Track Phantom

Track Phantom, a Quality Road colt bred in Kentucky, finished third and then a close second in his first two starts during fall 2023, both at Churchill Downs. On the final day of Churchill’s fall meet, he broke through with a front-running 4 ¾-length victory in his first start around two turns, finishing a 1/16-mile maiden race under wraps with Joel Rosario riding.

Trainer Steve Asmussen then shipped the colt to Fair Grounds for a start in the Dec. 23 Gun Runner Stakes held at 1 1/16 miles, which offered qualifying points to the 2024 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve. With jockey Cristian Torres in the irons, Track Phantom sat just off the early pace and then took over coming into the homestretch en route to a 1 ¼-length win. He earned 10 qualifying points for the 150^th Derby on May 4.

Track Phantom made his 3-year-old debut in his following start, which came in the Grade 3 $200,000 Lecomte Stakes going 1 1/16 miles at Fair Grounds on Jan. 20, 2024. Sent off as the second choice on the tote board at 7-5 odds, Track Phantom took charge of the race from the start and went wire-to-wire to win by a 2 3/4-length margin. The Lecomte Stakes was a qualifying race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, and with his victory, Track Phantom earned another 20 Derby qualifying points.

Track Phantom next raced in the following step on the Fair Grounds road to the Kentucky Derby in the Grade 2 $400,000 Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 17 and turned-in another good front-running effort resulting in a second-place finish when overtaken in deep stretch by a half a length by Sierra Leone. The runner-up performance earned Track Phantom a further 25 Kentucky Derby qualifying points.

Track Phantom disappointed in his next start in the $1 million Grade 2 Louisiana Derby going 1 3/16 miles at Fair Grounds on March 23, settling the pace and tiring in the stretch to finish fourth in an 11-horse field as the 2-1 favorite. With his fourth-place finish, Track Phantom earned another 15 qualifying Derby points giving him 70 points overall.

Track Phantom is out of the Grade 2-winning Into Mischief mare Miss Sunset and is a relative to $2 million earner Prayer for Relief.