With Pashmina in Friday’s Kentucky Oaks (G1) and the duo of Chief Wallabee and Right to Party in the Kentucky Derby (G1) on Saturday, top-10 sire Constitution has three very formidable runners in the two marquee races for 3-year-olds.
Pashmina, who drew post 13 in the Oaks, has exclusively faced stakes competition since breaking her maiden by double-digits in her second start in late November. She has never been worse than fourth in four subsequent starts, most recently second behind the highly-regarded Always a Runner in the Gazelle S. (G3) at Aqueduct in early April.
Pashmina, who is trained by Rob Atras and will be ridden by Ramon Vazquez, is owned by Red White and Blue Racing LLC and was bred in Kentucky by Narola LLC.
The Oaks will run at 8:40 pm ET on Friday.
In the Derby, Right to Party drew post 5 and Chief Wallabee in post 12.
Right to Party also took the New York route to Kentucky, finishing a game second to Albus in the Wood Memorial (G2) and third in the Gotham S. (G3). The $325,000 Keeneland September yearling is owned by Chester Broman Sr. and was bred in Kentucky by Tony Holmes and Tim Thornton.
Right to Party is trained by 2024 Kentucky Derby winning trainer Ken McPeek and will be ridden by Chris Elliott, who is the son of Stewart Elliott, the jockey of 2004 Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones.
Chief Wallabee is one of the more highly-regarded Derby entrants. From the barn of Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Chief Wallabee was ultra-gallant in both the Florida Derby (G1) and Fountain of Youth (G2), which he lost by a total of just three-quarters of a length. In his debut, the bay colt defeated another prime Derby entrant in The Puma.
Chief Wallabee is a homebred for Mike & Katherine Ball. In the Derby, he will be ridden by Junior Alvarado, who teamed up with Mott to win the 2025 Derby with Sovereignty.
The Derby will be run at 6:57 pm ET, and like the Oaks, can be seen on the NBC family of networks.
