$1M Curlin Florida Derby & $165K Ghostzapper Stakes

HorseDoc® covered both the 2025 Curlin-Florida Derby and the Ghostzapper Stakes. Read the full recap below.

The $1,000,000 Curlin-Florida Derby and the Ghostzapper Stakes were run on Saturday, March 29th at Gulfstream Park Racetrack in Hallandale Beach, Florida. The 1-1/8 mile Grade 1 Florida Derby is a key race with a win guaranteeing enough points for automatic entry into the Kentucky Derby. Even a lower place finish often adds additional qualifying points to enable a horse to run as one of the top 20 horses certified to compete in the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday of May.  

Ten of the country’s best two-year-olds were entered at Gulfstream Racetrack to challenge the favored and recent winner of the 1-1/16 mile Grade 1 Florida Derby, Sovereignty. Sovereignty is trained by Hall of Famer Billy Mott. His jockey, Junior Alvarado, was recently injured and has been replaced by New York’s leading rider Manny Franco.   

The odds makers’ anticipated order of finish was:

1)Sovereignty
2)Madaket Road
3)Disruptor
4)Tappan Street 

However, the order of race finish was:

1)Tappan Street
2)Sovereignty
3)Neoequos
4)Madaket Road 

Tappan Street, Florida Derby. Photo by Lauren King.

Tappan Street’s trainer Brad Cox commented after winning the Florida Derby, “We have five weeks. We have to make sure he comes out of it in good order. Our plan is Monday or Tuesday to ship him to Churchill (KY). Hopefully, he comes out of it in good order, and we can march forward. I think he is going to get a tremendous amount out of this.” This was Brad Cox’s first Florida Derby winner. 

Sovereignty’s trainer Bill Mott commented after his second-place finish, “This doesn’t have to be his best race. Sometimes you can look at it and say, maybe that’s a good thing. You don’t want their best race before the big event. I think the fact that he ran very big last time and ran very well this time, maybe he’ll continue to improve.”  

No Kentucky Derby (G1) prep race has produced more winners of the Run for the Roses than the Florida Derby, from which 25 horses have gone on to win the first leg of the Triple Crown. The most recent second place Florida Derby horse to win the Kentucky Derby in 2023 was Mage, trained by Gustavo Delgado Sr & Jr.  

Similarly, the $165,000 1-1/16 mile Grade 3 Ghostzapper Stakes was also run earlier that same day. There were six older horses entered against the heavily favored White Abarrio. White Abarrio is perhaps the best horse in the country as a multiple graded stakes winner who has earned over $17 Million in purse money. He recently won the $3 Million 2025 1-1/8 mile Grade 1 Pegasus Stakes at Gulfstream Park on January 25th.  

White Abarrio was running in the Ghostzapper Stakes as a prep for the upcoming 1-mile $1 Million Metropolitan (Met Mile) Grade 1 Handicap to be run at Saratoga Racetrack on Saturday, June 7th on Belmont Stakes’ Day. The impending Met Mile could create a competition amongst the best older horses in the country, such as White Abarrio, Fierceness, Sierra Leone, Mystic Dan, and others. 

Entries for the Ghostzapper Stakes were:

The odds makers’ anticipated order of finish was:

1)White Abarrio
2)Tuscan Sky
3)Lightning Tones
4)Power Squeeze 

However, the order of race finish was:

1)White Abarrio
2)Power Squeeze
3)Tuscan Sky
4)Lightning Tones 

White Abarrio wins the Ghostzapper. Photo by Angelo Lieto.

Like the Kentucky Derby entries, this group of exceptional racehorses will be considered for the elite 2025 year-end Eclipse Awards honors.  

After White Abarrio’s 5-1/2 length victory win in the Ghostzapper Stakes, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr said: “He’s in a different league right now. He did it easy as he can. I think he is the best horse in the country.” Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr stated: “I didn’t do too much. I just let him be him, and that was it. I let him be him every step of the way.” 

White Abarrio was challenged by 2024 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) winner Power Squeeze to his outside on the far turn. Turning into the home stretch, Ortiz encouraged White Abarrio  who responded instantly, drawing away to a comfortable victory of 1:41.97. Power Squeeze, the only mare in the race, finished in second place.  

White Abarrio in the Winner’s Circle. Photo by GBeroza.

Both races are more intimately covered via personal pre-race predictions and interviews with knowledgeable racing insiders such as trainers Todd Pletcher, Saffie Joseph, Jr., White Abarrio C2 owner Mark Cornett, Jockey Mike Smith, 2023 Kentucky Derby winning trainer Gustavo Delgado,  Jr., Daily Racing Form Analyst David Grening, and others.

You can view the 18-minute video covering both races here:

Kentucky Derby qualifying races still have potential points to allow horses to make the cut for the Kentucky Derby. They are:

4/5/25 Wood Memorial G2 Stakes at Aqueduct (100 points)
4/5/25 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes G1 at Keenland (100 points)
4/5/25 Santa Anita Derby at Santa Anita (100 points)
4/5/25 UAE Derby G2 at Meydan Racecourse-Dubai (100 points)
4/12/25 Stonerstreet-Lexington Stakes G3 at Keenland (20 points) 

Dr. Gregory A. Beroza, DVM, DACVS, DABVP has been a practicing veterinarian and consultant for 42 years; and HorseDoc® ‘Talking Horses’® media host, author, and consultant since 2007. Dr. Beroza is a multimedia host and broadcasts his productions, including a new Podcast, via his WuzUpDoc Media website: www.WuzUpDoc.com. He can be found on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and other social media sources.

Thanks to ‘HorseDoc’ Sponsors:  Alex Nichols Agency; BMB IT Solutions, Chestnut Vale Feed, Cosequin Joint Health Supplement, Douglas Elliman Real Estate, Great American Insurance-Equine Division; Hopscotch Air Taxi; Jaguar; JSR Farriers-Equine Transport; Land Rover; Nutrena; Oheka Castle Hotel & Estate; Ramard Nutraceuticals; Range Rover; Supporting Strategies; Ultravet Medical Devices