrinking, Mr. Big News was sent to Arkansas for the $200,000 Oaklawn Stakes, which offered a fees-paid spot in the Preakness Stakes to the winner. That non-graded race on April 11 was positioned on what normally would have been the Arkansas Derby, which was moved to the first Saturday in May after the Kentucky Derby was delayed until Sept. 5.

“Things are a little backward this year,” Calhoun said. “It's interesting because Mr. Big News won a stakes at Oaklawn that won a berth into the Preakness. At that point in time, I don't think we even knew when the Preakness was going to be run. We didn't know if this horse was going to be that caliber or not. Typical situation, improving 3-year-old, and here we are running Oct. 3 and he's moved forward, improved and taken us there.”

Albeit not directly. A sixth in Keeneland's Toyota Blue Grass (G2) rescheduled for July 11 seemed to derail Mr. Big News' Derby hopes. The new Plan B was to run on the new Derby Day, but in the Grade 2 American Turf.

“The Blue Grass was supposed to be his litmus test to figure out if he belonged with the upper echelon of the 3-year-olds,” Calhoun said. “Gabe (jockey Gabriel Saez, who was serving a suspension) wasn't able to ride him that day. Mitchell Murrill rode him well but didn't give him the type of trip that he prefers.

“We did get a little bit discouraged about moving on to the Derby, but we weren't discouraged with him. We thought it would be a safer play to take a little bit of a lower road. Lo and behold, the Derby doesn't overfill, gives us an opportunity to run. We were very confident in him getting a mile and a quarter. So we took our shot and it worked out well.”

Calhoun is realistic about the Preakness and making up 3 1/4 lengths on Kentucky Derby winner Authentic — as well as impressive Blue Grass winner Art Collector, who missed the Derby with a foot issue.

“We've got to be better, honestly,” Calhoun said. “We've got to improve, and Authentic has to either regress a little bit or have some kind of trip that's unfavorable to him and favorable for me. He was very impressive Derby Day. He earned it. He set hot fractions and finished up well. So there's a margin there that we're going to have to find a little more horse.”

Still, he says Mr. Big News has given him “every indication” that the colt is doing as well as he was heading into the Derby. And if Mr. Big News makes headlines in the Preakness?

“That's just another step forward in your career, kind of the pinnacle,” Calhoun said. “It's what I think every trainer and owner in this business strives for, a Triple Crown victory.”

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Mr. Big News, a last minute entry in the $3 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve, worked with regular exercise rider Tony Camacho in the saddle through splits of :13.20 and :25.40 with a five-furlong gallop out of 1:03.20, according to Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols.

“He left the pole really strong, which is how he was working before the Derby,” trainer Bret Calhoun said. “We only wanted an easy work and I told Tony to go in :49 or :50 and gallop out well. He's been fit after just running in the Derby and it's been very promising how strong he's acting in his works after the race.”

Chester Thomas' Allied Racing Stable will attempt to get one of their other stable stars, Mr. Money, back on track Saturday in the $100,000 Ack Ack (GIII). Mr. Money, who is co-owned by Spendthrift Farm, is a four-time Grade III winner but has not won since July 2019.

“The good news is we know how much he likes this track at Churchill,” Calhoun said. “He had some things not go his way so far this year. I don't think he liked the surface at Oaklawn (in the April 11 Oaklawn Mile) and race at Keeneland (a 6 ½-furlong allowance on July 12) didn't really suit him either.”

The complete field for the Ack Ack in order of post position (with jockey, trainer and morning line oddsd): Warrior's Charge (Florent Geroux, Brad Cox, 9-5); Bourbon Calling (Brian Hernandez Jr., Ian Wilkes, 12-1); Proverb (Adam Beschizza, Richard Baltas, 30-1); American Anthem (James Graham, Mike Maker, 5-1); Mr. Money (Gabriel Saez, Calhoun, 6-1); Pioneer Spirit (David Cohen, Robertino Diodoro, 12-1); Alkhaatam (Declan Cannon, Danny Peitz, 20-1); Ebben (Corey Lanerie, Steve Margolis, 5-1); Bankit (Ricardo Santana Jr., Steve Asmussen, 10-1); Thirstforlife (Chris Landeros, Wes Hawley, 30-1); Dinar (Rafael Bejarano, Cherie DeVaux, 30-1); Home Base (Joe Rocco Jr., Mike Tomlinson, 30-1); and Everfast (Julien Leparoux, Jack Sisterson 10-1).

