Longshot In the 151st Run for the Roses, East Avenue, a Kentucky Derby contender, will try to upset a very good field. This Respected Money Derby betting profile will go into greater detail about a front-running colt that has a history of performing well when put in the lead.
POST NUMBER: TBD
JOCKEY: Manny Franco / TRAINER: Brendan Walsh
RECORD: 5 starts: 2-1-0
TOP EQUIBASE SPEED FIGURE: 104
RUNNING STYLE: Pacesetter / Stalker
CAREER EARNINGS: $654,395
This son of Medaglia d’Oro and Dance Music will look to snap a three-race losing streak in the prestigious first leg of the Triple Crown.
East Avenue Breeding
Medaglia d’Oro, the Sire, participated in all three legs of the Triple Crown, placing second in the 2022 Belmont Stakes, eighth in the 2002 Preakness, and fourth in the 2002 Kentucky Derby. The most notable offspring of Medaglia d’Oro are Wonder Gadot, the 2018 Sovereign Award Horse of the Year, and Rachel Alexandria, the 2009 Eclipse Horse of the Year and Preakness Stakes champion.
Dam: Dance Music is the unraced daughter of Ghostzapper, the 2004 Eclipse Award Horse of the Year, who won nine of his eleven career races, including the Breeders Cup Classic (G1).
East Avenue Owner/Jockey Derby Accomplishments
After four previous mounts in the Run for the Roses—Framentino (2015, finishing 14th), Spinoff (2009, finishing 18th), Tiz the Law (2020, finishing 2nd), and Zozos (2020, finishing 10th)—jockey Manny Franco will be looking for his first Derby victory. Trainer Brendan Walsh will be attending the Kentucky Derby for the second time after finishing ninth with Plus Que Parfait in 2019.
Race History on East Avenue
In five career starts, East Avenue has two victories and one runner-up result. When he broke his maiden at first asking at a distance of six furlongs on the dirt at Ellis Park, his career got off to a great start. When East Avenue won the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) last October by 5 1/4 lengths in a gate-to-wire score that earned him a 97 Equibase speed number, he maintained his unblemished record after his first victory. When he failed to recover after stumping at the start of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) in November, the winning streak came to a devastating end with a poor ninth-place finish. After placing a dismal 10th in the Risen Star (G2) in February, East Avenue struck the board for the first time in 2025 losing by a nose in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) to Derby contender Burnham Square, earning a career-best 104 Equibase speed figure.
Race History on East Avenue
In five career starts, East Avenue has two victories and one runner-up result. When he broke his maiden at first asking at a distance of six furlongs on the dirt at Ellis Park, his career got off to a great start. When East Avenue won the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) last October by 5 1/4 lengths in a gate-to-wire score that earned him a 97 Equibase speed number, he maintained his unblemished record after his first victory. When he failed to recover after stumping at the start of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) in November, the winning streak came to a devastating end with a poor ninth-place finish. After placing a dismal 10th in the Risen Star (G2) in February, East Avenue struck the
