Endlessly trainer, jockey, owner and more to know about 2024 Kentucky Derby horse
Jason Frakes
Endlessly is one of 20 horses expected to enter the 2024 Kentucky Derby on May 4 at Churchill Downs.
Spots for the Run for the Roses are earned by gaining points through a series of Kentucky Derby prep races that began last September.
The post-position draw for the Kentucky Derby is set for Saturday, April 27. Post time for the Kentucky Derby is set for 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, May 4.
Endlessly will enter the Kentucky Derby off a victory in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby on March 23 at Turfway Park. He currently ranks seventh on the Kentucky Derby points leaderboard with 100.
Endlessly
Color: Bay
Bred in: Kentucky
Sire: Oscar Performance
Dam: Dream Fuhrever, by Langfuhr
Price tag: Homebred
Owner: Amerman Racing (Jerry and John Amerman), first Derby
Trainer: Michael McCarthy, first Derby
Jockey: Umberto Rispoli, 0 for 1 in Derby. Finished 14th on Brooklyn Strong in 2021.
Record: 5-0-0 in six starts
Career earnings: $707,200
Road to the Kentucky Derby points: 100 (No. 7)
Last race: Won Grade 3 Jeff Ruby on March 23 at Turfway by 4 lengths over West Saratoga
Running style: Closer
Notes: Endlessly never has raced on the dirt, his first four starts coming on turf and his last two on all-weather surfaces. McCarthy expressed a preference for going back to turf after the Jeff Ruby victory, but the horse’s owners want to keep the option of running in the Kentucky Derby. Another option is the Grade 2 American Turf on the Kentucky Derby undercard. … Endlessly’s lone loss came in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf last November at Santa Anita Park, an eighth-place finish. “Didn’t get the type of trip we were looking for, and he still hung around and ran very well that day,” McCarthy said. … Animal Kingdom was the last winner of the Jeff Ruby — then called the Spiral Stakes — to win the Kentucky Derby, accomplishing the feat in 2011.
What they’re saying: “If I thought he was a dirt horse, I may have tried him on it a while ago,” McCarthy said before the Jeff Ruby. “He’s just been very consistent on the grass. He moves like a grass horse. The style in which he’s most comfortable running — tucking in behind the speed — is conducive to the grass. Obviously, it would be a big thrill to run in the Kentucky Derby. But it takes the right type of horse.”
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com. Follow on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ.
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