“I thought it was a perfect start to his three-year-old campaign.” ~ trainer Todd Pletcher
RENEGADE (Into Mischief) broke his maiden in the $210,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on February 6, picking up 20 points on the way to the Kentucky Derby (G1). Bred by Robert and Lawana Low and owned by the Lows and Mike Repole, Renegade had been disqualified after crossing the finish line first last October in a race at Belmont At The Big A and then finished a close second to arch rival Paladin in the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes.
In the Davis, Renegade was the even-money favourite against a modest field and he rolled through the stretch to collar longshot front-runner Wayne’s Law, owned by Herbert Sternlieb’s Baalbek Corporation and trained Amador Merei Sanchez to win by 3 ¾ lengths. The Puma, making only his second career start, ran well to finish third, with Game for It fourth in the nine-horse field.
In the process, Renegade zoomed up the list of Derby contenders and he was one of Irad Ortiz’s four winners on the card, including the Suncoast Stakes earlier on sensational sophomore filly Zany.
Repole, the owner of Zany, won other stakes races last weekend with Be You (Grade 3 Toboggan) and Scalable (Ladies Stakes). His horses are trained by Todd Pletcher.
“It wasn’t an easy race,” Repole said of Renegade’s victory, achieved in a time of 1:43.54 for the mile-and-a-sixteenth distance on a fast main track. “But he got a nice pace up front. He was wide, but I think Irad knew he had the best horse. It is better sometimes to be wide and not caught in traffic than to get caught in traffic and be the best horse.
“Todd has done a great job with this horse and we think he can get better with age and more distance. If this is any indication, I am pretty excited,” Repole said.
Renegade’s Beyer Speed Figure according to Daily Racing Form, was a smart 92.
Ortiz was content to keep Renegade near the rear of the field early. He unleashed a powerful move on the turn for home and was clearly best.
“It looked like there was a lot of speed in the race, so I thought maybe today I would have the option to come from way back,” Ortiz said. “The plan worked out beautifully. I really felt like he was going to win coming home, and when I asked him he really came on strong.”
Pletcher, reached by telephone afterward, has had high hopes for Renegade right along and this victory – his first official” triumph in four starts – justified them.
“I was very pleased with his race,” Pletcher said. “I thought it was impressive considering he got shuffled back a little bit and was then pretty far back. … on a track that seemed like it was playing kindly to horses up close. He had to put in a pretty wide move, but I thought he really leveled off the last part (of the race) and finished up strongly.
PEDIGREE NOTES
Bobby Flay bought Renegade’s second dam DAME DOROTHY (Bernardini) as a yearling in 2012 for $390,000 and she went on to win the Grade 1 Humana Distaff, among other stakes, and over $740,000. Dame Dorothy, a half-sister to E.P. Taylor Stakes (G1) winner Mrs. Lindsay, was offered for sale at the 2019 Keeneland November sale and was bought back for $3.1 million. Flay sold her first foal, the Curlin filly later named SPICE IS NICE, for $1.05 million to the Lows and she won the Grade 3 Allaire du Pont Stakes.
Spice Is Nice is the dam of Renegade, her first foal.
Dame Dorothy’s second foal sold for $650,000 and that is four-time winner Principe d’Oro, whom Flay bought back in 2023 for $60,000. Dame Dorothy’s third foal, a bay by Uncle Mo, sold for $1.6 million to the Lows and that horse was Sgt. Pepper, a one-time winner.
Mike Repole bought Dame Dorothy for $900,000 in 2023 and she produced a Gun Runner colt who sold for $1.6 million last fall.
Renegade was bought for $975,000 from the 2024 Keeneland September yearling sale by Repole, but he now has the Lows as partners.
KENTUCKY DERBY (G1) POINTS
1 Silent Tactic (KY) 25 – Won Southwest S.
2 Renegade (KY) 25 – Won Sam F. Davis Stakes
3 Intrepido (KY) 23 – 2nd Robert Lewis Stakes
4 Plutarch (KY) 23 – Won Robert Lewis S.
5 Nearly (FL) 20 – won Holy Bull S.
6 Golden Tempo (KY) 20 – Won Lecomte S.
7 Talk to Me Jimmy (NY) 20 – Won Withers S.
8 Litmus Test (KY) 19 Won Los Alamitos Futurity
9 Chip Honcho (KY) 14 Won Gun Runner S.
10 Soldier N Diplomat (KY) 13 – 2nd Southwest S.
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