Named after Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of the wizarding school Hogwarts in “Harry Potter,” Albus earned his spot in the 2026 Kentucky Derby after rallying from off the pace to win the Wood Memorial. But for this 30-1 longshot, winning the Run for the Roses will require even more serious wizardry. Bet Albus and the entire Kentucky Derby at TwinSpires, where new users who click through our links get a supersized $400 sign-up bonus:
2 Albus (30-1)
- Trainer: Riley Mott
- Jockey: Manny Franco
- Last race: First in the Wood Memorial by 1¼ lengths
- Career record: 4 starts: 2 wins, 1 third
- Career earnings: $436,288
- Best career Beyer Speed Figure: 84 (maiden race)
- Sire: Yaupon
Below, we’ll dig further into Albus as part of our series profiling all the horses competing in the 152nd Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 2. We’ll look back into his past performances, what questions need to be answered Saturday and analyze how the post draw affects his chances.
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What to know about Albus
After failing to win in two starts in 2025, Albus broke his maiden in his first start of the year, winning at 1 mile and 40 yards in Tampa and drawing off to win by more than six lengths.
Trainer Riley Mott, son of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, then decided to throw Albus into the deep end, the Grade 2 Wood Memorial. After running on the pace in his previous two two-turn races, Albus dropped to near the back of the pack. The strategy worked. A pace collapse took out all of the frontrunners, and Albus got a clean trip and rallied home best to win.
Despite the victory, the numbers from the race did not come back promising. He earned just an 83 Beyer Speed Figure in the victory, well shy to be competitive in the Kentucky Derby. In addition, he came home slowly, completing the final eighth of a mile in a glacial 13.3 seconds.
Albus’ finish in the Wood as well as his breeding suggest he will struggle stretching out to the Kentucky Derby distance of 1 1/4 miles. Sons and daughters of Yaupon win at a healthy 24% clip in dirt sprints but just 17% in dirt routes.
In addition, jockey Jaime Torres, who was aboard Albus in the Wood Memorial, has chosen to ride Mott’s other Derby entrant, Incredibolt, on Saturday. Manny Franco replaces Torres aboard Albus.
Over the last two decades, the Wood Memorial has been the least productive of the major Kentucky Derby prep races. No Derby winner has come from the Wood since Funny Cide in 2003, and the odds are long that the Wood will produce this year’s winner.
That’s reflected in Albus’ morning-line odds at FanDuel Racing, TwinSpires and 1/ST BET, but “Harry Potter” fans may be tempted to make a hunch play. Claim our jumbo-sized 1/ST BET offer here to get a $500 sign-up bonus:
Post draw analysis
While the connections would not have chosen the No. 2 post had they had the opportunity, the post is just fine for Albus. He showed in the Wood Memorial that he can handle kickback and weave between horses. As long as he doesn’t encounter traffic trouble, Albus should be able to save ground, though the numbers say he’s simply too slow. He’ll need another pace meltdown up front to even have a chance of being competitive.
