Sculcos Folly will carry a 2-1 morning line into the July 13 New York Derby at Finger Lakes, where a seven-horse field and a first trip at 1 1/16 miles could redraw the state-bred 3-year-old hierarchy in one afternoon. The Derby is listed on Finger Lakes’ 2026 stakes schedule as an estimated $150,000 race, while Equibase entries place the purse at $155,000 on a nine-race card that also features the $75,000 New York Oaks and the $50,000 Leon Reed Memorial Stakes.
The colt has earned the favorite’s status by winning six of eight starts and bankrolling $369,150, but his rise has been anything but linear. Sculcos Folly graduated at second asking in a $25,000 maiden claimer at Monmouth Park, later won a $20,000 claimer at Laurel Park, and has kept climbing since joining Rick Dutrow Jr.’s barn for owner Michael Dubb. Dutrow passed on a possible Grade 1 Woody Stephens run to stay in state-bred company, and the decision has left him with a horse that looks more valuable now than any early price tag suggested.
His recent stretch explains why. Sculcos Folly won the Mike Lee by 5 1/2 lengths in 1:21.60, and his last four starts have produced a combined margin of 29 1/2 lengths. That form gives Dutrow reason to believe the added distance will not be the issue so much as how the colt handles the added turn and the extra half-furlong. He has already shown he can carry his speed in the one-mile Gander, and he has been effective across different pace scenarios and tracks. Dutrow also drew encouragement from post 7, which should let Jamie Rodriguez keep him clear and avoid getting pinned inside.
Rodriguez’s return to Finger Lakes adds another layer. He is back at a track where he won five riding titles between 2012 and 2019, and the outside draw should suit a rider who knows how to let speed work without forcing the issue. For Dutrow, who won this race with Trail Prep in 2002 and Ferocious Won in 2006, the setup is familiar: let the best New York-bred in the field control his own destiny.
Bravaro is the main challenger. Supplemented for $5,000, he enters with $284,700 in earnings, a victory in the $200,000 Sleepy Hollow Stakes at Aqueduct and a résumé that includes second in the Holy Bull and fourth-place finishes in both the Fountain of Youth and Wood Memorial. Talk to Me Jimmy gives the race another horse with credentials, but the spotlight stays on Sculcos Folly. If he handles the distance, the rest of the summer stakes trail for New York-breds could start with him at the top.
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