The 150th Kentucky Derby (G1) is Saturday, May 4, at Churchill Downs, offering a record $5 million purse. The field is limited to 20 starters based on Derby qualifying points from dozens of prep races. Epic Ride replaces Encino, who was scratched.
EPIC RIDE
Epic Ride. Coady Photo.
First on the also-eligible list for the Derby, Epic Ride was added to the field on Tuesday (April 29), when Encino was scratched with a soft-tissue strain in his right front leg.
The epic ride continues for trainer John Ennis with Epic Ride.
Epic Ride won a pair of races on Turfway Park’s synthetic track and ran second to Encino in the John Battaglia Memorial before finishing a credible third in the Blue Grass Stakes behind Sierra Leone and Just a Touch.
Does that make him a viable contender as one of the longest shots in the field? Not really, but at least there’s a chance (think Rich Strike in 2022).
“It’s fantastic. It’s a huge achievement for a smaller barn like us to get in, just privileged to be a part of it,” Ennis told drf.com.
Ennis believes Epic Ride fits the 1 ¼-mile Derby distance well, and the field has speed “where we have enough tactical speed to be wherever we want.
Ennis, in his 12th year as a trainer, is looking for his first graded stakes win with his first Derby starter. Jockey Adam Beschizza will compete in his second Derby.
2024 Kentucky Derby Contenders: Epic Ride
Betting advice: Don’t see a Rich Strike in this guy, but didn’t see Rich Strike in 2022, either. Nonetheless, toss.
Post position: 20
Odds: 50/1
Jockey: Adam Beschizza
Trainer: John Ennis
Owner: Welch Racing
Career record: 5-2-2-1
Career earnings: $253,166
Most recent race: Blue Grass, April 6, (3rd)
Top Equibase speed figure: 100
Pedigree: Blame-Pick a Time, by Gio Ponti
Color: Bay
Running Style: Tactical speed
Notes: When Encino was scratched, Epic Ride moved into the field as the first also-eligible … First four races at Turfway Park, two wins, two seconds … Beaten a length by Encino in the John Battaglia Memorial on March 2 … Sold for $160,000 at the Keeneland September 2022 sale