The second of three Derby Points races for two year olds this fall at Churchill is the Grade 3 Street Sense Stakes, which is contested at 1 1/16 miles. This race, along with the Rags to Riches Stakes for two year old fillies, are the showpiece races on the first of two “Stars of Tomorrow” cards. While this race doesn’t have the history of some of the other two year old races, the last Derby winner, Sovereignty, broke his maiden in this race last fall. While it’s unlikely that we’re going to see the 2026 Derby winner in this field, it could be a nice starting point for several of these runners. Post time for this race is scheduled for 5:25 (EDT).
Churchill Downs, Sunday 10/26/25, Race 10: The Grade 3 Street Sense Stakes
21 Total Derby points (10/5/3/2/1)
1 – Vost (9-2 ML): This son of Instagrand makes his third career start in this Grade 3 contest and his first try at two turns. He was a winner on debut at Ellis and he finished third, beaten five lengths in the Iroquois Stakes here last month. He was visually impressive despite posting a slowish time in his first start. He did a better job of breaking from the gate in the Iroquois, but he couldn’t find a spot to tuck in and was five wide throughout the turn. He ran on gamely to get into third, again positing a below average speed figure. The dam was a stakes winner and was graded stakes placed. She ‘s the first foal of hers to race His sire, Instagrand, is currently getting 17% winners in dirt sprint races and I love what I’ve seen from William Walden’s horses over the last few months. I do think this is a colt that could take another significant step forward while trying two turns for the first time.
2 – Ganaas (5-1 ML): This War Front colt is one to look for early on in this race. He’s never really been tested, winning both career starts by open lengths. He was an easy winner at five furlongs at Horseshoe Indianapolis in July. He came back to face N2L allowance foes here at Churchill last month, and once again, he came home as a much the best winner in that six furlong contest. After two sprints to start his career, he’s moving to two turns for the first time. While I have no qualms about the longer distance for this colt, I do wonder if he’s going to be better suited for the turf. Horses sired by War Front are only 2-30 in their first route races on the dirt and both of those winners came in races that were taken off the turf. He’s the first foal to race from the mare Shurakaa, but her dam was the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner, Lahudood. I can’t blame the connections for continuing to pursue main track races after two flawless starts in dirt sprint races to start his career. He could easily wind up being the lone speed horse in this seven horse field. I think he’s interesting in this race.
3 – Universe (5-2 ML): The morning line favorite in this spot was last seen finishing a distant third in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont at the Big A in New York. It’s hard to gauge what kind of effort that was in his last start. He went off at 18-1 in that race, and he couldn’t keep pace with the winner once he threw down the gauntlet on the turn. While he earned a nice figure for that effort, he was never really in contention that day. On one hand, the pedigree suggests that he might not be as effective at two turns as he is in longer one turn races. On the other hand, Ken McPeek has made a career out of getting horses with pedigrees that lean toward sprints to be successful in two turns races. While I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he won this race, I do think there’s value in trying to beat him.
4 – Very Connected (8-1 ML): This son of Connect racing for Ken McPeek is coming off a maiden score in his third career start. He was overmatched at seven furlongs at Colonial on debut, but did show improvement on the turf at Kentucky Downs in his second try when finishing third. The plan was to get him back on the turf at Churchill last month, but Mother Nature had other ideas, so that race was moved to a sloppy main track. He came from off the pace to win a hard fought battle in the stretch, but the speed figures from that effort came back light. He’s a full brother to Hidden Connection, who won the Grade 3 Pocahontas on this course in 2021 when that race was run at this same distance. That one was definitely more precocious than her brother, who has needed a few starts to get himself going. He’s not coming out of the strongest maiden races, so I’d prefer to watch how he handles this bump in class before investing in him.
5 –Bricklin (15-1 ML): This son of Nyquist cost his connections $450K in May of 2025, which tells me that he’s looked the part early on in his two year old season at least prior to stepping on the racetrack. He showed a little speed before fading in a 5 ½ furlong sprint on debut at Ellis. When that much money is invested, one would think he would have been given a chance to break his maiden at Keeneland, especially since the purses for those races in Lexington are almost four times higher than the maiden special weight races at Horseshoe Indianapolis, where he ran and one three weeks ago. He showed improvement that day, but he was also getting significant class relief. While this is not the strongest field for this kind of race, the other six runners have wins and solid efforts at major circuits. While he’s certainly bred to do better at longer distances, I’m not convinced he can compete with these right now.
6 – I Did I Did (3-1 ML): This son of Curlin was another high ticket purchase in 2025, selling for $300K in March. He’s the 9th horse to make it to the track from the mare, Ithinkisawapudycat. Her best runner was Sweet Loretta, who was the winner of the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes in 2017. This colt broke his maiden in his third career start at Churchill last month, also catching a sloppy track for his race. He stalked the leader and then opened up at the top of the stretch. He got a little tired late, but he was clear and able to hold on for the win. He had a very sharp workout here two weeks ago and an easier one last week leading up to this race. After pairing his two Beyer Figures in route races, he does look like a horse that is capable of taking a step up today.
7 – Incredibolt (7-2 ML): Riley Mott sends out this son of Bolt d’Oro for his first try at two turns today. He ran 4th as the 5-2 favorite on debut in a six furlong race at Ellis in August. He was much sharper at the one turn mile here last month where he was a clear winner. The dam has foaled four other horses to make it to the track with the most notable runner being Fire on Time, who was a graded stakes placed sprint. The other four runners from this mare have all been more effective in one turn races. When you factor that in with the outside draw for this one, I’m wondering if he’s going to be up against it here. I prefer others in this spot.
The verdict: 1-2-6
There are four horses in this race that make sense to me, and while I don’t have the strongest opinion in this race, I do think there could be value in trying to beat the morning line favorite, Universe (#3). While his barn wins a lot of races with two years in Kentucky during this time of year, I think others in this race are better suited for the distance.
I made Vost (#1) the top pick, thinking that he’s going to take a nice step forward in this spot. While the speed figures weren’t great for his debut, I thought his maiden score was one of the more visually impressive efforts from any of the runners in this race. He was stacked wide throughout in the Iroquois last out and I think with a better trip, he could have at least been closer to the top two finishers at the wire. William Walden is an up and coming star, and his horses have been firing on all cylinders this year, winning 24% of their races for him overall. I think we’re going to see a bigger effort from the OXO Equine homebred.
Ganaas (#2) has two starts and two open length victories. While his debut at Horseshoe Indianapolis was nothing special, at least from a speed figure standpoint, his allowance score at Churchill proved that he can compete on a premier circuit. With blinkers coming off of Universe, I think this one is going to be able to set an uncontested lead, which should automatically make him dangerous. We’ll see if he has enough left in the the tank to finish strongly, but seeing that Tapit is the dam sire makes me think that there’s a good chance he can compete at two turns.
I Did I Did (#6) is another horse that I think is going to be sitting on a stronger effort in this race. He’s facing winners for the first time after scoring in a maiden race on a sloppy course here at this same distance. The distance is still a question mark for the other three runners that I think have the best chances of winning here, so the fact that he has proven himself here is worth considering him as a win candidate. I do think his 3-1 morning line figure is a little light, but Irad Ortiz is coming off a very strong Keeneland meet where his moves were upgrading the chances of many of his mounts.
We’ll have coverage of every North American Derby Points Race, along with plenty of coverage leading up to the 152nd Kentucky Derby on May 2nd, 2026. Current futures odds from Circa or Caesars-William Hill will be provided as they are available. Feel free to reach out on Twitter @EricSolomon718.
