Not This Time’s flashy gray colt Final Gambit will start from post 3 in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby (G1) as he seeks to use the same come-from-behind style that netted him an eye-catching victory in the Jeff Ruby Steaks S. (G3) March 22 at Turfway Park.
The 3-year-old colt has not run on a traditional dirt surface in his four lifetime starts, but has trained very well recently at Churchill Downs, encouraging his connections to contest the Run for the Roses on May 3rd.
Final Gambit, a Juddmonte homebred trained by Brad Cox, has improved in each of his four starts, and was ultra-impressive in the Jeff Ruby, streaking past the entire field to win by 3 ½-lengths.
In the Derby, Final Gambit will be ridden by Luan Machado, who was aboard in the Jeff Ruby.
The Derby will be race 12 on Saturday, with a post time of 6:57 pm ET.
Not This Time’s best Derby result as a sire to date was in 2022, when Epicenter was nosed out in a heartbreaking loss. However, Epicenter would go on to win the Travers S. (G1) and earn the Eclipse Award that year as Champion 3-year-old Male. He is Not This Time’s career leading earner with $2,940,639.
