Contenders

Darrin Miller

Darrin Miller, 40, grew up on a cattle ranch and first was involved with equines in the show business with Quarter Horse, and eventually became a jockey for that breed. He gave up that gig in 1991, and turned to training his own string of Thoroughbreds at Canterbury Park in Minnesota in 1995. Miller has trained privately for the Hamiltons for the past six years, winning stakes with Great Notion, Fredericktown, Gin and Sin, Sedgefield and Dominican for the couple. He currently has 16 horses in training, and splits his time between Kentucky and Florida. He has yet to run a horse in the Kentucky Derby.

Julien Leparoux

Leparoux, 23, is a fast-rising star on the riding stage, recently emerging as leading rider at Turfway Park in winter of 2005-2006 before going on to be the co-leading rider for the Keeneland spring meet - all since starting to ride professionally just in August of 2005. Leparoux won Turfway's 2006 winter riding title in style, setting a new meet record with 167 wins from 529 mounts, boasting an amazing 32 percent win percentage and 64 percent in-the-money performance. Beginning as a stable hand and exercise rider in France, Leparoux moved to the U.S. in 2003 to go to work as an exercise rider for trainer Patrick Biancone, who gave Leparoux his initial opportunity to ride professionally as an apprentice at Saratoga, then as the regular rider on all of his best horses such as Gorella, winner of the Beverly D. Sedgefield will be his first Derby mount.

Silverton Hill is the namesake of Tommy and Bonnie Hamilton, who also own the top 3-year-old Sedgefield. The Hamiltons have been in Saddlebred business for several years, including 1999 World Champion 3-gaited horse Yes It's True. His sale allowed them to get into the Thoroughbred business, winning their first stakes with Neon Shadow in 1999. Tommy founded a coal mining company with operations in Kentucky and Virginia. Bonnie was a surgical nurse for 25 years in Owensboro, KY. Their 1,500 acre farm is near Springfield, KY, about 40 miles from Louisville. In addition to having a seven-furlong Polytrack training surface, the farm also is used for grain, hay and cattle raising. The farm is home to about ten broodmares and their foals. This would be their first entrant in the Kentucky Derby.

Keene Ridge Farm (KY)

Keene Ridge, bought by Ann McBrayer on Nov. 1, 1994, is a breeding and boarding operation comprising 170 acres near Keeneland. Among the mares owned by Keene Ridge are Evening Primrose, the dam of stakes winner Great Notion, also trained by Darrin Miller; Cuando Quiere, the dam of Honey Ryder; and Belva, the dam Sedgefield and multiple Grade One winner English Channel.

Sedgefield is a son of Smart Strike, who hails from the long line of blue bloods from the great Canadian Thoroughbred operation Sam Son Farm. A half-brother to champion Dance Smartly out of the great Mr. Prospector, Smart Strike was a Grade I winner on the dirt, but he has proven to be an all-around solid sire with top class runners on both turf and dirt. Standing at Lane's End Farm in Lexington, he was among the top 10 sires of 2006. His runners last year were led by leading turf horse and multiple graded winner English Channel, Alcibiades (GII) winner Bel Air Beauty and English Group Two winner Tungsten Strike. With a total of over 45 stakes winners to date, he has sired five Canadian champions, including Horse of the Year Soaring Free. He has other top 3-year-olds in Curlin and Twilight Meteor.

Sedgefield is out of Belva, which makes him a full brother to the top-class turf horse English Channel, a multiple Grade One winner on the turf who has earned in excess of $2.7 million to date. Belva is by Theatrical (IRE), himself a champion turf horse in both Ireland and the United States. Though unraced, Belva comes from a family loaded with stakes winners, particularly on the grass. She is out of Committed, a four-time champion in Europe. That makes Belva a full sister to Hap, a five-time Grade Two winner and earner of more than $1.3 million, and Pharma, a multiple graded winner on the southern California circuit.

Sedgefield is a complete outcross in his first five generations, something not seen very often in modern Thoroughbreds. His sire Smart Strike, though a son of Mr. Prospector, has proven to be able to get horses competitive at all distances, and his broodmare sire Theatrical was effective at 12 furlongs. Belva does have some sprint breeding on her bottom half, and combining that with Sedgefield’s sire being from the Native Dancer line, raises his Dosage Index to 3.00. – by Mark Hoard

SEDGEFIELD landed in the tough inside post for Darrin Miller and jockey Julien Leparoux. His 4^th place finish in his final prep was not the kind of effort you want to see from a Derby contender, but he ran well in the Lanes End at Turfway when 2^nd behind Hard Spun. He has yet to run over dirt, and this might not be the most opportune spot to give the new surface a try. However, he has faced some pretty tough grass horses down in Florida, and has been competitive every time. His connections feel that he has handled the track well this week, and if they are right, this is one guy who could jump up and surprise some people if he can overcome the tough post. Look for him to be near the lead at a big price.