Incredibolt looks for bounceback in Virginia Derby
Owns field’s lone graded win
Frank Vespe
March 13, 2026
Saturday’s second running of the on-dirt $500,000 Virginia Derby brings together a plethora of top trainers, among them Kentucky Derby winners Bob Baffert, Todd Pletcher, Doug O’Neill, and Brad Cox.
As for the horses, they all arrive with questions to answer.
Baffert’s Buetane, a $1.1 million Tiz the Law colt he trains for Zedan Racing Stables, has been installed as the 5-2 morning line favorite. He’s certainly faced the right kind of company, having finished second in the Grade 1 Hopeful to Ted Noffey and then in the Grade 2 San Vicente to So Happy.
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Both of those contests were at seven furlongs, and last time out, he stretched out to 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 3 Southwest.
“Going two turns, we’ll see what he does,” Baffert said prior to the Southwest. “He’s doing really well. He’s worked well. We’ll see how he fits in with those.”
He ran well that day without entirely providing the answer, pressing post time favorite D’code into defeat before ceding the top two spots to Silent Tactic and, narrowly, Soldier N Diplomat.
The lone graded stakes winner in the field is Incredibolt (10-1). The Riley Mott trainee won the Grade 3 Street Sense at Churchill Downs last October, rallying from seventh to win going away.
But in his last start, the Grade 3 Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park Jan. 31, the Bolt d’Oro colt showed little, finishing a distant last of six.
“We’re going to try to redeem ourselves on Saturday,” Mott said. “We’ll sure need to after that race at Gulfstream. I think it was mostly just a matter of him disliking the track surface. Whether that had to do with it being deeper on the inside, I’m not sure, but he certainly didn’t get a hold of it at any point.”
Since that contest, Incredibolt has posted four timed breezes. Most recently, he went a half-mile in 48 seconds flat over the dirt at Palm Meadows. That was the fourth fastest of 90 on March 7.
“I couldn’t have asked for a horse to come out of his last race any better. He’s put forth four really strong works since the race,” Mott said. “He’s acting very sharp. He looks well. The way he’s worked over the Palm Meadows (Training Center) surface and galloped out and double galloped out in all his works, I think he’s coming into the race excellent.”
Cox’s entrant in the Virginia Derby, Confessional, is 4-1 on the morning line. The Essential Quality colt’s career began with promise, as he won at first asking and then finished second in an allowance behind next out Holy Bull winner Nearly.
But in his most recent start, in the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, Confessional finished a troubled seventh. He’ll don blinkers for the Virginia Derby.
“I’m putting blinkers back on to hopefully give him a little more confidence and go forward,” Cox said. “Maybe if he does get in some tight spots, he’ll be thinking about going forward instead of looking at other horses.”
Other major contenders include High Camp (9-2) and Lockstocknpharoah (5-1).
The latter, trained by Thomas Drury, Jr., is undefeated in two career starts, both on the synthetic at Turfway Park. Most recently he won an allowance contest at one mile by 8 ¼ lengths while earning a Beyer speed figure of 82.
The former is one of just two runners here that is not Triple Crown-nominated, and he’s never been beyond seven furlongs. But the Instagrand colt certainly appears to have talent. After finishing second to pricey firster Waymark on debut, he bounced back nicely to graduate at Gulfstream at second asking.
In that latter contest, he appeared to be treading water after a pair of longshots ran past the lead group inside the three-eighths. But he found a second wind to rally to a one-length triumph.
“He’s coming into this race really well,” said High Camp’s trainer Will Walden. “He’s had three really solid works that have gone off without a hitch. He’s fit. Obviously, the question mark is the distance. We’re happy (the Virginia Derby) is around one turn because that lets him meet that question halfway.”
The Virginia Derby is the ninth on a 10-race program and offers the winner 50 Kentucky Derby points, good for an all-but-guaranteed spot in Louisville. Last year’s runaway winner, the D. Wayne Lukas trainee American Promise, ran 16th in the Kentucky Derby and then eighth in the Preakness Stakes.
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VIRGINIA DERBY ENTRIES
| Post | Horse | Odds | Jockey | Trainer | Owner |
| 1 | Buetane | 5-2 | Prat F | Baffert Bob | Zedan Racing Stables, Inc. |
| 2 | Grittiness | 12-1 | Maragh R | Pletcher Todd A | Repole Stable |
| 3 | Epic Desire | 15-1 | Russell S | Pletcher Todd A | Epic Horses, LLC |
| 4 | Work | 20-1 | Sanchez M J | O’Neill Doug | Calumet Farm |
| 5 | High Camp | 9-2 | Velazquez J R | Walden William | OXO Equine, LLC |
| 6 | Lockstocknpharoah | 5-1 | Morales E | Drury Thomas Jr | Let It Ride Equine Holdings III, LLC |
| 7 | Incredibolt | 10-1 | Torres J A | Mott Riley | Pin Oak Stud, LLC |
| 8 | Confessional | 4-1 | Ortiz I Jr | Cox Brad H | Steve Landers Racing, LLC |
| 9 | Ocelli | 15-1 | Ramos J D | Beckman D Whitworth | Ashley Durr, Anthony Tate and Front Page |
| 10 | Clocker Special | 8-1 | Torres C A | Brisset Rodolphe | Storyteller Racing, Open Gate Horse Vent |
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