Racing: Derby hopeful close to home

Six days after So You Think's Irish romp, a New Zealand thoroughbred can triumph again in tomorrow morning's Kentucky Derby.

One of the favoured runners in the Run For The Roses, Midnight Interlude has as his dam Midnight Kiss, who finished third to Wharite Princess in the 2004 Oaks at Trentham.

It's a reasonably involved story how this highly promising colt came to be racing in one of the world's great horse races, but Matamata trainer Karyn McQuade will be taking in every second of television action from Kentucky tomorrow.

McQuade trained Midnight Kiss in New Zealand. The filly finished second to Calveen on debut then won at 1900m at Rotorua and 2170m at Tauranga before finishing a great third in the Oaks at just her fourth raceday appearance.

"There had been big offers for her before the Oaks and after that race they just got too big and she was sold [to the United States] for $800,000," said McQuade.

Midnight Kiss was all-American bred. Her dam Midnight Assembly raced in the States as did her sire, Groom Dancer, who stood for most of his stallion career in Japan and Australia.

Midnight Assembly was purchased at auction in New Zealand carrying Midnight Kiss.

McQuade lost track of Midnight Kiss in America, but a few years later received an email advising her the mare was heading for a broodmare sale and were the New Zealand connections interested in buying her back but no deal was done.

Midnight Interlude is the third foal bred from her in the States, the first two proving of little account.

Midnight Interlude is prepared by Hall Of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, an ex-jockey who started out preparing quarter horses before switching to thoroughbreds with massive success.

The colt's owner, Arnold Zetcher, needed a change of luck when his good filly Always A Princess cracked sesamoids in both front legs in the home straight in the group one Santa Margarita Invitational in March.

Zetcher got the luck he was looking for when Midnight Interlude came straight from maiden class to score a surprise win in the Santa Anita Derby at $13 on April 9.

Going from maidens to group one victory is closer to impossible than improbable.

It was no fluke. Midnight Interlude sat three wide without cover outside the well-fancied leader Comma To The Top.

The pair settled down to a dour home-stretch battle and it looked as though the other horse would win when Comma To The Top came out and bumped him off stride.

But Midnight Interlude refused to be beaten and came back to take the decision in the final strides.

Baffert was impressed. "It takes this bloke a little while to get going, but once he does, he's pretty fast."

That summation does not surprise Karyn McQuade.

"His mother had gears. She never pulled, she would just cruise along and each time you kicked her she gave you another gear.

"She was incredible to sit on."

Similar to his mother, Midnight Interlude has a much longer, more powerful stride than the usual short, quick stride of a dirt-track horse.

That coupled with the move up from 1800m to 2000m for tomorrow's big race is a help.

Also, Santa Anita's dirt track is regarded as playing for on-speed horses, which suited Comma To The Top, where Churchill Downs lends itself more to horses getting to the finish powerfully, which is Midnight Interlude's strength.

He looks and races more like a turf horse and interestingly his sire War Chant could finish only ninth from Fusaichi Pegasus in the 2000 Kentucky Derby, but when trainer Neil Drysdale switched him to turf he won the Breeders Cup Mile and Oak Tree Mile.

Baffert is no stranger to Kentucky Derby success, having won the race with Silver Charm (1997), Real Quiet (1998) and War Emblem (2002). War Emblem was ridden that day and again in winning the Preakness Stakes by Victor Espinoza, who will partner Midnight Interlude tomorrow. Espinoza, now a multimillionaire, started his working life as a bus driver in Mexico City.

Midnight Interlude was yesterday quoted at around the $10 mark in an ever-changing market.

Records, always there to be broken, are right against him.

The only Kentucky Derby winner not to have raced as a 2-year-old was Apollo in 1892 and the only horse with a four-race career to win was the filly Regret in 1915.

Kentucky Derby

* One of the better fancied runners, Midnight Interlude is from a mare who was bred in New Zealand.

* The colt's dam, Midnight Kiss, finished third in the 2004 Oaks at Trentham.

* Midnight Interlude won the lead-up Santa Anita Derby at his last start.