Iroquois Stakes 2025
There are a lot of great stakes races left for this season, but some of the focus starts to shift to 2026 this weekend with the Iroquois Stakes, the kick-off to the Road to the Kentucky Derby prep races. This race features 2-year-olds on the Churchill Downs dirt track and can start to shed some potential light on which horses to watch as we get closer to the Triple Crown opener in May.
Jonathan’s Way won this race last year, but was forced into retirement due to illness after just four starts, so we’ll never know what kind of factor he may have been as a 3-year-old. Generally speaking, the winner of this one-turn, one-mile race isn’t a huge factor in the Kentucky Derby or any of the Triple Crown races, but this is a “win and in” qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
It will be Race 8 in your Saturday program at Churchill with an expected post time of 4:26 p.m. ET.
Iroquois Stakes 2025 Entries, Horses, Jockeys, and Trainers:
| Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Odds |
| 1 | Nothing Personal | J. Rodriguez | G. Compton | 8-1 |
| 2 | Sometime | L. Machado | M. Simms Jr. | 15-1 |
| 3 | No More Cents | I. Ortiz Jr. | K. McPeek | 10-1 |
| 4 | So Special | B. Hernandez Jr. | K. McPeek | 10-1 |
| 5 | Spice Runner | J. Ortiz | S. Asmussen | 7/2 |
| 6 | Shake and Rattle | J. Graham | J. Desormeaux | 20-1 |
| 7 | Comport | T. Gaffalione | E. Kenneally | 6/5 |
| 8 | Vost | F. Geroux | W. Walden | 12-1 |
| 9 | Nine Ball | J. Torres | R. Mott | 12-1 |
| 10 | Maximus Prime | L. Saez | A. Mitchell | 12-1 |
Obviously we don’t have a lot of data points on these 2-year-olds, but the hope is to catch on to a lightning rod of a horse early and be able to ride them through the fall and on into the winter.
Here are some thoughts on each horse at the odds at time of publish:
1. Nothing Personal (8-1; Rodriguez/Compton): Jaime Rodriguez will have to have a good trip to navigate the rail post here on the son of Violence and Will She. The horse is 1-for-1 with a maiden victory at Colonial Downs back on August 9 in a field of eight. He went off around 4/1 and completely took over the seven-furlong race to win by over eight lengths. Sire Violence only had four starts, including a mile win in the 2012 Nashua Stakes and a runner-up in the Fountain of Youth Stakes over 1 1/16 miles in 2013 when he lost to Orb. Orb, of course, would go on to win the Kentucky Derby.
2. Sometime (15-1; Machado/Simms): Calumet Farm sends out Sometime, the son of Take Charge Indy and Discatsonthesquare. Pretty identical performances and speed figures at Colonial Downs resulted in a debut win over 5 ½ furlongs and then a third in a black stakes turf race. He’s back on the dirt here, but his speed figure in that dirt debut won’t be good enough here.
3. No More Cents (10-1; I. Ortiz/McPeek): The price seems to tell a story here, despite some excellent connections for No More Cents, the Ohio-bred son of Goldencents and Kajawa. Shamrock Stables is a relative newcomer to the game and that could be having an effect on the price. An excellent run in the Tomboy Stakes at Belterra Park was followed by a rather weak effort in the Cleveland Kindergarten Stakes at Thistledown over six furlongs. No More Cents was the big favorite with Declan Cannon on the ride, finishing nearly 18 lengths behind the winner. The Tomboy effort could win this and a bounce back with a top trainer and elite rider is possible.
4. So Special (10-1; Hernandez/McPeek): So Special, who transitions from turf to dirt, has been ridden by Brian Hernandez twice, hence the jockey setup for McPeek’s two entries. The son of Vekoma and Remarkable Remy might as well be a 3-year-old given that he was foaled on January 16, 2023, but he didn’t start racing until this year, with a second and a first at Ellis Park in lesser-quality fields. Vekoma was a terrific dirt runner with six career wins, including the 2020 Met Mile and two other races shorter than that distance, so this mile-long run might be a good track setup. That is, if So Special likes the dirt right away.
