Trainer D. Wayne Lukas will be competing with many a familiar face in an unfamiliar race and place when he sends his American Promise well up the Colonial Downs chute to start in the Virginia Derby.

The race drew 10 entrants, though one of those, the Brad Cox-trained John Hancock, is expected to scratch and run the following week in the Louisiana Derby instead.

“It will be a new experience for all of us with the one turn mile-and-an-eighth,” Lukas remarked. “It’s a bit different.”

It would be hard to find a race Lukas hasn’t won before, but he has never even started a horse at Colonial Downs – at least not that he can remember. Lukas, often called “Coach” in a callback to his days coaching college basketball, thought he had been at Colonial Downs once before…to give a talk at a TOBA seminar during the Virginia’s track’s inaugural year in 1997.

Nevertheless, he seems to like the Virginia Derby concept.

“My thought on the plus side is that if you need another race, you have time to do it or you have the luxury of training to the Derby,” observed Lukas about the Virginia Derby’s place on the Kentucky Derby calendar. “My horse has not had enough seasoning yet, so it gives me an option.”

Whatever Virginia Derby placing American Promise gets, Lukas may use Plan A with another race for his maturing colt rather than a luxurious layoff. As a May foal, his colt actually isn’t three full years old yet despite having eight starts under his belt.

After his ninth career start in the Virginia Derby, a potential tenth start could come for American Promise at Keeneland in either the Bluegrass Stakes or the Lexington Stakes, according to Lukas.

“I’ve used the Lexington before,” noted Lukas. “If it (the Virginia Derby) were five weeks prior to the Kentucky Derby I’m not sure we’d be here.”

The Lexington worked for him in 1999, when his trainee Charasmatic used it as a springboard to a 31-1 upset in the Kentucky Derby and an 8-1 score in the Preakness before finishing third in the Belmont Stakes.

That was Lukas’ fourth and most recent Kentucky Derby triumph. He’s also won seven runnings of the Preakness, including last year’s, with Seize the Grey, part of his 15 overall Triple Crown race wins.

American Promise was a $750,000 purchase by BC Stables, LLC out of the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling sale. He is by Triple Crown winning sire Justify out of the winning Tapit Tapella. American Promise is a half-brother to the graded stakes-winning mare Hoosier Philly.

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Lukas sees a strong physical resemblance to Justify, but not as much mentally.

“He looks like Justify. He’s big and imposing. He’s seventeen hands and has a long stride,” the trainer remarked. “He’s a big horse that is coming into his own and may finally know where his feet are. Before he was like a big, awkward teenager.”

It took American Promise six tries to break his maiden, which he did December 29 at Oaklawn. In two subsequent tries, he was seventh in the Grade 3 Southwest and, most recently, fifth, beaten 13 lengths, in the Grade 2 Risen Star at the Fair Grounds.

That latter might look discouraging, but it came to Magnitude, who turned back the entire field by nearly 10 lengths. So perhaps it was better than it looked.

“We were so disappointed early on through the winter,” recalled Lukas. “He’s balanced now, and I think he is going to develop into a nice horse, hopefully this spring. As a May foal, he’s been immature in his early runnings.”

Nik Juarez has been named to ride Saturday, and American Promise is 12-1 on the morning line.

Lukas won’t be making the trip to New Kent, instead sending American Promises from Arkansas by van with his top assistant, Sebastin “Bass” Nichols.

“I hope it goes well,” endorsed Lukas about the first Virginia Derby on dirt. “It may open a few eyes to the meet going forward. A lot of the right horses are in it. It’s a good step forward to the Kentucky Derby.”