He had been a very comfortable winner of the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay in February, quickening away inside the final furlong and recording a run-out speed of 36.04 mph, which was 4% faster than any of his rivals. On the strength of that form, he deserved to be a relatively short-priced favourite for this race on Saturday evening and although Irad Ortiz Jr did briefly have to get serious with him in the home straight, his class eventually told and he ran out a relatively easy winner on this first try in Grade 1 company too. Having dropped to the rear of the field, he was still last at halfway, but he made smooth progress as Ortiz spied a gap between the horses in front of him. His mount responded readily and although he was forced to come wide into the home straight, he proved to have far too much speed for this field in the latter stages of the race. Renegade recorded closing furlong splits of 12.12 and 11.84s, the latter of which being the only time that any of the runners dropped below a 12s split in the 2nd half of the contest. A late speed figure of 37.37 mph was almost 5% quicker than the next best figure (36.01 mph Silent Tactic) and he galloped on with a run-out speed 36.35 mph, the 3rd time that he has gone past the line with a run-out speed above 36 mph in his 5 starts. He clearly stays very well, but tactical speed would look to be his greatest weapon. At an average of 23.68 ft, he recorded the shortest average stride length figure in the Arkansas Derby field, but what he lacked in pure size, he made up for with speed and he recorded the highest average stride frequency figure for 5 of the last 6 furlongs.