Getty Mendelssohn enters the Triple Crown season with a strong mix of pedigree and performance that has many people thinking the European-trained horse can succeed in the United States. Mendelssohn demanded $3 million thanks to a bidding war that ensued at the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling sale. Why did the horse command such a high price tag? Mendelssohn's sire is Scat Daddy, and dam is Leslie's Lady. Both were successful race horses who have offspring that have produced at a high level. There is reason to think Mendelssohn can become the first European-trained horse to win the Kentucky Derby. Mendelssohn won the UAE Derby in Dubai by nearly 19 lengths. The horse has won races all over the world, including in the United States at the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf last fall. Mendelssohn has an experienced jockey-trainer combo with Ryan Moore on the saddle along with famed European trainer Aidan O'Brien. The horse is owned by Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier & Michael Tabor. Mendelssohn won in Dubai by 18 1/2 lengths, one of the most dominant performances we have seen in a Derby prep race. Paulick Report's Editor-in-Chief Scott Jagow noted just how impressive of an outing it was. “Despite the historical irrelevance of the UAE Derby on the Kentucky Derby, it is impossible to shade Mendelssohn's rousing performance Saturday,” Jagow told the Paulick Report. “He's already won on three continents and three different surfaces, with his drilling of the competition in Dubai coming over dirt. A half-brother to Beholder, one of the great champions of recent memory, the sky appears to be the limit for the son of Scat Daddy." There is some concern on how Mendelssohn will perform at Churchill Downs after shipping from Dubai. As Jagow noted, the horse has already proven he can travel well, winning races on multiple continents. While no UAE Derby winner has won the Kentucky Derby, no previous horse had the performance Mendelssohn had in Dubai. Even O'Brien was surprised by Mendelssohn's performance. "He was a horse that we hoped would learn a lot by coming here [Dubai] and we are absolutely delighted, over the moon really," O'Brien told The Independent. "He's by Scat Daddy and the lads paid a lot of money for him and he's bred to be very good. With a pedigree like he has he is bred to handle the dirt. That was an unbelievable performance really. We weren't sure how he would handle the distance but you have to say he saw it out pretty well! He is naturally quick and has a lot of tactical early speed. He did it the hard way but he did it so easily." Some will argue Mendelssohn peaked too early with his dominant outing. Others point out Mendelssohn could just be getting started if his early 2018 races are any indication. Every Kentucky Derby contender has something they have to overcome. For as strong as the 2018 field appears, each horse has a flaw that can be focused on. Learn more about Mendelssohn's team by clicking the next button to read about the horse, jockey, trainer and owners.
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Mendelssohn's Trainer: Aidan O'Brien
Aidan O'Brien has become one of the most accomplished trainers in Europe. According to Coolmore.com, O'Brien started out as an amateur jockey before transitioning to becoming a full-time trainer. He became the youngest champion trainer in both Ireland and England. O'Brien has wins all over the world including Ireland, Italy, Dubai, United States, France and England. He is still looking for his first win at one of the Triple Crown races in the States, but has his best chance yet with Mendelssohn. O'Brien spoke with the Irish Times about some of the nuances Mendelssohn will face at Churchill Downs.
"It’s a very different atmosphere to what we’d be used to here in Europe," O'Brien told the Irish Times. "It can get very loud in the parade out onto the track. We’d be very hopeful he’ll deal with it though. We are confident he can get away fast. He has shown he has the pace to lay up early...He broke well in Del Mar last season. He broke well at Dundalk this season and he broke well again in Dubai. So we’d be confident he can do the same out there."
O'Brien has already helped Mendelssohn notch big wins at the Breeder's Cup and UAE Cup in Dubai. The team does have the challenge of traveling across the country, and getting the horse ready to compete at a high level. Fellow trainer Todd Pletcher believes O'Brien has all the capabilities of helping Mendelssohn become the first Dubai winner to also get a Derby victory.
“I’d say if there’s any man that can do it it’s Aidan," Pletcher told the Irish Times. "He’s a big race specialist.”
O'Brien helped Mendelssohn not just win in Dubai, but dominate the race. The Kentucky Derby website provides a rundown of O'Brien's accomplishments.
"A widely respected Irish horse racing trainer, O’Brien is the private trainer at Ballydoyle Stables where he has served since 1996," The Kentucky Derby writes. "He is also tightly associated with the Coolmore group of John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith. Together they have accomplished massive wins in the sport capturing nearly every prestigious race in Europe as well as multiple Breeders’ Cup events. He is a three time winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf with Hit It A Bomb (2015), George Vancouver (2012) and Wrote (2011). He also hold the distinction for claiming the most victories at the Breeders’ Cup Turf with 5 wins."
O'Brien points to the Mendelssohn's speed and pedigree as big reasons for his early success.
“We knew he had lots of dirt in his pedigree, and he’s a horse with a lot of speed, though we weren’t sure how far his speed would carry him," O'Brien told The Guardian . “He’s a very good horse obviously, and the lads [in the Coolmore Stud syndicate] paid a lot of money for him [$3m at Keeneland in 2016], he’s very well bred and that was his first taste of the dirt and going further than a mile, so we couldn’t be happier really.”