2026 Sunland Derby Betting Odds and Contenders Preview

Key Takeaways:

• The Sunland Derby is a mid-February, 20-point Kentucky Derby prep that often helps to determine late-developing contenders looking to stay alive on the trail.
• While past winners haven’t captured the Sunland Derby, strong showings here have launched major spring campaigns for horses like Firing Line, Stronghold, and Getaway Car.
• Daneyko enters in peak local form after nosing out Way Beyond in the Riley Allison and should get another ideal setup with plenty of pace to chase.
• Bricklin brings upside second off the layoff, owns strong two-turn pedigree, and could take another major step forward with tactical versatility.
• Express Kid has proven two-turn ability, tactical speed, and class from the Springboard Mile, making him dangerous if he works out a trip from the rail.

On Sunday, February 15, the Kentucky Derby trail goes a little off the beaten path. Sunland Park’s biggest day is anchored by the $500,000 Sunland Park Derby, the only official prep race for the Kentucky Derby in New Mexico. The 1 1/16-mile dirt race offers 20-10-6-4-2 points to the top five finishers—unlikely enough to earn the winner an automatic spot at Churchill Downs, but enough to put them there with a good effort in a later prep in March or April.

The 2026 edition of the Sunland Derby drew a field of eight. The morning-line favorite is Express Kid, the open-lengths winner of the Springboard Mile at Remington, who subsequently sold for $800,000 at a Fasig-Tipton online sale. He moved to the barn of Justin Evans after that sale and has his first major assignment here. His foes include Daneyko and Way Beyond, separated by a nose in the Riley Allison Derby, as well as foes looking to prove themselves in stakes company for the first time.

No Sunland Derby winner has yet gone on to win the Kentucky Derby, though long-shot 2009 winner Mine That Bird finished fourth in this prep race at Sunland Park. Firing Line, the impressive winner of the 2015 Sunland Derby, finished a gritty second behind American Pharoah in the Run for the Roses. Stronghold, who won this race in 2024, won the Santa Anita Derby (G1) in his next start and finished seventh behind Mystik Dan in the Kentucky Derby.

Sunland Derby 2026 Information

• Race Date: Sunday, February 15, 2026
• Track: Sunland Park in Sunland Park, New Mexico
• Post Time: 4:17 p.m. Mountain Standard Time
• Distance: 1 1/16 miles
• Age/Sex: three-year-olds
• Where to Watch: FanDuel TV
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

Sunland Derby Odds

This is the field for the 2026 Sunland Derby, including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and morning-line odds for each horse.

Sunland Derby Prep Results

The eight horses in the Sunland Derby come out of seven different races. The only race with more than one last-out runner is, fittingly, the Riley Allison Derby, the one-mile local prep on January 18. Daneyko and Way Beyond were separated by just a nose that day, with Daneyko rallying to tag Way Beyond on the line.

The only horse coming out of a Kentucky Derby points race is Express Kid, who makes his first start since winning the Remington Springboard Mile in gate-to-wire fashion on December 20.

One other horse comes out of a stakes race. Pavlovian was last seen January 17 at Santa Anita, when he was a mildly rallying third in the Cal Cup Derby.

Bricklin is the one other horse to come out of a race against winners. He went gate-to-wire in an allowance dirt mile on January 3 at Oaklawn, and will try to prove himself against stakes-level foes.

The other three horses in the Sunland Derby step from maiden company into stakes. Forty Twenty romped on the front end in a six-furlong open maiden special weight sprint at Turf Paradise on January 15. The other two runners are still maidens: Buntus Foclora comes out of a third-place outing in a six-furlong maiden special weight sprint at Aqueduct, and Sharons Beach was last seen finishing second in a 6 ½-furlong auction-restricted maiden-optional-claiming sprint at Santa Anita.

