It's time for Strong Contender to show what he's made of

There are only three weeks until the Kentucky Derby, and Strong Contender still has not started in a single stakes race. He has not had a race around two turns or cracked US$36,000 in total earnings. He has a lot of catching up to do, a process that starts Saturday at Keeneland.

Despite his modest credentials, Strong Contender, a winner of his only two career starts, will be among the favorites in Saturday's US$750,000 Blue Grass Stakes. It will be an opportunity to prove that he is talented enough to overcome his inexperience.

The Blue Grass is one of two major Kentucky Derby prep races Saturday. It shares top billing with the US$1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park, where the morning-line favorite, Lawyer Ron, will attempt to extend his winning streak to six.

Not much has gone right for Strong Contender since he won his career debut last August at Arlington Park. Afterward, he incurred a small fracture in his left front shin and did not race again until a Feb. 22 allowance race at Gulfstream. He dominated 10 rivals that day, winning by four and a half lengths with Edgar Prado aboard.

Strong Contender's trainer, John Ward Jr., is hoping to get in three races before the Derby, which is a traditional way to prepare a horse for the May 6 race.

He pointed Strong Contender toward the Lane's End Stakes at Turfway Park on March 25, but the race was oversubscribed and Strong Contender did not have enough career earnings to get into the field. Forced to scramble, Ward shipped Strong Contender back to Florida and penciled in the Blue Grass.

But Ward, who won the 2001 Kentucky Derby with Monarchos, said Strong Contender was more experienced than his record would suggest.

"It's amazing how experienced he was when he won his second race," Ward said. "You'd be amazed at how good and how professional he was. Other horses challenged from the inside, from the outside. He had a lot of horses come at him. If we get the same performance out of him, we will be OK. I think we will be heading to the Kentucky Derby with a fresh horse."

Even with a victory Saturday, Strong Contender will have history working against him in the Kentucky Derby. The last time a horse won the Derby with three or fewer previous starts was in 1915.

"We don't need to go over there just to get a box for Derby Day," Ward said. "This horse does have talent, and we've known that all along. He is a late foal. He was born May 15, which makes you a little bit cautious about maturity. But he has done some exceptional things. He has done things that good, older handicap horses do."

The 1.8-mile Blue Grass has drawn a field of nine. First Samurai, who was placed first through disqualification in the Fountain of Youth, is the morning-line favorite. But given the opportunity to ride First Samurai or Strong Contender, Prado chose Strong Contender.

Lawyer Ron will be heavily favored against 13 others in the Arkansas Derby. His emergence from a struggling maiden to one of the favorites for the Kentucky Derby has been one of the major stories of the spring.

He lost seven of his first eight starts, including a US$50,000 maiden claiming race. But all seven losses came on grass courses or the synthetic Polytrack surface at Turfway Park. He has not been beaten in six races on conventional dirt tracks. But his trainer, Bob Holthus, is not sure that the switch to the dirt has made the difference.

"I think he's matured physically," Holthus said. "He was kind of an immature colt when we first started racing him. It seems like around the first of December, he's just turned into a man. He really developed. He's a beautiful animal now. And he's probably 75 to 100 pounds heavier than he was the first of December. And with all of his racing and training he's had, that's kind of remarkable."

Holthus will also send out Red Raymond, who was second behind Lawyer Ron in the Rebel Stakes on March 18.