Twilight Derby (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
SA- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Eighth on the Turf
October 25, 2025

Pinewood Derby came into the Twilight Derby looking good with back-to-back wins in the Crowd Pleaser and the Grade 3 Old Dominion. This would make him our pick to win, and the second choice on the board overall. Starting the race near the back, the colt by Pirate Dreams would come on well in the stretch to secure the win by a length. Pinewood Derby is trained by Blazin D and had A Fresu aboard for the win. For each, it is their first win in this race. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:45.39, which is a middle of the road such time. Let’s take a look at it now:

(½ Mile- :46.58)- Dean Smith breaks sharply out of the gate for Royalty Stables, as does Asgar’s Losing Hazard. These two will be side by side into the turn, and by the time they reach half a mile, Dean Smith will hold a half-length advantage. Rolling Rolling stalks the top two for High Voltage, and there’s a break of a length and a half to the next group of three. This is where we find Smokin Access on the rail for Red Fox Farms, Darrow between horses for Mb Stables, and Negril in the outside lane for Winning Link Stables. Four wide here, but about a length behind them is the Nakamura Stables- trained Hon Blue. It’s a break of about two more to the next pair, and that includes our eventual winner from Blazin D, Pinewood Derby, who is officially scored as being six lengths off the pace. The Mb Stables- trained Side Eye keeps him company to his outside. Further back are Ultimate Champion (Night Rider Stables) and Brave Storm (Riggins Racing).

(3/4 Mile- 1:10.54)- Down the backstretch, it is still Dean Smith in front with Losing Hazard nearby to his inside and Rolling Rolling stalking the pace. Negril is now fourth, a neck in front of Darrow, and they began to leave Smokin Access behind. Hon Blue is also losing ground, and about to passed by Pinewood Derby, who has made some progress on the leaders in the backstretch and the same can be said for Side Eye. Ultimate Champion is about a length and a half behind them, and Brave Storm has a lot of work to do.

(Top of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- They move around the turn and enter the stretch with Dean Smith and Losing Hazard still the top two, but it is apparent that they will deal with strong challengers in the stretch. Negril looks to the first one to take a shot at them, as he advances on the outside, passing Rolling Rolling and having a clear lane in the stretch. Smokin Access actually look really strong in the turn and gets back by Darrow for the moment while Pinewood Derby is clearly coming on well. He’s now right in the thick of the action about two lengths from the lead while hoping there would be enough room to come on through in the lane he was win. Side Eye had a further outside trip but also had a good shot. Hon Blue was not quite as good as these rivals and now had Ultimate Champion about to pass him. Brave Storm is still at the back but got a little closer himself.

(Finish- 1:45.39)- With several horses having plenty of run still left in them, jockeys would search for their ideal lane for a moment before making that charge to the wire. For Pinewood Derby, that would be while going to the outside of Dean Smith, which was the fifth lane over. With a furlong remaining, he was fifth and within a length but would have several horses to battle it out with. It would be at this point where he would have more burst in his stride, with the pass of Negril, who also was looking good, being the official pass for the win with half a furlong to go. In the closing strides, he would pull away and go on to win by a length. Negril takes second in a dead heat with Side Eye, who came on well from the far outside. Fourth place Darrow was not beaten by them by much, either. Losing Hazard fell out of a check-paying spot, but does beat Rolling Rolling, Ultimate Champion, Dean Smith, Brave Storm, Smokin Access, and Hon Blue.

About The Winner- Pinewood Derby, trained by Blazin D and ridden to victory by A Fresu, is a three-year-old colt by Pirate Dreams and is out of Generals Lonely. He was bred in the great breeding state of Pennsylvania as a third quarter two-year-old by Blazin D, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fourth in eight starts, his third stake win and second graded win. His career earnings are now $501.990.

Track: Firm
Time: :46²  1:10  1:33⁴  1:45¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 4 – 5 Paid 35.30, 4 – 9 Paid 48.90
$1 Trifecta: 4 – 5 – 9 Paid 739.80, 4 – 9 – 5 Paid 370.40

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES