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THWe may have witnessed the country’s top 3-year-old at Churchill Downs on Saturday…and he didn’t even run in the Kentucky Derby 👀
CRUDE VELOCITY, a colt from the first crop of Beau Liam who earned ‘TDN Rising Star’ honors after overcoming a nightmare trip to graduate by a neck on debut back in March, proved the star of the show in Saturday’s GII Pat Day Mile Stakes on the Kentucky Derby undercard at Churchill Downs. He outslugged fellow ‘TDN Rising Star’ Englishman, winning by 3 3/4 lengths while setting a stakes-record time of 1:33.87. Crude Velocity earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure for the Pat Day performance.
Trained by Bob Baffert, Crude Velocity is a perfect 3-for-3, remaining undefeated, with $522,820 in career earnings.
“I told Bob he was the best 3-year-old in his barn. I wish we had more time to develop and I think he would have been in the Derby,” said jockey Florent Geroux.
“This horse is a freaky horse,” said Baffert after the race.
Baffert said it’s only 50-50 that Crude Velocity runs in the May 16 GI Preakness Stakes coming off of Saturday’s very fast race. He is already the 4-1 favorite in the 2026 Preakness future wager.
Bred by Guy Mogge’s La Ciega LLC, Crude Velocity is owned by CSLR Racing Partners, LLC.
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