Contenders

William Currin

A native of North Carolina, Currin has lived in California for many years, where he was involved in the home construction and development business. He got into the Thoroughbred business in the 1960s as an owner, but turned to training in 1972 when his trainer at the time quit. He has come to Kentucky for the Derby (Outta Here, 7th in 2003) and Oaks (Memorette, 5th in 2005), as well as with Stormello for last year's Breeders' Cup. He has about 20 horses in training at Hollywood Park, and about double that number on breeding farms in California and Kentucky. Currin co-owns many of the horses he trains with Al Eisman, a Chicago native who resides in San Diego, which is the corporate headquarters for his Blue Haven Pool Co., a swimming pool company with 75 offices nationwide. Eisman has been a partner with Currin in numerous horses over a period of 30 years.

Kent Desormeaux

Desormeaux, a native of Maurice, La., began riding in 1986 at Evangeline Downs; a year later he moved from Louisiana to Maryland. There, he led the nation's apprentices in victories in 1987, but his 450 wins led all jockeys. In 1989, Desormeaux blitzed the record for victories in a year by riding to the winner's circle 598 times, breaking Chris McCarron's 1974 mark of 546. He shifted his tack to Southern California in 1990 and has won Eclipse Awards in 1987, 1989 and 1992 in addition to the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1993. He has won riding titles at all of the southern California tracks as well as Laurel, Pimlico, and in Tokyo, Japan. His stellar career has included three Eclipse Awards, the youngest rider (25) to win 3,000 races, becoming the youngest rider (27) to win $100 in earnings, and elected to the Racing Hall of Fame in 2004. In 2006, he finished ranked 17th nationally, with $8.5 million, in earnings despite riding fewer horses than most everyone on the list. He teamed up with Neil Drysdale to win the 2000 Kentucky Derby aboard Fusaichi Pegasus; also won the 1998 Derby and Preakness aboard Real Quiet for Bob Baffert, and most recently was aboard 2006 beaten favorite Sweetnorthernsaint. He is currently riding at the Gulfstream Park meet in Hallandale, Florida. He and his wife, Sonia, have two sons, Joshua and Jacob.

William Currin

A native of North Carolina, Currin has lived in California for many years, where he was involved in the home construction and development business. He got into the Thoroughbred business in the 1960s as an owner, but turned to training in 1972 when his trainer at the time quit. He has come to Kentucky for the Derby (Outta Here, 7th in 2003) and Oaks (Memorette, 5th in 2005), as well as with Stormello for last year's Breeders' Cup. He has about 20 horses in training at Hollywood Park, and about double that number on breeding farms in California and Kentucky. Currin co-owns many of the horses he trains with Al Eisman, a Chicago native who resides in San Diego, which is the corporate headquarters for his Blue Haven Pool Co., a swimming pool company with 75 offices nationwide. Eisman has been a partner with Currin in numerous horses over a period of 30 years.

William Currin & Al Eisman (KY)

A native of North Carolina, Currin has lived in California for many years, where he was involved in the home construction and development business. He got into the Thoroughbred business in the 1960s as an owner, but turned to training in 1972 when his trainer at the time quit. He has come to Kentucky for the Derby (Outta Here, 7th in 2003) and Oaks (Memorette, 5th in 2005), as well as with Stormello for last year's Breeders' Cup. He has about 20 horses in training at Hollywood Park, and about double that number on breeding farms in California and Kentucky. Currin co-owns many of the horses he trains with Al Eisman, a Chicago native who resides in San Diego, which is the corporate headquarters for his Blue Haven Pool Co., a swimming pool company with 75 offices nationwide. Eisman has been a partner with Currin in numerous horses over a period of 30 years.

Stormello is by North America's 2006 leading 2-year-old sire Stormy Atlantic, himself a son of leading sire Storm Cat. Stormello was his sire's top earner for the year, which also helped place him tenth on the general sire list last year. With six crops of racing age, Stormy Atlantic has 26 stakes winners to date, including the Canadien 2-year-old champ Leonnatus Anteas, Grade Two winners She Says It Best (Alcibiades) and Twice as Bad (Barrera Memorial), and the Grade Three winners Gators N Bears (Maryland BC Handicap), Atlantic Ocean (Miesque), and Icy Atlantic (Jersey Derby). Stormy Atlantic ability as a sire of precocious horses was a bit of a question in terms of his performance on the track when he went to stud. He raced only once a piece at age two and three and was stakes placed at four. Though he only sprinted in a 16-race career, both his broodmare sire (Seattle Slew and second dam's sire (Coastal) won the Belmont (GI). He currently stands stud at Hill 'n' Dale Farm near Lexington, Kentucky.

Stormello is the first foal out of his dam Wilshewed. Currin bought Wilshewed as a yearling, racing her ten times before retiring her without a win. Wilshewed was certainly bred to be a nice horse, her dam So Cozy has produced nine winners. Though the group does not have any graded horses, it does include four stakes winners: Consent, Special Alert, Braari and Special Moves. Indeed, Stormello's tail female line is loaded with stakes horses that have won on dirt and turf. And with Stormy Atlantic's ability to throw turf horses as well, it is not without question that this colt could also be a good grass horse. While there is some stamina in his female side, he will need to get some from his sire as well. Dosage Index: 2.67 - by Mark Hoard

STORMELLO is one of those horses that is going to make plenty of people mad if he manages to score here. He seemed to be an improving horse, and his gameness was without question, earlier in the prep season. That all went by the wayside when he wound up a bad fourth, looking like a tired horse, in the Florida Derby (GI). His trainer Bill Currin admitted that the cross-country trips got to him and the horse, so he took him back to Hollywood Park to regroup. The headstrong colt likes to break running, so Currin has spent the last month trying to get him to relax so he has something left for the finish of these longer races. Though it’s late in the game to be changing tactics, his workouts look like he’s taken to the change. Strangely enough, this Derby doesn’t have a ton of early speed, so Desormeaux will in all likelihood have him near the front when they pass the wire for the first time, and his hand is kind of forced as they break from post 17, one of two positions that have never produced a Derby winner (the other is 19). This colt is definitely battle-tested and will not give up easily, even if he’s not really bred to handle the 10 furlongs. Really not ready to give him an endorsement for the top spot, but has plenty of potential to pick up a solid placing.