Ethereal Road

After three defeats to start his career, Ethereal Road broke his maiden in dramatic fashion at Oaklawn Park on Jan. 29, 2022. He rallied from sixteen lengths out of it to win a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight race by four lengths going away. 

Next out, Ethereal Road made his graded stakes debut in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn on Feb. 26. After making a wide move on the final turn, he fought gamely in the stretch and won a photo for second over Barber Road. Ethereal Road earned 20 qualifying points on the road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve with that performance.

Ethereral Road made his next start in the Grade 1 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on Apr. 9, but finished a well-beaten seventh. His connections were undeterred and wheeled him back a week later in the Grade 3 Stonestreet Lexington Stakes on Apr. 16. He finished fourth and earned two more Derby qualifying points.

Ethereal Road entered Kentucky Derby week in 20^th place on the Kentucky Derby points leaderboard, and his connections kept him in the field even after he drew post 20. However, just minutes before the scratch deadline on the morning of May 6, Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas pulled him out of the May 7 Derby. That allowed a fellow longshot, Rich Strike, to draw into the field, and the Eric Reed-trained colt would post the second-biggest upset in Kentucky Derby history roughly 34 hours later.

Meanwhile, Lukas regrouped with Ethereal Road and set the June 11 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets as a possible goal. As a tune-up, he entered the colt in the Sir Barton Stakes Sponsored by Brandon and Diannah Perry to Benefit TAA at Pimlico on the May 21 Preakness Stakes undercard. With Luis Saez riding for the first time, Ethereal Road sat in his customary rear-guard position through the backstretch, angled out in the far turn of the 1 1/16-mile race, and powered clear to an impressive open-length victory as the post-time favorite.