Sunland Derby 2026 Contenders

These are the contenders in the 2026 Sunland Derby, organized by post position:

1. Express Kid: He had a breakout effort in the Springboard Mile, his first attempt at two turns on the dirt. In fact, he has won both of his two-turn races: a turf allowance two back and then the stakes on the dirt last out. The rail could be thorny, especially with quite a bit of speed drawn to his outside. But, with the tactical speed he showed two back from a rail draw, he has a chance to adapt and do well.
2. Sharons Beach: Sharons Beach is cross-entered in a maiden special weight Monday at Santa Anita. If he goes in the Sunland Derby instead, he’ll be a long shot as one of the two maidens in the field. He ran a fast race last out, missing only by a neck in auction-restricted company; the winner has already come back to win again, albeit against starter-optional foes. He has upside coming second off the lay and trying this 1 1/16-mile trip, though, although he may find it a little thorny to work it from this near-inside draw.
3. Pavlovian: With eight starts, he is the most experienced horse in the field. However, he needs to take a sharp step forward to be a contender against this open stakes company. He has also been well beaten in his last two starts, his only tries at two turns. However, he showed sharp late pace last time and stands to get a sharp pace in front of him this time, meaning he could make a credible run for the underneath shares in this.
4. Forty Twenty: He battled on the pace and missed by half a length on debut, but made the lead in a six-furlong sprint second out and drew off to win by 12 lengths. It was a promising improvement, and the third-place winner has already come back to win another maiden special at Turf Paradise, but this is a tougher group, and he will have a lot of company up near the front.
5. Way Beyond: He found his friends in a high-priced maiden claimer last fall, breaking his maiden for $150,000 at Churchill Downs. Since then, he has four starts against winners, with his best outing coming at Sunland when he missed by a nose to Daneyko in the Riley Allison Derby. He has talent and affinity for the course, but now he’ll have to go longer than he did last out, while also battling on the pace just as hard, if not a little harder.
6. Bricklin: His maiden win came at one turn on the Horseshoe Indianapolis dirt, and though he finished a well-beaten sixth in his dirt route debut in the Street Sense (G3), he got a late-fall break and came back to win by open lengths in an allowance on January 3 at Oaklawn. The question is how much Lasix led to that improvement at Oaklawn, and whether he can reprise that form without it here. But, that was a strong two-turn win, and even though that was on the front end, his maiden victory shows that he has the ability to pass horses as well.
7. Daneyko: Winner of the local prep in his first two-turn dirt try, he nosed out Way Beyond, rallying into a sharp pace to do so. With plenty of pace drawn into this race, Daneyko should get a good trip much like he got last time—he’ll need to improve on that last-out career-best effort in order to take full advantage, but over a track he clearly handles well, he’ll be the in-form local to watch.
8. Buntus Foclora: One of two maidens in the field, he has a lot to prove here. The good news is that he tries two turns for the first time—he is owned by Donegal Racing, who has a long record of looking for horses who need to go long. But, on the other hand, he has yet to look like a winning threat in any of his starts. Now he faces winners—stakes horses, even—for the first time, and will be in trouble unless he takes a big step forward in this two-turn debut.

Sunland Derby Past Winners Past Performances

The Sunland Derby has been run ten times since the beginning of the Road to the Kentucky Derby points system. In that time, nine of the ten winners have come from stakes company, with the only exception being Govenor Charlie (2013), who had most recently won a maiden special weight at Santa Anita.

No last-out stakes winner has won the Sunland Derby since the advent of the points system, but every winner except for Govenor Charlie (who had no stakes experience, but came from a major circuit) and Wild On Ice (2023) had some points-race experience before. Both Chitu (2014) and Firing Line (2015) came out of second-place finishes in the Robert B. Lewis (G3), while Stronghold (2024) and Getaway Car (2025) were both second in the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2). Hence (2017) and Cutting Humor (2019) both came out of seventh-place finishes in the Southwest (G3) at Oaklawn, while Slow Down Andy (2022) was most recently sixth in the Risen Star. Even Runaway Ghost, who won the Sunland Derby off of a second-place outing in the local Mine That Bird Derby, had previously run fifth in the CashCall Futurity (G1) at Los Alamitos. Wild On Ice, who lacked Kentucky Derby points-race experience, came out of a third-place run in the Mine that Bird Derby.

Sunland Derby: 3 Best Bets

These are the three best bets in the 2026 Sunland Derby:

1. Daneyko (9-2)

Daneyko faces a field including some shippers, but in his current form, he has every chance to handle it. He took a pleasing step forward in the Riley Allison Derby last out, his first try at two turns and his first try over the dirt at Sunland. Even though some of that can be attributed to a positive pace setup—a contested pace that he closed into—he stands to get another hotly contested pace in this spot.

Sharp local rider Alfredo Juarez, Jr. rode him in the Riley Allison Derby, and Juarez has come through in Sunland Park’s mid-February feature before—he won the 2017 Sunland Derby with Hence. From a clean near-outside gate, Juarez should be able to work another good trip with Daneyko and score one for the southwest locals.

