Simpson Stakes (Grade 1)- $2,000.000 Purse
KD- For Three Year Olds
Six and a Half Furlongs on the Turf
September 6, 2025

Saturday’s action at KD will also include the seventh running of the Simpson Stakes, a race that granted Grade 1 status last year and saw its purse increase to the present $2,000.000 level. Fourteen three-year-olds will look to pick up the top share of that purse in this six-and-a-half-furlong sprint. In 2024, Exemplary got the win for Mb Stables, and it was the trainer’s third win in four years. Exemplary is pretty well known now, but when he won the Simpson here last year, he had been riding a cold spell, though showing signs of breaking out of it. Though he was not a factor in the race, he did run here last week in the KD Turf Sprint. Here’s a look at those looking to follow his lead as a Simpson winner:

1- Rolling Rolling (High Voltage, ridden by D Van Dyke)- Didn’t do much over his first six starts, and was quietly claimed at RUI for $10.000 in July. High Voltage must’ve seen something, as just three weeks later, he was sent to CNL for the Grade 2 Secretariat Stakes and was not out of place as he finished third. That was his first time going long on the turf, and now he will cut back as he hopes to keep rolling forward.

2- Douda (Spankys Barn, ridden by T Gaffalione)- Had some opportunities to run at the stake level early in his career, and wasn’t out of place in them. Ultimately, he would be sold by prior trainer Chili King Stables to Spankys Barn for $80.000 in June, and the new trainer welcomed him with an immediate geld. Knowing his trainer wasn’t messing around, Douda ran second in the $150.000 La Jolla Handicap last month, though he was beaten by four lengths. Nice work in preparation for this start.

3- Small Things (Mb Stables, ridden by D E Centeno)- Likes to get out on the lead early, so unless Mb Stables is planning on changing something up here, we can probably expect him to go out to the front again. He’s experienced on the turf, but Small Things has only been able to win small stakes thus far. After a two race move to the dirt, he would return to the grass last month for the Grade 3 Mahony at SAR where only a stablemate could beat him. Now doing bigger things, this gelding should contend.

4- Bay Another Man (Our Athletes, ridden by B Curtis)- After being gelded last fall, Bay Another Man has exclusively been running on the turf and has hit the board in all seven of those starts. This includes two wins during that stretch (three total), but none of them are in the stakes he has attempted. Ran third last time out against ON-Breds at the $100.000 Lake Superior at WO, but this will truly be his toughest challenge yet.

5- Smokin Commander (Red Fox Farms, ridden by P Husbands)- Still just getting his career going as this will be his sixth start. In his previous five races, he has managed one win, which came last time out in the $100.000 My Frenchman Stakes at MTH. That’s right, it didn’t come in the traditional manner in a maiden race. Red Fox Farms didn’t want to waste any more time on those, and it did pay off. Now, we’ll see if it pays off again in his graded debut.

6- Inoue (Royalty Stables, ridden by M Franco)- No shortage of race experience on this one, however, as it will be career start #14. He’s won three times in total, twice as a two-year-old, and then once this year, coming in the $165.000 Cutler Bay at GP in late March. He’s become a regular in the graded ranks, and four of his last five races have been on the turf, hitting the board in all of them. Had a nice-looking runner up two back in the Quick Call at SAR.

7- Edged Out (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by J Bravo)- The conditions for this race will be a lot different than what Edged Out has become used to, and that may be a good thing. Four of his last five races have seen him finish near the back and be soundly defeated, but most of them were in preps for the KYD. Now, he will make his turf debut, and while he has gone seven furlongs a couple of times, this is the shortest distance he has covered, including his debut race. He’s been regularly working on the grass as of late, and the promise is seen, but he needs to race better.

8- Spin Zone (Mb Stables, ridden by J R Velazquez)- Figures to be one of the horses to beat here in the Simpson Stakes as he looks to extend his winning streak to three. He had a good time at SAR this summer, winning the Grade 3 Quick Call in July, then squeaking by stablemate Small Things at the wire to win the Mahoney. He’s also won three of four, with a win in the $300.000 Walker at CD a part of his resume as well. All the ingredients are there for him to have a strong run here as well.

9- Golden Missile (Team 7 Illusions, ridden by P Lopez)- Another horse that ran in the Quick Call, but for Golden Missile, it would be the first time that he finished out of the top three in his nine-race career. Still managed a fourth-place check, so he doesn’t leave his trainer empty handed after a race. His best race to date is likely not one of his wins, but rather his second-place effort in the $225.000 Beau Stakes at CD, which also came on short rest. He’s rested now and will look to rebound a bit from the Quick Call.

10- Minding Q (Mb Stables, ridden by G Corrales)- It doesn’t have to mean anything, but this is my least favorite of the Mb entries for the race, mainly because he has not done much since his win in February. Fortunately, he’s not running over a mile in this race like he has been, and perhaps the change to a sprint will help him out. He’s had a couple bullet works recently, so it may be foolish to disregard him in the picks like I am about to do. Maybe if this weren’t such a large field.

11- Doubting Indian (Nakamura Stables, ridden by R Bejarano)- A winner of three races out of ten, and he has hit the board in seven of those. Earlier this year, he chased the KYD a bit but struggled in those races. Otherwise, he hasn’t always been running in overnights at higher tracks, so while he has picked up some favorable results, he’s only made $63.400 in earnings for his career but does come out of a good-looking win last month in a four-horse N3L allowance at ELP where he earned a 93 SRF. Something to build on but not going to intimidate the others in this field.

12- Tank Davis (Royalty Stables, ridden by F Geroux)- Was able to appear in the BC Juvenile Turf last fall, but did not factor into the finish. His three-year-old campaign started slow but has been turning around as of late. After winning an allowance CD, Tank Davis returned to the stakes ranks and has finished third in each of his last two races, including in the Quick Call against several of this last time out. His 101 SRF two back at six and a half furlongs, the same distance here, also deserves a mention.

13- Smokin Yankee (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by R M Hernandez)- Maxmillion Farm picked this one up about a week after he finished third at SA, but then would be patient with his new acquisition, for $75.000, not running him for five months. Once he returned to the track, it was in mid-July at DMR, and he would break his maiden in that race. Now, off of that, he is entered here and looks to reward Maxmillion Farm for taking the time to get him right. He’s working well, but the age-old question when making this leap is whether or not he will need a race against this competition level first.

14- Matching (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by A Jimenez)- The Worst Case Scenario gelding matches his stablemate out here on the far outside. He’s also lightly raced, making just six starts thus far and has hit the board in all of them. Two of them are wins, each coming for his prior trainer, Wood Duck Stables. Matching has only run once in Maxmillion silks, coming two months ago at ELP for the $150.000 Dade Park Dash, where he was second. I like his works, as he’s similar to his stablemate in that regard, but unlike him, he doesn’t “need” that race against this level of competition since he just had that.

Prediction: 8-6-9-3

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES