Eoin Harty hasn’t had a Kentucky Derby contender since 2018, but he’s got two in the early running after First Resort won the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club on Nov. 30 and Poster won the Remsen (G2) a week later.

There’s no question they’re talented colts, Harty told Horse Racing Nation on Monday. But “it’s early days,” he said. “I try to stay even-tempered. I’ve been in this industry a long time, and things have a tendency to change pretty quickly.”

They’re part of a sizable crop of 2-year-olds who show plenty of promise. Harty, who has a total of about 45 horses in California, at Turfway and at Tampa Bay Downs, said that’s not unusual. But, he said, “it’s unusual that I’ve got so many good 2-year-olds. … It’s just unusual that they’re so there’s such a depth of talent in there.”

Harty has no definitive plans for where First Resort or Poster, who are both Godolphin homebreds, will make their next starts.

“I’ve got so many options,” he said. “I don’t plan on running them until late January, early February. And there’s just a multitude of races around the country at that time, whether it’s Oakland, Gulfstream, Tampa, Turfway. The only thing I know that is set in stone is that (First Resort) will train at Turfway. Whether he runs there or not, I haven’t decided. But that’s the only solid thing I’ve got, is that he will train there.”

Harty discussed his Derby hopefuls, six other juveniles and a 3-year-old who returned after a year away for HRN”s Barn Tour series.

First Resort. After winning his debut at Ellis Park in July, this Uncle Mo colt was second in the Saratoga Special (G2) and fourth in the Summer (G1) before his Kentucky Jockey Club victory. “He’s a great, really nice horse. He’s obviously very talented, and he’s got a great mind. He’s a very gentle, kind horse and has been that way since day one. I trained his mother (Fair Maiden). She was quite highly strung, and he doesn’t have that tendency. He’s a real laid-back individual who enjoys training. He enjoys socializing. He’s just a nice horse.” He believes First Resort’s win in the Kentucky Jockey Club “was just a progression. He ran very well stretching out in Woodbine. It was a one-turn race, but he finished with a lot of interest. And I felt confident that he’d stretch out at Churchill, and he did. So it wasn’t really a surprise, but I knew he had the talent to go with his ability to stretch out. So I wasn’t overly surprised when he ran the way he did.”

Poster. The Munnings colt is 3-for-3 after his Remsen win. “He’s not as precocious as First Resort. He’s a later foal, he’s a May foal. Always been a big, attractive horse. He’s just a little bit immature mentally, more so, but First Resort, he’s kind of the gold standard. He’s everything you want in a racehorse. And that being said, this is a very gentle horse too. He’s a big horse, so he can get a little goofy on you, but there isn’t an ounce of malice in him at all. He’s just a nice horse to have around the barn. He enjoys what he does too, and he gets a little rambunctious in the mornings. But there isn’t a bad bone in his body either.” Harty said Poster also will train at Turfway. “I wouldn’t hesitate to run him back at Aqueduct, because he’s run so well over it, and maybe he’ll take that Withers route to the Derby.”

She’s All Charm. Also a Godolphin homebred, the 2-year-old More Than Ready filly was 2-for-3 before finishing eighth Nov. 17 in the black-type Tepin Stakes at Aqueduct. “She’s a beautiful filly too. She’s always been very precocious. She was one of my first runners, and a ton of talent. Just got no trip at Aqueduct the other day. I hate to say put a line through a race, but that’s a race I just put a line through. It was a terrible trip, broke badly, got in behind horses, the turf course was chewed up and she just never, ever got an opportunity to run. And the jock just basically wrapped up on her from the top of the stretch home.” Her next start probably will be at Turfway on Jan. 1 in the Gowell Stakes. “It’s the first opportunity we can run her back. She didn’t run the other day, and she’s quite fresh and ready to do something.”

Very Bold. This 2-year-old colt by Union Rags, owned by Calumet Farm, broke his maiden in November on this third try and then was sixth last out in an optional-claiming allowance going one mile on the Turfway synthetic. “He’s a nice horse, too. And I stretched him out the other day, and he just, he’s not one pace, but he certainly appeared one pace. He might be better on the main track, and I might send him somewhere else to run, or I might just back him up in distance and try and take him off the pace and see what happens. But he’s better than he showed the other night.”

Pretty in Pearls. Owned by Casner Racing after being bought for $10,000 last year, this Hard Spun 2-year-old is entered Thursday in a maiden special weight at Turfway after finishing fourth in her debut at Horseshoe Indianapolis. “She’s probably not going to get in. It’s hard up there. Nobody wants to scratch, and the races overfill. … She’s on the also-eligible. So basically, what I have in mind is a race at the end of the month, and it’s a maiden auction race. She was bought cheaply out of a sale last year, even though she’s got a lot of pedigree. So I’m going to make the most of that opportunity and try and break her maiden there.”

Golden Sunshine. This 2-year-old Godolphin homebred by Medaglia d’Oro is “probably the best filly I’ve got, has yet to break her maiden. She ran the other night. She had a really wide trip, and she ran very well, finished second. … The next maiden race going on, she’ll be back in it.”

Verity. Another 2-year-old Godolphin homebred, this Nyquist filly was second by a head in her Dec. 1 debut at Churchill Downs. “She was just beat. She was very green that day but ran a big race. She’s a very nice filly.” Her next start could be Dec. 26 at Turfway, “but there’s no guarantee she’s going to get in.”

Beehavin. A Calumet Farm homebred by Hightail, she was fourth in her only start, at Presque Isle in October. She has shipped to Santa Anita, where she’ll run on opening weekend. “She’s really training well. She’ll probably be a long shot, but she shouldn’t run like one.”

Finster. This 3-year-old Godolphin homebred by Sky Mesa won his debut in August 2023 but didn’t return until a year later, and he’s 2-for-3 this year. “He’s another nice horse. He broke his maiden first time out in Indiana last year, and then he got some bone bruising. That seemed to be my ailment choice last year, was bone bruising. And the only thing you can do for it is getting time off, which I did. And Godolphin have a wonderful farm trainer, Johnny Burke, and Johnny Burke got him back ready for me this summer. Basically, he was ready to go when I got him back and he won at Ellis. He was very impressive. He got caught up in a kind of a hellish pace when I tried him on the main track at Churchill, which would explain why he wasn’t beat very far. He never quit running, but it was just he paid the price for going way too fast. And I had him in at Keeneland, and he thinks about things. And when I had him in the paddock that day, sadly, he reared up, and he just tagged his head. It wasn’t bad, but in this day and age, anything like that, you’re an immediate scratch. So that was that. And then I had him here at Turfway and was able to school him a lot in the paddock prior to his race, and he was an angel the other night and put it all together.”