Kentucky Derby pedigree profile: Grande

Grande qualified for the 2025 Kentucky Derby (G1) via a strong runner-up finish in the 1 1/8-mile Wood Memorial (G2) at Aqueduct.

Despite racing wide around both turns, Grande launched a determined rally down the homestretch and gained a bit of ground through the final furlong against gate-to-wire winner Rodriguez. This performance suggests he’ll handle stretching out over 1 1/4 miles for the Kentucky Derby, and his pedigree agrees.

Grande is a son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, whose Triple Crown exploits yielded a win in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness (G1), a close second in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont (G1), and a third in the Kentucky Derby. He late won the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), Dubai World Cup (G1), and two editions of the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) racing 1 1/4 miles.

Curlin has consistently passed on his classic stamina at stud. Many of his sons have recorded top-three finishes in Triple Crown races; some of the best include Belmont winner Palace Malice, Preakness winner and Kentucky Derby runner-up Exaggerator, and Kentucky Derby runner-up Good Magic.

Also impressive is the list of sons and daughters of Curlin who have won at the Grade 1 level racing 1 1/4 miles on dirt, the configuration of the Kentucky Derby. They include champion and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Vino Rosso, champion and Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) conqueror Malathaat, champion and Alabama (G1) winner Nest, Travers (G1) hero Keen Ice, Woodward H. (G1) winner Global Campaign, Jockey Club Gold Cup victors Bright Future and Highland Falls, and Santa Anita H. (G1) winner Idol.

Curlin has staked his claim as one of the best sources of classic stamina in modern pedigrees. This year, in addition to Grande, he’s the sire of 1 1/8-mile Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner and Kentucky Derby favorite Journalism.

Once in a while, Curlin sires a high-class sprinter or miler, like Horse of the Year and two-time Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Cody’s Wish or two-time champion male sprinter Elite Power. But there’s nothing in Grande’s racing record to date—and little in the dam's side of his pedigree—to suggest he’ll develop down this route.

Grande is the third starter produced by Journey Home, a daughter of War Front out of the A.P. Indy mare Soul Search. As a racehorse, Journey Home achieved respectable success on turf, winning the one-mile Jimmy Durante (G3) and about 1 1/16-mile Christiana S. in addition to recording top-three finishes in the Pucker Up (G3), Valley View (G3), and Mrs. Revere (G2) over distances up to about 1 1/8 miles.

Prior to Grande, Journey Home foaled Ticker Tape Home, winner of the seven-furlong Seaway (G3) over the synthetic Tapeta track at Woodbine.

As for War Front, he’s sired Grade 1 and Group 1 winners over a wide variety of distances and surfaces. Dirt sprinters, turf sprinters, dirt routers, and turf routers have all emerged from War Front’s stud career, even though he himself never won at the Grade1 level and was strictly a dirt sprinter, securing his biggest triumph in the six-furlong Alfred G. Vanderbilt Breeders’ Cup H. (G2).

War Front isn’t as reliable a source of classic stamina as Curlin, though he is the sire of Preakness winner War of Will, and daughters of War Front have produced Belmont third-place finisher Joevia plus Adelaide River, who placed in the Irish Derby (G1) and Grand Prix de Paris (G1) racing 1 1/2 miles on turf.

Turning our attention now to Soul Search, the dam of Journey Home, she never won at the graded stakes level but finished second in the 1 1/8-mile Spinster (G1) and third in the 1 1/4-mile Personal Ensign (G1). The fact she demonstrated high-class form running long is to be expected since her sire, A.P. Indy, won the Belmont and Breeders’ Cup Classic before developing into a legendary source of stamina at stud.

The stamina of Curlin, Soul Search, and A.P. Indy mixing with a dose of speed from War Front should leave Grande with a perfect pedigree for negotiating 1 1/4 miles on the first Saturday in May.