Showing Up is owned by Gretchen and Roy Jackson's Lael Stables in West Grove, Pennsylvania.
Showing Up is a half-brother to six-time stakes winner and Grade 3-placed Gimmeawink (Elusive Quality), also bred by Rose Retreat Farm.
His win in the Grade II Coolmore Lexington Stakes at Keeneland punched his ticket for the 2006 Kentucky Derby.
I decided to make the switch to the grass because I thought Barbaro would win the Triple Crown.
Showing Up's time of 1:52.98 bested the previous mark, set eight years earlier, by almost two seconds.
The Colonial Turf Cup was the first is a series of four races called the Grand Slam of Grass, whose possible winner would earn a $5 million bonus.
The second, third, and fourth legs are the Virginia Derby, the Secretariat at Arlington Park, and the Breeders' Cup Turf at Churchill Downs.
Go Between, the winner of the Virginia Derby (the race Showing Up skipped), faded on the far turn, finishing last.
Tagg skipped the Breeders' Cup Turf on Nov. 4 at Churchill Downs and entered Showing Up in the Grade II $300,000 Jamaica Handicap at Belmont.
After Showing Up won (earning a 110 BRIS Late Pace rating), Tagg pointed him towards the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on Nov. 26, restricted to 3-year-olds.