Denis may prove a menace to favourites in Run for the Roses
Named by owners William and Suzanne Warren in honour of their friend Fr. Denis Casey, a native of Co. Cork, and trained by Irishman David Carroll, there are more than enough Irish links to this Florida-bred three-year-old, a 20-1 shot, to make this American classic an interesting one from the other side of the Atlantic.
Even more given that 4-1 second favourite Colonel John will be saddled by another Irish trainer in exile, the California-based Eoin Harty, who is the brother of Curragh handler Edward Harty, a Cheltenham winner this year with Captain Cee Bee in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.
Yet it is a Denis of Cork victory that would be the real story.
Early in the year, the leggy and athletic colt was all the rage following three victories in his first three starts. Having claimed the opening leg of the Arkansas Triple Crown by taking the Southwest Stakes in February, Denis seemed set to lay down further Kentucky Derby credentials with a tilt at the second and third leg, the appropriately named Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on March 15, and the Arkansas Derby, a route tried and tested by five of the last 12 Triple Crown race winners including Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex and Curlin.
Instead, Denis was yanked from the Rebel Stakes four days before that race and pointed north to the Illinois Derby on April 5 for his final prep race.
Carroll was forced to break the news to a non-plussed racing media but it was Warren as owner who had proposed the switch, citing the colt’s light frame and leaning heavily on the so-called speed sheets that give feedback on a horse’s performance.
Going off an even-money favourite, Denis of Cork flopped in the Illinois Derby, finishing a tired fifth and Warren, who also owned the 2005 horse of the year Saint Liam, acknowledged his mistake, calling his decision to skip the Rebel was the worst he had made in racing.
With Denis of Cork’s reputation evaporated and a fifth place in Illinois denting his prize money and thus harming his automatic entry into the Kentucky Derby, Carroll and Warren were left to sweat it out to see whether their hope would even get a run tonight.
Their prayers were answered on Tuesday, when Todd Pletcher withdrew Behindatthebar in order to save him for the next Triple Crown race, the Preakness Stakes. So Denis of Cork crept into the 20-horse field on the eve of the draw.
“Who knows what will happen,” Carroll said. “He’s still lightly raced but he’s been very professional in his races. There was a lot of head scratching about where he would race next (after the Southwest Stakes) but now we just have to make sure he’s ready for the big dance.”
Carroll is very fond of his contender, adding: “He’s got a great disposition. He’s run his four races on four different race tracks and seemed to take everything in his stride.
“He’s a big light-framed horse and we were a bit concerned that shipping him (up to Illinois rather than keeping him at Oaklawn) would upset him but you live and die by these decisions and every horse is different and every situation is different.
“He’s a wonderful horse and you can look into the history of all the races and say this horse won this and this one won that, ‘Barbaro can’t win’ and then he won, so you can’t listen to everybody.
“Mr Warren has a team of people that put their heads together and some times too many cooks spoil the broth but other times…
“The bottom line is that he’s a great horse and it’s a credit to have him, I tell you that.”
Denis of Cork put any doubts as to the effects of his Illinois trip to rest when he ran a blistering gallop around Churchill Downs on April 21 over five furlongs and again over half a mile last Monday, work that has left Meathman Carroll feeling upbeat. He schooled himself at the Churchill Downs starting gate on Thursday morning before galloping him a mile and a half around the famous old Louisville dirt track.
“He wanted to do a little more than I wanted him to,” Carroll, 48, said afterwards of his first Kentucky Derby starter. “He is feeling very well; he’s a happy horse.
“He has never had a problem at the gate. I school all my horses at the gate and if you don’t see me there with one, you know something is wrong.”
Denis of Cork will make his bid for glory from post position 16 and Carroll is happy with that.
“We have speed to the outside of us and (jockey) Calvin (Borel) should be able to drop back and stay in the clear.”
Borel is bidding for a second Kentucky Derby win in a row having guided Street Sense home 12 months ago with a win on Denis of Cork making him the first jockey since Eddie Delahoussaye in 1982-1983 to ride consecutive winners in the race. And having ridden Denis to two of his victories, Borel, 41, is keen on his chances of making it a third.
“He can compete with anybody in the race,” Borel told the Arkansas Democrat Gazette this week. “There’s going to be so much speed. Going a mile and a quarter, I think it’s going to set up good for him.
“This colt has a lot of talent.”
