Mendelssohn may be the UAE Derby horse to make noise

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Mendelssohn made a lot of noise in his initial appearance at Churchill Downs on Thursday morning.

It remains to be seen if the horse that shipped from Ireland for the Kentucky Derby will do the same when the Run for the Roses arrives Saturday.

Once Mendelssohn began his walk/jog of 1¼ miles, he let out with his trademark horse talk. Every few feet, the horse would let loose with a holler, or a yell, much to the delight of the people still crushed up against the backstretch fence. Then, he had a one-mile canter with exercise rider Dean Gallagher before exiting the track.

And he did just a little more yelling on his way back to the barn.

Mendelssohn comes to Saturday’s Kentucky Derby as the best chance the Europeans have ever had to win the Run for the Roses. That’s because the colt, last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner, won the UAE Derby in Dubai by 18½ lengths.

Trainer Aidan O’Brien is making the trip here for the Derby. Also, Ryan Moore, considered by many to be the best jockey in the world, is coming from Europe to ride him.

After winning the Breeders’ Cup race, O’Brien put the colt on the dirt in anticipation of getting to Kentucky. Mendelssohn won a dirt stake in Ireland before romping in Dubai.

“He is very dangerous,” Justify’s trainer, Bob Baffert, said. “He is fast. He has brilliance.”

The UAE Derby has produced plenty of Kentucky Derby busts. Last year, Thunder Snow shied away from puddles on the wet Churchill track and bucked like a wild bronco and not finish.

“I like him a lot,” Justify’s jockey, Mike Smith, said about Mendelssohn. “I won’t take him lightly. This one might be the best they have ever brought over here.”