In 2012, Bodemeister came within inches of a classic triumph. In the Preakness Stakes (G1), having been at the head of affairs virtually from the off, he turned for home three lengths clear, only to have I'll Have Another run him down in the dying yards to gain the day by a neck. This race proved to be the final outing in a six-race career for Bodemeister, but in that brief period and even before the Preakness, he'd clearly been established as a top-class performer.
Second on his debut, Bodemeister broke his maiden by 9 1/4 lengths on his next try. A second by three-quarters length to Creative Cause in the San Felipe Stakes (G2) was followed by a devastating 9 1/2 lengths wire-to-wire victory in the Arkansas Derby (G1). Bodemeister tried for a repeat performance in the Kentucky Derby (G1), setting fractions of :22.32, :45.39, and 1:09.80, opening up a clear lead that he held until passed inside the final sixteenth by I'll Have Another, who went on to prevail by 1 1/2 lengths.
At stud, Bodemeister's first crop included Kentucky Derby hero Always Dreaming, who was one of three graded winners out of six stakes winners. Unfortunately, he was never able to really build on that bright beginning, and although represented by an additional 27 stakes winners from six subsequent U.S.-sired crops, was only responsible for a further nine graded scorers and just one more grade 1 winner. With support fading, in 2020 Bodemeister was sold to continue his career in Turkey. Meanwhile, Always Dreaming died in 2024, having so far sired six stakes winners from his four crops, all of those from his first and second seasons at stud, and just two stakes winners, one of which, Saudi Crown, gained a victory at the highest level when taking the Pennsylvania Derby (G1).
With Bodemeister and Always Dreaming out of the picture, one might think that would be the end of the involvement of this branch of the Empire Maker line with potential U.S. classic performers. This past weekend, however, a points-paying Road to the Derby stakes fell to a horse descended from Bodemeister through an unexpected source.
In the Remington Springboard Mile Stakes, running in true Bodemeister style, longshot Express Kid set every fraction before drawing off to score by 6 1/4 lengths. This was the fifth start and third win for Express Kid, who began his career with a narrow success in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special weight at Canterbury Downs in July. Runner-up in the Prairie Meadows Freshman Stakes, Express Kid was then off the board in the Clever Trevor Stakes at Remington Park. Trying the turf, Express Kid prepped for the Springboard Mile with a win in a 7 1/2-furlong Remington allowance test. The Springboard Mile marked a considerable step forward over Express Kid's previous level of performance, and it's probably significant that the distance was the furthest he'd yet attempted.
Express Kid's sire, Bodexpress, was the only other grade 1 winner besides Always Dreaming to represent Bodemeister. Second in the Florida Derby (G1) as a maiden, Bodexpress contested both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, finishing 13th in the first and unseating 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 on his final outing gained is first black-type success when he defeated Code of Honor to capture the Clark Stakes (G1). Incidentally, Bodexpress was the fourth successive horse from his sire line to contest the Kentucky Derby, preceded by Bodemeister; Empire Maker, who ran second in 2003; and Unbridled, the winner in 1990.
Bodexpress retired to stand at Barton Farm near Santa Ynez, Calif., at a fee of $5,000 in 2021. He was at that location for his first three years at stud, before moving to Pleasant Acres Stallions near Morriston, Fla. He was most recently advertised to stand at $3,500 at Global Racing Stables near Ocala, Fla, 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 Barbarian, both stakes winners in restricted California-bred company.
Although he was an RNA at $12,000 in the Fasig-Tipton California September Yearling Sale, and fetched just $2,000 in the Arizona Thoroughbred Breeders Association Fall Mixed Sale the following month, Express Kid doesn't just have classic associations in the male side of the pedigree. His dam, Senzationalize, a maiden special weight and allowance winner at Hollywood Park, is a daughter of 2007 Kentucky Derby victor Street Sense . Dam of a minor winner by Animal Kingdom from her first five living foals prior to 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.
The dam of Sensationalize, the Gone West mare Stormy West, won four black-type events and earned graded black-type with a second in the Jenny Wiley Stakes (G2T) and was a half sister to the Bold Ruler Handicap (G3) scorer Buffum, and to graded stakes-placed Renaissance Lady, the dam of the Tempted Stakes (G3) winner Oxy Lady.
Express Kid's third dam, Storm Beauty, is a multiple stakes-winning daughter of Storm Cat and is a half sister to 1982 champion sprinter Gold Beauty, herself dam of 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 champion older mare of 1994. Storm Beauty's dam, stakes winner Stick to Beauty, is an ancestress of a total of 67 stakes winners, including other U.S. grade 1 winners Pleasant Home, Pine Island, Tale of Ekati , Point of Entry , Violence , and Guarana.
Express Kid is one of four stakes winners bred on an Empire Maker/Street Cry cross, the best of the others being Cairo Consort, champion 2-year-old filly in Canada for 2022. He also doubles the Mr. Prospector/Storm Cat cross through Bodemeister and Stormy West, both in the second generation of the pedigree.
