Iowa’s Albaugh Has Two (Maybe Three!) Horses in the Kentucky Derby

For a small racing state, Iowa will have a super-sized presence in Saturday’s 149th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs with three horses owned by Ankeny’s Dennis Albaugh entered in America’s greatest race.

Leading the way in the $3 million Kentucky Derby is Angel of Empire, winner of Oaklawn Park’s $1.25 million Arkansas Derby (Grade 1) in his last start. Angel of Empire, who will be ridden by Flavien Prat, drew post 14 and is the 8-1 third choice among the 23 three-year-old horses entered Monday for the 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby. Albaugh — the mega-businessman and philanthropist who campaigns his horses with son-in-law Jason Loutsch in the name of their Albaugh Family Stables — also has Jace’s Road guaranteed a spot in the 20-horse Derby field, with the Louisiana Derby third-place finisher drawing post 12 and assigned program odds of 50-1. Both are trained by Brad Cox.

Angel of Empire is third in the morning-line odds behind favored Forte, the Florida Derby winner and 2-year-old champion who is 3-1, and Tapit Trice, the 5-1 second choice off in Keeneland’s Grade 1 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes.

“Having the third favorite in the Derby is very exciting,” said Albaugh, who is chairman of the board of Iowa’s only horse track, Prairie Meadows, serving as the horsemen’s representative. “I love the way Angel closes. That’s going to get really exciting Saturday, when you see all those legs come around that final turn. My heart will be a-pumpin’ from the beginning to the end. But it really starts pumping on that last turn.”

The third Albaugh entrant, the Dale Romans-trained Florida Derby third-place finisher Cyclone Mischief, is No. 21 and needs one defection before early Derby wagering begins at 9 a.m. ET Friday in order to get in the starting gate.

Albaugh’s Derby trio came out of only eight colts purchased as yearlings two years ago.

“We’re really thankful for the hard work of our team,” said Loutsch, Albaugh Family Racing’s racing manager. “They do a great job. This game is hard, really hard. We go to the sale every year and that’s our goal: to get in the Kentucky Derby.”

Albaugh became hooked racehorse ownership when he campaigned the Iowa-based, Kelly Von Hemel-trained filly Miss Macy Sue from 2005-2008. Miss Macy Sue proved a prodigious broodmare for Albaugh, producing multiple Grade 1 winner Liam’s Map and the sensational young sire Not This Time.

Then, as an investor in Des Moines-based Donegal Racing, Albaugh was a part-owner of Paddy O’Prado, who finished third in the 2010 Kentucky Derby. Albaugh’s focus ever since has riveted on the First Saturday in May, though he does buy and race fillies as he builds a broodmare band to support Not This Time as a stallion (and also to have female horses to name after his four granddaughters).

Albaugh Family Stables has run three prior horses in the Kentucky Derby: Brody’s Cause was seventh in 2016, J Boys Echo 15th in 2017 and Free Drop Billy 16th in 2018. Thousand Words, owned by Albaugh and Spendthrift Farm, was scratched after flipping in the paddock of the COVID-delayed Derby held in September 2020.

In the 4-for-6 Angel of Empire, Albaugh will have his shortest-priced Derby starter to date. Yet that Pennsylvania-born colt was almost an after-thought purchase, certainly at the time not as highly regarded as Jace’s Road or Cyclone Mischief.

“We come to the sales with a budget,” Loutsch said. “Dennis says, ‘This is what we want to spend,’ and we try to get the most under budget as we can. Thankfully, two years ago when we went to the sale, we felt like we were a colt or two short and I asked Dennis if I could buy one more colt and scour through books 4 and 5 (the catalogs later in the sale when horses are far cheaper). We came up with Angel of Empire.”

Jace’s Road, purchased in partnership with West Point Thoroughbreds, cost $510,000 at Keeneland’s 2021 September yearling sale. Cyclone Mischief had a $450,000 price tag, with breeder Castleton Lyons staying in as a partner. Meanwhile, Angel of Empire cost $70,000.

“You don’t have a lot of expectations,” Loutsch said. “It was a numbers game. We wanted to get more colts we felt could get the classic distance. That’s why this game is so cool. You just never know.

“… We’ve had our fair share of up and downs. But we really believe this year is our most legit chance to get there. If you had said back in 2010 when Dennis wanted to start this program that we’d get to buying 10 horses a year and we’re the third favorite in the Kentucky Derby, it’s a dream come true.”