Welcome to Kentucky Derby Prospect Profiles, where we’ll take a look each week at a recent winner on the Triple Crown trail, usually from the Road to the Kentucky Derby schedule that offers qualifying points to the first leg of the series. The 1 ¼-mile Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve will be held May 3, 2025, at Churchill Downs.

This week, we’ll take a closer look at Poster, the winner by a nose of the $250,000 Remsen Stakes Dec. 7 at Aqueduct. The Munnings colt earned his first 10 points toward qualifying for the 2025 Kentucky Derby with the win and currently ranks eighth on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard.

Racing Résumé: Poster won his first two races going one mile on the grass in Kentucky, so the 1 1/8-mile Remsen Stakes Saturday at Aqueduct was challenging on multiple fronts. Trainer Eoin Harty and owner-breeder Godolphin shipped him from Kentucky to New York, started him on dirt for the first time in a race, and tested him an extra eighth of a mile in distance.

That is a lot to throw at a 2-year-old racehorse but Poster proved up to the task.

His Remsen win was by no means a perfect race – winning jockey Flavien Prat said he idled a bit after getting to the front early in the stretch – but Poster held on to nip Aviator Gui by a nose and did so while posting his final quarter-mile in :24.74 and his final eighth of a mile in :12.60, both quality closing fractions for a 2-year-old navigating 1 1/8 miles for the first time in his third start.

Poster was last early in Remsen and appeared to be climbing a bit leaving the first turn, but jockey Flavien Prat asked him to pick up the pace early on the final turn and the colt swept to the front entering the stretch.

“Going into the first turn, he was struggling a bit to get into a rhythm, but then once I got into the turn he started traveling much better. I felt very well going into the last turn and I thought [Aviator Gui] was kind of stuck inside, so I moved to try and get the jump on him,” Prat said.

“When I turned for home, I figured it was going to be a long way by myself. He got to the eighth pole and started looking around and felt like the job was done. He regrouped nicely when that horse came.”

Poster is now 3-for-3 with a Grade 2 win at 1 1/8 miles on the dirt to his credit.

Speed Figures: Poster has improved his Equibase Speed Figure and Beyer Speed Figure with each start. His 97 Equibase Speed Figure for the Remsen was a four-point improvement while his 84 Beyer Speed Figure was 15 points better than his previous top. Neither speed figure jumps off the page as an indicator of future stardom. However, there are very few 1 1/8-mile races for 2-year-olds on any surface and the pace in the Remsen was fairly slow, so perhaps the figures are not entirely representative of the quality of the performance.

Running Style: Poster led from start to finish in his debut at Ellis Park then stalked from third in a 12-horse field in his second race at Keeneland. He dropped a bit farther back early in his first start on dirt in the Remsen, but once he got acclimated to the surface he moved up to stalking range and I would expect him to settle in as a stalker rather than a closer. Poster has some tactical speed at his disposal.

Connections: If you read last week’s feature on First Resort, you will be familiar with owner Godolphin and trainer Eoin Harty, who have now won back-to-back Grade 2 Kentucky Derby preps with the aforementioned Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes winner and Remsen winner Poster.

Prat and Poster after the victory. (Walter Wlodarczyk/NYRA)

Godolphin is the operation of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai who has been involved in Thoroughbred racing since 1977. Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley Stable won the 2006 Preakness with Bernardini and Godolphin earned a classic win in the 2021 Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets with Essential Quality. Godolphin has swept the last four Eclipse Awards as outstanding owner (2020-2023) and the last three as outstanding breeder (2021-2023). Sheikh Mohammed has not won the Kentucky Derby.

Harty is a fifth-generation horseman who went out on his own in 2000 and has won more than 650 races, including the 2001 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies with Tempera.

Jockey Flavien Prat is the front-runner to take home the 2024 Eclipse Award as outstanding jockey in North America. He set a record in the Remsen with his 80^th stakes win of the year, surpassing Irad Ortiz Jr.’s previous record of 79 set in 2022. He also tied Hall of Fame rider Jerry Bailey with his 55^th graded stakes win of the year. Prat’s marquee wins this year include the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic on Sierra Leone. Prat has two wins in U.S. classic races, taking the 2019 Kentucky Derby on Country House and the 2021 Preakness aboard Rombauer.

Pedigree Notes: Poster is from the 11^th crop of multiple graded stakes-winning sprinter Munnings, by champion sprinter Speightstown. Like his sire, Munnings is capable of siring racehorses that thrive navigating longer distances like multiple Grade 1-winning router I’m a Chatterbox, 2021 Woodbine Oaks winner Munnyfor Ro, 2020 Fair Grounds Oaks winner Bonny South, and 2020 Rachel Alexandra Stakes winner Finite. Munnings has standout runners sprinting and on grass as well, so he’s developed into a versatile sire.

Poster was produced by Pin Up, by influential stamina sire Tapit. Pin Up’s lone win in four starts came at 1 3/16 miles, but more notable than her racing record is her close sibling Bernardini, by Tapit’s sire, A.P. Indy. Bernardini won the 2006 Preakness, Travers Stakes, and Jockey Club Gold Cup for Sheikh Mohammed. Love and Pride, another very close relative of Pin Up, won the Grade 1 Personal Ensign Stakes at 1 1/8 miles and the Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes at 1 1/16 miles in 2012.

Derby Potential: I liked Poster quite a bit entering the Remsen Stakes and he lived up to my expectations in the race. He finished well and aced a difficult test in the Remsen in which he was asked to navigate multiple variables (distance, surface, shipping) for the first time. While many will look at his sire and wonder if Poster might have distance limitations, I view Munnings as a plus overall, especially for a colt from a strong family with plenty of stamina influences plus Tapit as his dam’s sire. He’s not fast enough yet, but Poster is on a promising trajectory with significant upside. I’m really eager to see if he takes a big step forward in his second start on dirt, which I think is a strong possible outcome and would establish Poster as a major contender for the 2025 Kentucky Derby. I’m a fan!