Next up, Grand Mo is getting ready for the Kentucky Derby

Grand Mo the First, owned by Granpollo Stable, who placed third behind Fierceness in the $1 million Florida Derby (G1), was sent to Gulfstream Park on April 14 for a five-furlong maintenance workout.

In 1:03.95, the trainee of Victor Barboza Jr. achieved his best performance since the Florida Derby on March 30. After No More Time, trained by Jose D'Angelo, withdrew from a five-furlong breeze on Sunday morning at Palm Meadows Training Center due to an injury, the son of Uncle Mo is now ranked 21st in the Kentucky Derby (G1) field of 20 horses.

"It was very bad news at Palm Meadows," Barboza said. "I think 21 is a good position. Next week, the horse will breeze at Gulfstream, and if everything is OK, he will go to Churchill."

On Sunday morning, Grand Mo the First gave his trainer exactly what he wanted.

"It was a very relaxed breeze. It was important for me for him to finish strong after the wire," Barboza said. "The horse is a happy horse."

Over the 1 1/8 miles of the Florida Derby, Grand Mo the First raced steadily to trail Fierceness, finishing 16 lengths behind the juvenile champion of 2023 and 2 1/2 lengths behind Catalytic, the runner-up. Three weeks prior, the son of Uncle Mo finished third behind winner Domestic Product and runner-up No More Time in the Tampa Bay Derby (G3), missing the win by a neck.

After winning the Gulfstream Tapeta race multiple times in a row to start his career, Grand Mo the First placed third in the Santa Anita Park turf Zuma Beach Stakes (G3) on October 8. He stretched out in the Tampa Bay Derby after beginning his three-year career with a problematic third-place showing in the Gulfstream Swale Stakes on February 3.

"It's been a dream since I was a child in Venezuela. Every year, I watched the Kentucky Derby," Barboza said. "I have a good chance today to enter the Derby."