Kentucky Derby Pedigree Corner Presented By FanDuel Racing: Catalytic, Just Steel, Honor Marie, And Just A Touch

Catalina Cruiser was a graded stakes winner at both the sprint and route distances, notching one-turn victories in two editions of the G2 Pat O’Brien Stakes (seven furlongs), and one running of the G2 True North Stakes (6 ½ furlongs). He also was a two-time winner of the G2 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles.

Catalina Cruiser is the only stallion with a runner from his first crop slated to go in this year’s Derby. As such, his average progeny winning distance of 6.82 furlongs is near the bottom of this year’s group of Kentucky Derby sires, but it is likely to fluctuate as more of his runners get opportunities to race around two turns.

Catalytic is his sire’s lone graded black type earner, finishing second in the G1 Florida Derby at 1 1/8 miles. He broke his maiden on debut as a 2-year-old going 6 ½ furlongs.

Catalina Cruiser’s other black type earners are Latte Lizzie, who was third in the one-mile Global Tote Juvenile Fillies Stakes at Kentucky Downs, and Stellamaris, who was second in the Seeking the Ante Stakes going six furlongs at Saratoga.

One Show Only placed once in three career starts, finishing third in a Delaware Park maiden special weight going 7 ½ furlongs on the turf.

She’s had two winners from four foals to race, including Reunion Tour, who is one-for-37. That win came in an Aqueduct maiden claiming race going six furlongs.

Her first foal, the Paynter filly Just What I Needed, finished in the money in four of 10 starts; all of those being third-place efforts in maiden claiming events at Will Rogers Downs, Delaware Park, and Mountaineer at distances of either six furlongs or one mile.

Corri Felice, a filly by Runhappy, has finished third in one of her two career starts; that being her debut race at Keeneland as a 3-year-old in a 6 ½-furlong maiden special weight.

#6 - Just Steel
Justify x Irish Lights, by Fastnet Rock

Justify won the 2018 Triple Crown en route to being named that season’s Horse of the Year. His classic credentials from an on-track resume standpoint are rock-solid.

His runners have also shown a propensity to get the distance. His average progeny winning distance of 7.60 furlongs is in the upper echelon among this year’s group of Kentucky Derby sires.

Justify has two runners in the Kentucky Derby field in Just a Touch, who was runner-up in the G1 Blue Grass Stakes, and Just Steel, who finished second in the G1 Arkansas Derby. Both races were held at 1 1/8 miles.

Last year’s 2-year-old races at the Breeders’ Cup were dominated by Justify, who was represented by Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner and champion 2-year-old female Just F Y I and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Hard to Justify. His six Grade/Group 1 winners also includes Arabian Lion (Woody Stephens Stakes, seven furlongs), City of Troy (Dewhurst Sttakes, seven furlongs), Aspen Grove (Belmont Oaks Invitational, 1 ¼ miles), and Opera Singer (Prix Marcel Boussac Criterium Pouliches, one mile).

Justify sent Verifying to last year’s Kentucky Derby from his debut crop, and he finished 16^th.

Irish Lights won three of 14 career starts, including the G1 Australian Thousand Guineas at 1,600 meters (about one mile) and the G3 Thousand Guineas Prelude going 1,400 meters (about seven furlongs).

All five of the foals out of Irish Lights to race are winners, led by the High Chaparral filly Omei Sword, who won the Australian G2 Silver Shadow Stakes at 1,200 meters (about six furlongs). She is also Group 1 placed at 1,400 meters (about seven furlongs).

Seirios, a gelding by Pierro, won two of eight career starts in New Zealand, both at 1,400 meters (about seven furlongs).

The global traveler Lipizzaner, a colt by Uncle Mo, won the Doncaster Stakes in England at about six furlongs, and he finished second in the Irish G3 Anglesey Stakes at 6 ½ furlongs. His full-brother Mo Z won once in four starts, taking a 1 1/16-mile turf maiden special weight at the Fair Grounds during his 2-year-old campaign.

