Gold Square LLC’s Kentucky-bred Cyberknife secured a spot in the Kentucky Derby (G1) with an impressive victory in the $1,250,000 Arkansas Derby (G1) at Oaklawn Park on April 2.

After unseating his rider, Florent Geroux, in the post parade, Cyberknife broke in after the start and raced in fourth position early. He took command around the far turn of the 1 1/8-mile test and drew clear in the stretch to defeat a rallying Barber Road, a fellow Kentucky-bred, by 2 ¾ lengths at the wire. Kentucky-bred Secret Oath, the race favorite. checked in third after a troubled trip, three-quarters of a length behind the runner-up. In winning the initial stakes race of his career, Cyberknife stopped the clock in 1:50.42 for trainer Brad Cox.

“Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t, right, like your thoughts,” Cox said. “You watch these horses train and you have high hopes. Sometimes, they pick you up, sometimes they let you down. In this case, he picked us up today. He thought he was a good colt. He certainly trained like a big horse and ran like one today.”

A son of 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Gunner, Cyberknife is now a three-time winner and has banked $860,000. Produced from the Flower Alley mare Awesome Flower, Cyberknife was bred by Ken and Sarah Ramsey and was a $400,000 graduate of the Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearling Showcase in 2020. With 100 points, Cyberknife currently ranks fourth on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, which is topped by Kentucky-bred Epicenter with 164 points.