2. Bricklin (7-2)

Bricklin needed a break and a drop to allowance company after a well-beaten sixth in the Street Sense two back, but returned to action looking as good as ever in a first-level allowance at Oaklawn last out. He did that from the front end, but perhaps more interesting is the fact that he was able to pass horses when he broke his maiden three back. That was a sprint trip, so he’ll have to prove he can do that going long.

But, second off the lay is a great time for Rodolphe Brisset trainees; he is a 19% winner with positive flat-bet ROI over the last three years in that circumstance. Especially since this son of Nyquist has more than enough pedigree for 1 1/16 miles on the dirt, if he can tap into that more tactical style from this nice middle gate, he can make a statement at stakes level.

3. Express Kid (3-1)

With so much speed drawn into the race, the rail draw could be difficult. However, he was able to handle a rail draw two back in an allowance at two turns on the Remington dirt, wrangle a trip just off the pace, and rally to win. That shows that the early speed he showed in the Springboard Mile, while useful, is not the only style in his arsenal.

The fact that Juan Hernandez sees fit to travel is important as well. He has experience on big race days, including this race, which he won last year with Getaway Car. If he can work a trip from the challenging inside gate, Express Kid has plenty of distance pedigree that he can tap into in the lane.

Sunland Derby Undercard

The Sunland Derby is the ninth of ten races on the Sunday card at Sunland Park, scheduled for post time at 4:17 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. There are five other stakes races on the card, including the $250,000 Sunland Park Oaks, a 20-10-6-4-2 point race for sophomore fillies looking toward the Kentucky Oaks. This is Sunland Park’s biggest day, and you can watch every race on FanDuel TV and bet them all at FanDuel!

Sunland Park History

Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino is located in Sunland Park, New Mexico, just eight miles from the center of El Paso, Texas. It opened in 1959 as a racetrack, conducting Thoroughbred and quarter horse races. The track operated solely as a racetrack until 1999, when New Mexico lawmakers passed a bill allowing slot machines at racetracks. Since then, it has been a combination racetrack and casino, and gaming has revitalized the purses at Sunland Park.

The highlight of the season is the Sunland Derby, a race that draws Kentucky Derby prospects from all over the country. The Sunland Park Oaks, a 20-point qualifier for the Kentucky Oaks, is contested on the same day. On the quarter horse side, its leading race is the Championship at Sunland Park, a Grade 1 race at 440 yards.

Sunland Derby FAQ

Q: Where and when is the Sunland Derby?

A: The Sunland Derby happens Sunday, February 15, 2026, at Sunland Park Racetrack in Sunland Park, New Mexico. It is the ninth of ten races on the card, and post is scheduled for 4:17 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Sunland Derby?

A: Bob Baffert leads all trainers with four winners in the Sunland Derby, most recently in 2025 with Getaway Car. Baffert does not have an entrant in 2026, but Doug O’Neill can tie Baffert if Pavlovian wins.

Q: Who is the favorite for the 2026 Sunland Derby?

A: The 3-1 morning-line favorite for the Sunland Derby is Express Kid for trainer Justin Evans and Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez. He is likely to hold as favorite, as he is the only one to come into this race out of a Kentucky Derby points prep—the Remington Springboard Mile, a race he won.

Q: Who is the best Sunland Derby jockey?

A: Victor Espinoza and Martin Garcia have won the Sunland Derby twice each, though neither takes a call this year. Neither are riding this year, though three of the jockeys in the 2026 edition have won this race once before: Alfredo Juarez, Jr. (Daneyko), Juan Hernandez (Express Kid), and Sharons Beach (John Velazquez).

Q: Who won the 2025 Sunland Derby?

A: Getaway Car won the 2025 Sunland Derby for trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Juan Hernandez. Baffert does not have a horse in the race this year, though Hernandez rides Express Kid for Justin Evans.

New to FanDuel Racing? Place your first bet up to $500 on any race at any track and get it back in Racing Bonus if it doesn’t win! Valid in participating states. See here for full terms and conditions. Learn about today’s other offers at FanDuel Racing Promos.

Looking for more horse racing betting opportunities? Head over to FanDuel Racing to see all of today’s horse racing odds.

Sign up for FanDuel Sportsbook and FanDuel Daily Fantasy today!