Kentucky Derby Maiden Watch: Momentous, Strong Quality deliver at Fair Grounds

Since Apollo's victory in 1882, only one horse has won the Kentucky Derby (G1) without racing at age two. That horse was 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify, who debuted on Feb. 18.

The second half of February is a pretty late date for potential Kentucky Derby winners to be breaking their maidens. But Justify proved it’s not an impossible feat, so let's look back on last Saturday’s racing action at Fair Grounds and highlight a pair of promising three-year-old maiden winners. Who knows? Perhaps one will prevail on the first Saturday in May.

Momentous

Two-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Todd Pletcher has been sending out debut-winning three-year-olds left and right this year. He’s gone 7-for-28 (25%) with such runners since the beginning of the year, with Momentous the latest winner from Pletcher’s powerful stable of sophomores.

Momentous wasn’t necessarily expected to win his Feb. 19 debut sprinting six furlongs at Fair Grounds. Facing nine rivals in a maiden special weight, the son of champion sprinter Speightstown was overlooked as the third choice at odds of 49-10.

But despite the lack of betting support, Momentous produced a winning effort. After dueling outside of race favorite Marsalis through fractions of :22.29 and :45.38, Momentous forged to a narrow lead and out-battled his rival to win by a head, with the rest of the field 5 1/4 lengths behind. The final two furlongs elapsed in the strong times of :11.77 and :12.43, carrying Momentous to the finish line in 1:09.58.

Speightstown may have been a sprinter but he’s sired a large handful of Grade 1 winners over 1 1/4 miles, and the bottom half of Momentous’ pedigree (including dam sire Medaglia d’Oro) is geared toward stamina. The takeaway? Momentous has the breeding to run long, which makes his winning sprint debut all the more impressive.

Strong Quality

Strong Quality ran well in his Jan. 23 debut sprinting six furlongs at Fair Grounds, closing steadily outside of rivals to finish third by 1 3/4 lengths. And when the son of Quality Road stretched out over 1 1/16 miles for maiden special weight on Saturday at Fair Grounds, the result was a breakthrough victory.

A change in tactics helped Strong Quality get the job done. Rather than rally from off the pace, Strong Quality took up a pressing position through fractions of :23.99, :48.45, and 1:13.50. When called upon to accelerate, the dark bay colt responded gamely and forged clear to beat the pacesetter by 1 1/4 lengths in 1:44.11.

Produced by the Tiznow mare Tiz So Sweet, Strong Quality is bred to improve with maturity, so it’s unlikely we’ve seen his best yet. The Mark Casse trainee still has lots of upside for improvement, so keep an eye on Strong Quality this spring. His ability might soon equal his name.