5. Spice Runner (7/2; J. Ortiz/Asmussen): The Kentucky-bred second favorite runs for Winchell Thoroughbreds here in his third career start at Churchill Downs. The son of Gun Runner and Simple Surprise, a four-time winner in her own right, finished two lengths behind favorite Comport in the Ellis Park Juvenile Stakes last time out over seven furlongs. It seems like he should be one of the better pace-setters here, running at or near the front of the pack in most starts, including a halfway-point lead in the EP Juvenile before Comport simply proved to be better. That was his first try at seven furlongs and now he’ll go up to eight, but distance should never be a problem for a Gun Runner colt.
6. Shake and Rattle (20-1; Graham/Desormeaux): Even with some uncertainty dealing with 2-year-olds, and a higher-variance race as a result, Shake and Rattle looks like an easy toss. The Kentucky-bred son of Rock Your World and Jane Says was nowhere close in two August starts and now makes a quick turnaround for a third race going back to the dirt after a failed turf experiment.
7. Comport (6/5; Gaffalione/Kenneally): Joseph W. Sutton seems to have himself a good one here in Comport, the son of Collected and Bartlett Narrows. Collected had quite a career, winning his dirt debut in the Sham Stakes as part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby, and two other prep races before missing the Derby. He would rebound the next year to win the Pacific Classic and finish second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Comport has gotten better with each race, including a win in the Ellis Park Juvenile Stakes by two over Spice Runner. His workouts under the twin spires have been very solid, and, much like Spice Runner, the little bump in distance doesn’t feel like a major issue. Gaffalione rode him to that EP Juvenile win, as Luis Saez had the first two rides of his career at Churchill. Gaffalione gets the nod here over Saez, who is riding the 10, Maximus Prime.
8. Vost (12-1; Geroux/Walden): Another Kentucky-bred and a real unknown here in Vost, who won his maiden last month at Ellis Park with a tremendous closing effort. The 7-1 shot was part of a bunched-up field midtrack and hit the stretch a length and a half behind the favorite before winning by two lengths. That was a seven-furlong debut and an 11-horse field with the rail post. Now Vost gets to go from the outside for Florent Geroux and go an extra furlong. I think the son of Instagrand can fill out exotics here, but he’ll need a bump in speed to be a contender to win. His most recent workout was his best time over five furlongs (1:00.60) out of three works at that distance.
9. Nine Ball (12-1; Torres/Mott): The appropriately-named horse coming from the 9 post is Nine Ball for Bourbon Boss Farm. Jaime Torres gets the ride on the Code of Honor colt, whose debut race was a maiden win at Ellis Park worth nearly $60,000. Bill Mott’s 33-year-old son, Riley, will be looking for more distance here, as the horse’s maiden was just 5 ½ furlongs. That makes this a pretty big step up in distance for a horse that narrowly won.
10. Maximus Prime (12-1; Saez/Mitchell): The best name in the field goes to Maximus Prime, who is winless in three tries. In fact, this is the only horse in the field without a win. He did run very well in the Kentucky Juvenile Stakes during Kentucky Derby week on this track, but didn’t seem to like the Ellis Park surface last time out. He closed well in that stakes race at CD over 5 ½ furlongs, but he was a non-factor over a mile the next time out.
Iroquois Stakes Predictions
Vost is my favorite choice here. Comport may very well win, but the variance of a 2-year-old race means that hunting out a price isn’t a bad idea. Another thing about 2-year-olds is that they can be more finicky and a bit more temperamental than older horses. The fact that Vost overcame a rail post in a crowded field of 11 feels like a great sign. I’m actually curious to see if Nothing Personal can do it in a field of 10. If not on the rail, I think he’d have been higher on my list.
I’ll put the Ellis Park Juvenile Stakes 1-2 punch behind Vost, with Comport and then Spice Runner. If So Special takes to the dirt, he might win this, but I could see an adjustment period with a good chance to fill out the tri or super based on talent alone. It wouldn’t be shocking if So Special wins a different Road to the Kentucky Derby prep race once he gets more reps on dirt.
Prediction: 8-7-5-4
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