Second on his debut, Bodemeister broke his first by 9 1/4 lengths on his next attempt. A three-quarter second lead over Creative Cause in the San Felipe Stakes (G2) was followed by a devastating 9 1/2-length wire-to-wire victory in the Arkansas Derby (G1). Bodemeister attempted a repeat performance in the Kentucky Derby (G1), posting fractions of :22.32, :45.39 and 1:09.80, opening a clear lead which he held until being passed in the last sixteenth by I’ll Have Another, who then gained the upper hand by 1 1/2 lengths.
At stud, Bodemeister’s first crop included the Kentucky Derby hero Always dreaming who was one of three judged winners out of six stakes winners. Unfortunately, he was never really able to build on that fine beginning, and although he was represented by another 27 stakes winners from six consecutive American crops, he was only responsible for another nine rated scorers and just one more Grade 1 winner. As support faded, Bodemeister was sold in 2020 to continue his career in Turkey. Meanwhile, Always Dreaming died in 2024, having produced six stakes winners from his four crops to date, all from his first and second seasons as a stud, and only two stakes winners, one of which was: Saudi krona scored a top-level victory in winning the Pennsylvania Derby (G1).
With Bodemeister and Always Dreaming out of the picture, one might think this would mark the end of this branch of the Empire Maker line’s involvement with potential American classical artists. However, last weekend a points-paying Road to the Derby bet fell from an unexpected source to a horse descended from Bodemeister.
In the Remington Springboard Mile Stakes, running in true Bodemeister style, longshot Express child set each fraction before you start scoring at 6 1/4 lengths. This was the fifth start and third win for Express Kid, who started his career with a narrow success in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special weight at Canterbury Downs in July. Express Kid was second in the Prairie Meadows Freshman Stakes and then disappeared from the board in the Clever Trevor Stakes at Remington Park. Express Kid tried the grass and prepared for the Springboard Mile with a victory in a 7 1/2 furlong Remington fee test. The Springboard Mile marked a significant step up from Express Kid’s previous level of performance, and it is probably significant that the distance was the furthest he had attempted to date.
Express Kid’s father, Bodexpress was the only other grade 1 winner besides Always Dreaming representing Bodemeister. Bodexpress placed second in the Florida Derby (G1) as a maiden and contested both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, finishing 13th in the first and releasing his rider at the start of the second. He ran three more times after the Classics, winning a maiden and an allowance at Gulfstream Park West and finishing third in the Harlan’s Holiday Stakes (G3).
At 4, Bodexpress showed nothing better than useful form from his first five starts, but then he took a Gulfstream Park West allowance/optional claiming event by 11 1/4 lengths, and in his last winning outing the first success is of the black type when he beat Code of Honor to capture the Clark Stakes (G1). Incidentally, Bodexpress was the fourth consecutive horse from his sire line to participate in the Kentucky Derby, preceded by Bodemeister; Empire Maker, which came second in 2003; and Unbridled, the winner in 1990.
Bodexpress wins the 2020 Clark Stakes at Churchill Downs
Bodexpress was retired to Barton Farm near Santa Ynez, California, for a fee of $5,000 in 2021. He was at stud at that location for the first three years before moving to Pleasant Acres Stallions near Morriston, Florida. He was recently advertised as priced at $3,500 at Global Racing Stables near Ocala, Florida, but his 2026 plans have not been reported. Express Kid is the first stakes winner from Bodexpress’s second crop of 35 foals, of which only eight have started, but his first crop does include Hot girl walk And Santa Claus Barbarian both stakes winners in a limited, California-bred company.
Although he was an RNA for $12,000 in the Fasig-Tipton California September Yearling Sale, and brought only $2,000 in the Arizona Thoroughbred Breeders Association Fall Mixed Sale the following month, Express Kid doesn’t just have classical associations in the male side of the pedigree. His mother, Senzationalize, a first-time special weights and allowances winner at Hollywood Park, is a daughter of the 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street feeling . The dam of an Animal Kingdom petite winner from her first five live foals before Express Kid, Sensationalize was purchased for just $5,000 by Express Kid’s breeder Richard Barton Enterprises at the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sales.
Sensationalize’s dam, the Gone West mare Stormy West, won four events in the black type and earned the black type with a second-place finish in the Jenny Wiley Stakes (G2T) and was a half-sister to the Bold Ruler Handicap (G3) scorer Buffum, and to the ranked Renaissance Lady, the dam of the Tempted Stakes (G3) winner Oxy Lady.
Express Kid’s third dam, Storm Beauty, is a multiple winning daughter of Storm Cat and is a half-sister to 1982 champion sprinter Gold Beauty, herself dam to 1990 European Champion 3-Year-Old Male and England’s Horse of the Year Dayjur, and the Alabama Stakes (G1) captress Maplejinsky, who in turn produced Sky Beauty, the 1994 champion older mare. The dam of Storm Beauty, stakes winner Stick to Beauty, is an ancestor of a total of 67 stakes winners, including other US Grade 1 winners Pleasant Home, Pine Island, Story of Ekati , Point of entry , Violence And Guarana .
Express Kid is one of four stakes winners resulting from an Empire Maker/Street Cry cross. The best of the others is Consort of Cairo champion 2-year-old filly in Canada for 2022. He also doubles the cross Mr. Prospector/Storm Cat via Bodemeister and Stormy West, both in the second generation of the pedigree.
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