Saturday's Ack Ack is carded as Race 9 with a post time of 4:53 p.m. (all times Eastern). The 10-race program has a first post of 12:45 p.m. The Ack Ack could serve as a prep for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Big Ass Fans Dirt Mile (GI), which will be run six weeks later on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.

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“He was very sharp this morning,” said trainer Bret Calhoun. “I know it was cool. He went a little quicker than we wanted, but did it very easy, well within himself. He was full of energy, kind of what we wanted to see. It was what we wanted or better.”

Mr. Big News earned a free entry in the Preakness with his win in the Apr. 11 Oaklawn S. Calhoun said his charge will work again Saturday, Sept. 26, which will be his final breeze before the Preakness. If it goes smoothly, Mr. Big News will head to Baltimore for the 1 3/16-mile Classic.

“He’s a fit horse; he doesn’t need a lot,” Calhoun said of next week’s work. “I’m not looking for fitness. Just maintain what we’ve got and hold his edge.”

Owner Chester Thomas and Calhoun said the strong finish by Mr. Big News at the end of the Derby helped determine their colt’s Preakness path.

“The free ride in the Preakness was there,” said Calhoun, “but he needed to prove that he belonged with that group of horses.”

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What does have bearing is a workout Mr. Big News had Friday at Churchill Downs, where he cruised a half-mile in 48 4/5 seconds under regular exercise rider Tony Quinones, registering the 22nd fastest of 76 works at the distance. Calhoun said he's seeing all the right signs.

“He was very sharp this morning,” he said. “I know it was cool. He went a little quicker than we wanted, but did it very easy, well within himself. He was full of energy, kind of what we wanted to see. It was what we wanted or better.

Calhoun said Mr. Big News will have a final workout on Saturday, Sept. 26. If all continues to go well, the Giant's Causeway colt will be heading to Baltimore. Yet to be determined is if he'll fly or van, he said.

“He's a fit horse; he doesn't need a lot,” Calhoun said of next week's work. “I'm not looking for fitness. Just maintain what we've got and hold his edge.”

Mr. Big News needed the sort of performance he displayed in the Kentucky Derby for his team to consider the Preakness.

“Absolutely,” Calhoun said. “The free ride in the Preakness was there, but he needed to prove that he belonged with that group of horses.”

Mr. Big News required four races before winning, then was fifth in the Fair Grounds' Risen Star (G2). The victory at 46-1 odds in the April 11 Oaklawn Stakes followed before Kentucky Derby aspirations were dashed — temporarily, as it turned out — by a disappointing sixth in Keeneland's rescheduled Toyota Blue Grass (G2) in July. Next on the agenda was to try grass, for which Mr. Big News is well-bred.

But rain left the Churchill Downs turf course too soft for Calhoun to feel they could get a true reading on the colt's affinity for the weeds. About the same time, it became clear that Churchill's new 20-stall starting gate would not be filled this Derby. And Calhoun loved how Mr. Big News was training.

As entry day for the Kentucky Derby approached, Thomas drew up a list of pros and cons on running.

“I had this long sales pitch I was going to give Bret,” Thomas said. “I didn't get very far into it when he said, 'Dude, you want to run in the Derby; we're going to run in the Derby.' I didn't even get to go through my list.”

“The closer we got to the Derby, knowing we could probably get in, I started really dialing in on the Derby in the back of my mind,” Calhoun said. “The weather forecast for Derby Week looked like more rain, so we thought the turf course would remain soft. And the horse was doing really, really good, and we knew he'd love the mile and a quarter.”

Off at 46-1, Mr. Big News was one of the longest shots in the Derby field of 15. He was in 10th early as Authentic was ripping off fractions of 22.91 seconds for the first quarter-mile, 46.41 for the half, 1:10.23 for six furlongs and 1:35.02 for the mile. Favored Tiz the Law hooked Authentic out of the turn for home but Authentic pulled clear lead, winning by 1 1/4 lengths, with Mr. Big News another two lengths back in third.

“There was no question in our mind that we'd be running for sure at the end of the race,” Thomas said of the Derby. “He made that move at the three-eighths pole, honestly, we thought we were going to win that thing for a second. Talk about a thrill. I'd like to say it was a cheap thrill, but it wasn't cheap because it's a lot of money to run in the Derby. But it was a heck of a thrill. But those horses dug in. Just give Authentic all the credit. I mean, what a horse. Those fractions, we're thinking we're sitting on a winner. I'm looking at those fractions and going, 'Yeah, yeah. All right! Time to go!' He made that move; it was so exciting. You never heard anyone scream louder for finishing third.

“So we're excited. This Preakness looks like it's going to shape up to be one of the tougher Preaknesses. And that's OK.”

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