Incredibolt rallies to win Street Sense; Life of Joy forges clear in Rags to Riches

One year ago, future Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Sovereignty unleashed a last-to-first rally to win the $200,000 Street Sense (G3) at Churchill Downs.

On Sunday, opening day of the Churchill Downs fall meet, Incredibolt won the Street Sense in similar fashion, surging from last place to take the 1 1/16-mile Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifier in eye-catching fashion. Only time will tell if he can emulate Sovereignty with a triumph in the 2026 Run for the Roses, but the son of Bolt d’Oro appears to have a bright future.

Sent off at 4-1 off a second-out maiden win racing one mile at Churchill Downs, Incredibolt thrived in his two-turn debut. Jockey Jaime Torres allowed the Riley Mott trainee to settle as many as 5 1/2 lengths off the pace as Ganaas set splits of :24.29, :48.83, and 1:13.40 while pressed by 7-5 favorite Universe. Down the homestretch, Incredibolt came rolling outside of rivals to surge past Universe and prevail by 1 3/4 lengths in 1:44.67.

Universe held second place by a clear margin over stretch-running Very Connected, followed by I Did I Did, Ganaas, Bricklin, and Vost.

“He’s really, really talented,” said Torres. “Earlier, before his first start, I told my agent he could be the next Sovereignty. Even though he didn’t win his first start, he’s shown a lot of talent since.”

Incredibolt races in the colors of Pin Oak Stud.

“It’s his second time winning here at Churchill, and we’re just delighted to have 10 points for the Kentucky Derby,” said Michael Hardy, Director of Farm Operations for Pin Oak Stud. “Hopefully he can follow the path Sovereignty did.”

The Street Sense awarded Kentucky Derby qualification points on a 10-5-3-2-1 basis to the top five finishers. Incredibolt debuts in fifth place on the 2025-26 Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard. Slotting into sixth place is Universe, who boasts eight points in total after previously earning three points from a third-place finish in the Champagne (G1).

Earlier in the afternoon, Life of Joy claimed the lion’s share of 10-5-3-2-1 Kentucky Oaks (G1) qualification points in the $200,000 Rags to Riches S. racing 1 1/16 miles at Churchill.

Hailing from the barn of three-time Kentucky Oaks-winning trainer Brad Cox, Life of Joy started as the 4-5 favorite after crushing a one-mile maiden special weight at Horseshoe Indianapolis by 14 3/4 lengths. Her margin of victory was smaller in the Rags to Riches, but she nevertheless delivered on expectations.

“She showed a tremendous amount of talent there at Indiana and was an easy winner first out,” said Cox. “We shipped her back here immediately and just wanted to take our time with her. The work last week (four furlongs in :50.20) was a good move. She was moving well and I thought it showed us we can enter to see what the field was like. She backed up the way she was training the past couple weeks.”

With Irad Ortiz Jr. in the saddle, Life of Joy rated in third place as The Grumpy Rabbit carved out slow fractions of :25.15, :49.86, and 1:14.44. The Grumpy Rabbit had plenty left for the run down the homestretch, but Life of Joy gradually wore down the leader and forged clear to score by 2 1/4 lengths in 1:45.76.

“Last time out at Indiana she ran very well,” said Ortiz. “Today was a better group, but showed she was able to compete with them. I had a clean break and there was not too much speed on the lead. I felt like she was going pretty comfortable early, so I wanted to make sure I got her in the clear and start going forward down the backside. I was just a good passenger.”

The Grumpy Rabbit pulled 3 1/4 lengths clear of third-place finisher Go to Girl, while Americathegreat, Tearin’up My Heart, and Josie Joe trailed the field.

Life of Joy debuts in fifth place on the 2025-26 Road to the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard. The Grumpy Rabbit ranks sixth with eight points in total thanks to a previous third-place finish in the Alcibiades (G1).

Life of Joy is a daughter of 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner. She’s owned by the partnership of Will Stroud, Andrew Farm, Mountmellick Farm, and For the People Racing Stable.