Pennsylvania-bred Angel of Empire is among the Kentucky Derby favorites

There’s no Smarty Jones at this year’s Kentucky Derby. No horse that will put Philadelphia on its proverbial saddle and take the entire region for a wild ride.

But in Pine Grove, Pa., a couple of hours west of Billy Penn’s hat — closer to Reading than the Reading Terminal Market — there is hope that a Pennsylvania-bred horse will make a serious run for the roses.

Angel of Empire, bred at Pine Grove’s Blackstone farm in Schuylkill County, is the seventh Pennsylvania-bred horse to run at the Kentucky Derby since Smarty won it in 2004. Five of the most recent six finished 10th or worse. Fast and Accurate, in 2017, was the last Pa.-bred to run the Derby. He finished 17th.

But there’s optimism around Angel of Empire, one of four hopefuls trained by Brad Cox.

» READ MORE: Kentucky Derby odds and post positions: Pennsylvania horse among favorites

Angel followed his second-place finish at the Smarty Jones Stakes on New Year’s Day with victories at the Risen Star Stakes (Feb. 18) and the Arkansas Derby (April 1). He opened at 8-1 and will run out of the No. 14 post. Cox called it a “good draw” and said he already has an idea of the route jockey Flavien Prat will take.

“Flavien will be able to break running and get a good spot mid-pack. That’s what I’m envisioning,” Cox said after Monday’s draw. “Jace’s Road [another horse trained by Cox] will probably be more forwardly placed as opposed to Angel of Empire. Hopefully he can get himself up into the mix.”

This will be Prat’s sixth Derby. He’s hit the board four times, including a winning ride aboard Country House after the disqualification of Maximum Security in 2019.

Dennis Albaugh, owner of Albaugh Family Stables in Iowa, bought Angel of Empire for $70,000 in 2021. His star horse collected $1,026,375 in earnings in 2023.

“I think a Pennsylvania bred was one of the reasons maybe it brought less,” Jason Loutsch, manager for Albaugh Stables, told the Louisville Courier Journal recently. “Maybe people might not have looked at as much as we did and it just kind of slipped through the cracks, we felt.”

Cox’s other three horses in the Derby — Hit Show, Jace’s Road, and Verifying — were bred in Kentucky. But Angel of Empire, the mutt from Pennsylvania, is the most highly regarded.

He’s “gotten better the more he’s done and the longer the distance has gotten,” Cox said. “He’s a horse that was meant to be a really good 3-year-old as opposed to a really fast 2-year-old.”

(14 starts, 2 wins, 1 second, 1 third)

2017: Fast and Accurate (17th)

2016: Mor Spirit (10th)

2016: Tom’s Ready (12th)

2013: Falling Sky (19th)

2007: Hard Spun (2nd)

2007: Great Hunter (13th)

2004: Smarty Jones (1st)

2000: High Yield (15th)

2000: Hal’s Hope (16th)

1997: Shammy Davis (12th)

1992: Lil E. Tee (1st)

1985: Rhoman Rule (9th)

1983: Parfaitement (16th)

1974: Agitate (3rd)

(3 starts, 1 third)

2017: Irish War Cry (10th)

1992: Dance Floor (3rd)

1968: Jig Time (6th)

This article contains information from the Associated Press.

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