Adam ‘Biscuit’ Beschizza and Irish trainer John Ennis are set to take the US racing scene by storm at America’s biggest horse race – the £4million Kentucky Derby.
The pair secured their spot with Epic Ride after Godolphin-owned Encino was scratched off the reserve list with just three days’ notice, reported the Mirror. And it could produce by far the biggest result of either contender’s career to date.
Beschizza, 31, who made a name for himself in Britain by winning the Autumn Double in 2015, has been based in the US since 2017 and has ridden over 644 winners, earning more than £26m in prize money. He has ridden Epic Ride in each of the three-year-old’s starts to date, most recently finishing third in the Blue Grass Stakes won by Kentucky Derby favourite Sierra Leone.
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“This horse is going to run well,” said Beschizza, who finished seventh on his Kentucky Derby debut in 2020. “I’ve been doing a deep dive into my homework, and I think he is a seriously talented horse. Whether the race has come a bit early in his career, we will see, but I am looking forward to a big run from Epic Ride.”
The colt, trained alongside Sophie Doyle, James Doyle’s sister, marks the maiden horse of such calibre for Ennis who has developed his brigmando of 50 horses from scratch since landing in Kentucky to gallop horses.
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(Image: PA)
“This is what dreams are made of,” he confessed. “It’s my first time in this situation, I’d never ran in a Grade 1 up until the Blue Grass. I’m sure it is going to get me a little bit of notice. I am so blessed and lucky to be here.
“The news is just breaking back there in my village in Ireland. Longwood, There are a couple of pubs, a church, a couple of schools. That’s about it.
(Image: Kentucky HBPA/Youtube)
“I’ve never been to the Derby. I’ve lived here about 14 years and said I wouldn’t come to the Derby unless I had a runner. I’m here now. I can’t wait for the walk over. I’m not coming here to make the numbers. I think my horse has a legitimate chance.”