“It's been my plan since December. All our owners want to run in the Blue Grass, if he wins it makes him more valuable as a stallion. He won over the track, it's one ship, and three days after the race I'll be at Churchill,” Gargan told DRF.

Runner up in his first two career starts, including last summer's Sapling S., the full-brother to Kentucky Derby winner Mage won his next three starts, including a muddy renewal of the GII Remsen S. at the Big A in December. Second that day was Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), who is also expected to run in Keeneland's Classic prep. Sierra Leone won the GII Risen Star S. at Fair Grounds Feb. 17.

According to Gargan, the colt will breeze once more in Florida before shipping to Lexington.

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“We've just gotta get someone fast enough to get next to him,” Gargan explained. “If someone will get next to him, you're going to see a fast horse. I mean, he does explode working. But Luis [Saez] was just sitting there playing around. He'll wait on competition because he wants to play. He's a big boy and wants the competition.”

While the goal was originally for Dornoch to get some experience coming from behind horses, the game plan changed after a late scratch from Todd Pletcher trainee Speak Easy (Constitution), who got loose behind the gate. Gargan had to break out his running shoes to get to Saez before the horses started loading.

“Right where the stand is where they do the interviews and they're on TV, I ran down to the track where the horses walk on and Luis was right around that area. We had to have a conversation again, but he knew what we wanted at that stage. He's a pretty smart kid…I had to change our game plan completely because I didn't want to be behind one of those horses and have them get in our way. So we went ahead and decided to just go to the lead.”

The plan was a success as Dornoch, who is a full-brother to last year's GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage, wired a field of five and earned 50 points on the road to the Kentucky Derby. Gargan has said that he is considering either the GI Florida Derby or the GI Blue Grass S. for the colt's next start. On the show, he reported that he's leaning toward the Blue Grass, but should have a final decision at some point later next week.

Until then, he plans to soak up the experience of the Derby trail. A native of Louisville, Gargan has been to the Kentucky Derby once before in 2019 with Tax (Arch), who finished fourteenth, but this time around he said his outlook is a bit different.

“We're just going to enjoy where we're at right now,” Gargan said. “We're lucky enough that we didn't have to run that hard to get the points. We're already probably in the race. I believe we have a horse that, if we get him in the gate on the first Saturday in May, he'd have a chance to win it. So it's a totally different ballpark and it's a fun thing to be a part of. Hopefully we get lucky and we're there.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is sponsored by Coolmore's Epicenter, WinStar Farm's Global Campaign, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, 1/ST Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds and XBTV.com, the team of Randy Moss, Zoe Cadman and T.D. Thornton reviewed all the major Kentucky Derby and Oaks prep races from coast to coast and questioned the implications the many scratches might have had on the weekend's results. They also took a look at the new Tapeta track at Santa Anita, as well as the announcement of 1/ST's new racing series and the GI Preakness S. purse increase.

Click here to watch the show.

Click here for the audio-only version.

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Since his two length score in the first leg of the Florida series, Hades has worked twice at four furlongs and at a mile, which prompted the connections to give the second leg some consideration before deciding to pass.

“He's doing great, that's the problem. It's hard to sit still,” Orseno said. “But in the grand scheme of things and what we're trying to accomplish, it's probably the right thing to do. I've seen too many people try to run in all three races here and then you have nothing left. We're just trying to do right by the horse.”

Potentially, Hades could be Orseno's second GI Kentucky Derby starter. He entered Thunder Blitz in 2001, who was fourth behind Monarchos.

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“We are pleased to bring a talented son of Not this Time into our stallion barn at Pleasant Acres Stallions,” said Director of Stallion Services Christine Jones. “Simplification is a hometown hero for all of us in Florida and we are certain breeders will benefit from breeding to this Champion Horse-of-the-Year, Florida-bred, graded stakes winner.”

Bred by France and Irwin Weiner and owned by Tami Bobo, as a juvenile Simplification broke his maiden by an impressive 16 3/4 lengths at Gulfstream Park. The Antonio Sano trainee began his 3-year-old campaign with a front-running four-length victory in the Mucho Macho Man S., then finished as the runner-up in the GIII Holy Bull S.

Next, he won the GII Fountain of Youth S., finished third in the GI Florida Derby and was fourth in the GI Kentucky Derby. At four, he placed third in the GII WinStar Gulfstream Park Mile S. and fifth in the GIII Ghostzapper S. before he retired with career earnings of nearly $900,000.

The son of Not this Time is out of the Candy Ride daughter, Simply Confection, who was named 2022 FTBOA Broodmare of the Year. The new stallion joins the likes of Bodexpress (Bodemeister), Doppelganger (Into Mischief) and Gunnevera (Dialed In) at the 220-acre farm located just northwest of Ocala.

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“Greatest Honour has one of the best combinations of pedigree, looks and ability among the sons of Tapit that we've evaluated,” said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift general manager. “Unfortunately, he came up with an injury in last year's Florida Derby as the odds-on favorite before the Triple Crown. Prior to that, he was so dominant at Gulfstream that he was in the top three along with Essential Quality and Life Is Good as the favorites for the Kentucky Derby in many of the early wagering pools.

Bred and owned by Don Adam's Courtlandt Farm, Greatest Honour retires with earnings of $446,440. He is out of Tiffany's Honour, a half-sister to Belmont S. winner Jazil and champion and Classic heroine Rags to Riches, in addition to Breeders' Cup victor Man of Iron. Greatest Honour's second dam, Better Than Honour, was the Broodmare of the Year in 2007.

“Greatest Honour's second dam is Better Than Honour who needs no introduction, and he's a big, strong son of Tapit that has 'classic' written all over him,” added Toffey. “Because he did not get to fulfill his tremendous potential on the track, we believe Greatest Honour offers a lot of value and upside now to breeders for $7,500.”

Trained by Shug McGaughey, Greatest Honour broke his maiden as a 2-year-old, to go on a three-race win streak at Gulfstream, including the Holy Bull followed a win in the Fountain of Youth.

Greatest Honour is available for inspection at Spendthrift.

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Victorious three starts at two, including the GII Saratoga Special S. and the GIII Delta Jackpot, the Antonio Sano trainee took the next season’s GII Xpressbet Fountain of Youth S. before finishing third in the GI Florida Derby. Later that summer, he won Gulfstream’s Tangelo S. ahead of a runner-up effort behind West Coast (Flatter) in the GI Travers S. During his 4-year-old season, he was third in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational before collecting a win in a Gulfstream optional claimer later that summer. Runner up in the GI Woodward, he filled the same position behind Accelerate (Lookin At Lucky) in the 2018 GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. Third in his second attempt at the Pegasus World Cup, he made what would be his final start in the 2019 G1 Dubai World Cup, finishing third behind Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet).

The 6-year-old, who has faced foot issues, throughout much of his career–including a fracture last summer–retires with six wins from 21 starts and earnings of $5,561,800.

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