#7 - Honor Marie
Honor Code x Dame Marie, by Smart Strike

Honor Code won the Eclipse Award as champion older horse of 2015 on the strength of a campaign that included victories in the G2 Gulfstream Park Handicap (one mile), G1 Metropilitan Handicap (one mile), and G1 Whitney Stakes (1 1/8 miles). He also finished third in the 1 ¼-mile Breeders’ Cup Classic. As a 2-year-old, Honor Code won the G2 Remsen Stakes at 1 1/8 miles.

Honor Code’s average progeny winning distance of 7.33 furlongs puts him in the middle of the pack among this year’s class of Derby sires, but his highest-level runners have all succeeded around two turns.

He has sired a trio of Grade 1 winners, led by Max Player, who won the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes and the G2 Suburban Stakes at 1 ¼ miles. Honor A. P. joined the club with a victory in the G1 Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles, while Maracuja won the G1 Coaching Club American Oaks at 1 1/8 miles.

Honor Code’s top Kentucky Derby runner to date is Honor A. P., who finished fourth in the 2020 renewal. Max Player finished fifth in the same race.

Dame Marie won four of 18 starts, all on the turf between one mile and 1 1/8 miles at Gulfstream Park and Churchill Downs. She also finished second in the G2 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes in her final career start.

All three of Dame Marie’s foals to race are winners, including the Into Mischief colt Abarta, who won on debut in an Ellis Park turf maiden special weight at 1 1/16 miles, then finished second in the G2 Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland going the same distance. Quaternion, by Union Rags, has won one of 13 starts: a Churchill Downs maiden special weight at 1 1/16 miles.

#8 - Just a Touch
Justify x Touching Beauty, by Tapit

Justify won the 2018 Triple Crown en route to being named that season’s Horse of the Year. His classic credentials from an on-track resume standpoint are rock-solid.

His runners have also shown a propensity to get the distance. His average progeny winning distance of 7.60 furlongs is in the upper echelon among this year’s group of Kentucky Derby sires.

Justify has two runners with enough points to make the Kentucky Derby field in Just a Touch, who was runner-up in the G1 Blue Grass Stakes, and Just Steel, who finished second in the G1 Arkansas Derby. Both races were held at 1 1/8 miles.

Last year’s 2-year-old races at the Breeders’ Cup were dominated by Justify, who was represented by Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner and champion 2-year-old female Just F Y I and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Hard to Justify. His six Grade/Group 1 winners also includes Arabian Lion (Woody Stephens Stakes, seven furlongs), City of Troy (Dewhurst Sttakes, seven furlongs), Aspen Grove (Belmont Oaks Invitational, 1 ¼ miles), and Opera Singer (Prix Marcel Boussac Criterium Pouliches, one mile).

Justify sent Verifying to last year’s Kentucky Derby from his debut crop, and he finished 16^th.

Touching Beauty won three of 10 starts, led by the G3 Comley Stakes, going one mile at Aqueduct. She also won on debut as a juvenile going 5 ½ furlongs in a Saratoga maiden special weight, and she later took a seven-furlong allowance race at Gulfstream Park.

She has had five winners from six foals to race. Besides Just a Touch, her most prominent runner is the Unbridled’s Song gelding Corps of Discovery, who finished third in the West Virginia Legislature Chairman’s Cup at Mountaineer, going 4 ½ furlongs. Corps of Discovery won three career starts from five to six furlongs.

Tocame Linda, a filly by Speightstown, won three of six career starts, with each of those wins coming at distances between one mile and 1 1/16 miles. Hellman, an Empire Maker gelding, won three of 31 starts in the Mid-Atlantic, starting with a 1 1/16-mile turf maiden special weight at Monmouth Park and later taking a 1 1/8-mile claiming race on the main track at Pimlico and a 1 1/16-mile dirt claiming race at Parx Racing.

Mapache G, also a gelding by Empire Maker, won twice in 28 starts, first taking a 7 ½-furlong maiden claiming race at Delaware Park, then returning to the same track two starts later to win a one-mile claiming race. Big Sense, a gelding by Street Sense, finished out of the money in his lone start, a one-mile maiden special weight at Tampa Bay Downs.