Kentucky Derby Horse Profile: Drum Roll Please

Jan 08, 2024 John Mucciolo

Gold Square, LLC’s Drum Roll Please picked up 10 points on the 2024 Road to the Kentucky Derby challenge series after bagging the $145,500 Jerome S. at Aqueduct on Jan. 6. The Brad Cox trainee endured one mile on the fast main oval in 1:41.91 under the guidance of jockey Javier Castellano.

'I think he'll handle two turns. It's highly likely he'll stay in New York and return in the Withers,' Cox said. 'He's a really good-looking horse. There's plenty of him, which is encouraging when you start thinking about mile-and-an-eighth, mile-and-a-quarter races. He's improved a lot mentally since the fall with the way he handles everything.”

The Pennsylvania-bred #1 Drum Roll Please earns 10 @kentuckyderby points in the Jerome S. at Aqueduct! 🥁🌹@jjcjockey was aboard for trainer @bradcoxracing.

🎥 #TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/31GlZKum84

— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) January 6, 2024

Drum Roll Please upped his career mark to 5-2-1-1, $183,630. The son of Hard Spun commenced his career on July 29 at Saratoga and went unplaced in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight dash over a sloppy, sealed surface. He improved with a runner-up performance traveling one mile at the Spa at second asking, prior to graduating in his third assignment at Aqueduct on Oct. 6. He preceded his initial stakes triumph with a solid third-place result in the Remsen S. (G2).

The winner was bred in the Keystone State by Barlar, LLC and went through the auction ring on a pair of occasions. He was a $295,000 RNA at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July Sale, prior to being sold for $250,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale.

Drum Roll Please is the first black-type winner produced from the seven-time stakes-winning E Dubai mare Imply, who counts herself as a half-sister to a trio of stakes winners. This is the same female line as 1994 Horse of the Year Holy Bull.

The colt has earned Brisnet Speed numbers of 96-87-93-83 from a quartet of route races to this stage of his development. He will need to considerably move forward to compete with the top horses in his class, but the long-striding chestnut does give the impression of a prospect who will thrive with more ground as the season progresses.

Drum Roll Please will likely appear in the $250,000 Withers S. (G3) on the Aqueduct oval on Feb. 3.