Mugatu trainer, jockey, owner, record and more to know about 2024 Kentucky Derby hopeful
Jason Frakes
Mugatu is on the bubble to make it into the 2024 Kentucky Derby on May 4 at Churchill Downs.
Spots for the Run for the Roses are earned by gaining points through a series of Kentucky Derby prep races that began last September.
The post-position draw for the Kentucky Derby is set for Saturday, April 27. Post time for the Kentucky Derby is set for 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, May 4.
Mugatu is hopeful to make the Kentucky Derby off a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Blue Grass on April 6 at Keeneland. He currently ranks No. 22 on the points leaderboard with 14 and needs two defections to make the race.
Mugatu
Color: Chestnut
Bred in: Kentucky
Sire: Blofeld
Dam: Union Way, by Union Rags
Price tag: $14,000 at 2023 Ocala Breeders’ Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training
Owners: Average Joe Racing Stables, Dan Wells, first Derby for both
Trainer: Jeff Engler, first Derby
Jockey: Joe Talamo, 0 for 3 in Derby. Best finish was 14th with Attachment Rate in 2020.
Record: 1-1-3 in 12 starts
Career earnings: $80,570
Road to the Kentucky Derby points: 14 (No. 22)
Last race: Fifth in Grade 1 Blue Grass on April 6 at Keeneland
Running style: Stalker
Notes: Needed five races to break his maiden, doing so on Nov. 18 at Gulfstream Park, and hasn’t won since then. Hasn’t finished among the top two in his past seven races. … First four races as a 3-year-old came at Turfway Park with finishes of third, third, fourth and eighth. … The sire Blofeld won 4 of 14 starts from 2014-17. He won a trio of Grade 2 stakes — Futurity, Nashua and Gulfstream Park Handicap.
What they’re saying: “We’re here and ready if called on,” Engler posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com. Follow on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ.
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