Dean's Kitten- 2010 Derby Contender

Dean's Kitten

Pedigree: Kitten's Joy - Summer Theatre(Ide)

Owner: Kenneth L. and Sarah K. Ramsey

Trainer: Mike Maker

Side: Silks

Back: RAMSEY FARM

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Dean's Kitten WINS the Lane's End at Turfway

His accomplishments beforehand had been modest, but the 2 1/2-length victory for Dean's Kitten in the $500,000 Lane's End Stakes (gr. II) at Turfway Park March 27 pushes Ken and Sarah Ramsey's homebred right into the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) picture.

On a day when the Ramseys' Furthest Land finished last in the $10 million Dubai World Cup (UAE-I), Dean's Kitten's victory in the 1 1/8-mile Lane's End certainly should prove to be more than consoling. The $291,000 winning purse moves the son of Kitten's Joy into the top 10 among 3-year-olds in graded stakes earnings, which are used to determine the 20 qualifiers for the Kentucky Derby.

“We were looking for just what we got," said winning trainer Mike Maker, who took the Lane's End in 2006 with With a City.

Maker grinned when asked about going to the Derby. “Well, you’d have to talk to the boss but I’d have to say he’d be inclined to go. I do know that Mr. Ramsey is excited, and that he’s still awake (in Dubai).”

UPDATE:

Trainer Mike Maker was looking for strong works April 17 at Trackside Louisville training center for his Kentucky Derby (gr. I) hope Dean's Kitten and Twin Creeks Farm’s Age of Humor, his runner-up in the Bourbonette (gr. III) at Turfway Park and Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) hopeful.

So Maker decided to work them at five furlongs in company—one of the rare instances in recent Kentucky Derby history in which a stable’s Derby and Oaks candidates have teamed up for an important work so close to their respective races.
The result of the head-to-head effort left Maker smiling as Dean’s Kitten, working on the outside, and Age of Humor finished together in :59.80.