Neoequos – Kentucky Derby Context

Third in the Florida Derby (G1) and Fountain of Youth (G2), Neoequos is a versatile sort who has run well on the lead and rating just off the early pace while racing exclusively at Gulfstream Park. The August maiden winner made his first five starts in sprints, finishing second in a pair of Florida-bred stakes, and stretched out in distance effectively while stepping up to face open stakes rivals in the last two starts. However, Neoequos will still face a class check at a challenging 1 1/4-mile distance in the Kentucky Derby (G1) if he draws into the main body of the 20-horse field.

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OWNER: C2 Racing Stable (Clint & Mark Cornett), Ian Parsard, Shining Stables, and Stefania Farms campaign Neoequos in partnership. C2 Racing Stable co-owned 2025 Pegasus World Cup (G1) romper White Abarrio, who won the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) after finishing 16th in the Kentucky Derby a year earlier. Parsard, Shining Stables, and Stefania Farms will make their first appearance.

TRAINER: Neoequos will be the fourth Kentucky Derby starter for Saffie Joseph Jr. His best previous result came via his first runner, Ny Traffic, who finished eighth in 2020. A champion trainer in his native Barbados, Joseph began training in South Florida in 2011. The 37-year-old was the leading trainer at Gulfstream Park’s recently completed Championship meet for the fourth consecutive time. Joseph had a career-best season in 2024, recording 264 wins and more than $16.6 million in earnings.

JOCKEY: After riding Neoequos for the first time in the Florida Derby, Edgard Zayas will make his first Kentucky Derby start. The 31-year-old Puerto Rican native started riding in South Florida in 2012 and has won multiple titles at Gulfstream, finishing fourth in the recent Championship meet that featured a deep jockey colony.

BREEDER: The lone Florida-bred in the mix for the 2025 Kentucky Derby, Neoequos was bred by Joseph and Helen Barbazon and Matalona Thoroughbreds. He would be the first starter for his breeders, who sold the bay horse for $22,000 as a yearling at the 2023 OBS October sale.

SIRE: Neolithic won three of 12 career starts, placing in four graded stakes, including a pair of Grade 1 events in 2017, and Neoequos hails from his second crop. He’s by three-time Grade 1 winner Harlan’s Holiday, who finished seventh as the favorite in the 2002 Kentucky Derby and is best known for siring six-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief. Neolithic has produced six stakes winners, but he’s still looking for his first graded winner.

DAM: The fourth foal to start out of the stakes-placed Birdstone mare Bold Birdie, Neoequos is the first stakes-placed performer. Bold Birdie raced primarily in sprints, but she’s a daughter of Birdstone, who captured the 2004 Belmont (G1) after finishing eighth in the Kentucky Derby. By 1996 Kentucky Derby winner Grindstone, Birdstone produced 2009 Kentucky Derby upsetter Mine That Bird and 2009 Belmont winner Summer Bird. As a broodmare sire, Birdstone is still looking to make a mark on the Triple Crown.

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