Derby Eighth Raise Cain Possible for Belmont

Raise Cain , eighth in the Kentucky Derby, is possible for the June 10 Belmont Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park, according to trainer Ben Colebrook, although the one-turn Woody Stephens Stakes (G1) on the Belmont undercard and the next day's $400,000 Matt Winn Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs also are under consideration.

"It sounds kind of crazy to say you're looking at a seven-furlong race and a mile-and-a-half race," Colebrook said. "But I really don't think we know yet what his best distance is. 

"He deserves another chance to swing big in a grade 1 type of race. He's run in two of them and showed up both times."

Raise Cain came out of the Derby "a little scraped up" after encountering some trouble in the stretch as he ran into tiring horses. But the cuts have healed, his energy is high, and Colebrook is looking forward to getting him back on the work tab next week. Where he goes the second weekend of June will depend on multiple factors, including the outcome of Saturday's Preakness Stakes (G1) and how each field shapes up in terms of both competition and pace.

"He can go two turns, but if it's a paceless race he'd be up against it," Colebrook said.

The trainer thinks the Belmont distance of 12 furlongs is within his scope based on pedigree. Raise Cain's sire, Violence  , is "pretty versatile," and the dam, Lemon Belle , is by Lemon Drop Kid, the 1999 Belmont winner. 

Raise Cain was ridden in the Derby by Gerardo Corrales. After the Blue Grass Stakes (G1), Andrew Warren, co-owner along with wife Rania Warren, initially wanted the Derby mount to go to Javier Castellano—who had won a Pegasus World Cup (G1) and a Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) for Warren's parents aboard City of Light  —but the call fell through. Warren holds no grudge against Castellano, who ended up on the right horse, but said he was "irritated" at how celebrity steakhouse owner Jeff Ruby portrayed the circumstances on social media, which then got repeated in subsequent news stories. 

The owners of the horse he was to ride, at the 11th hour wouldn’t let him wear our pants. @jjcjockey told them “ I don’t wear JR pants I don’t ride your horse”. He was willing to forego The Kentucky Derby .He told me” God is great. I’ll find a horse to ride & we will WIN The… https://t.co/tD9i8YJlQb

— Jeff Ruby (@TheRealJeffRuby) May 7, 2023

"Jeff Ruby after the race said it was the 11th hour, which it was not," Warren said. "It was April 21st."

Warren said fast-food chain Raising Cane's was willing to pay to have its brand on Castellano's pants but an existing deal with Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse prevented that. Warren offered to forego the Raising Cane's deal to secure Castellano but did not want Jeff Ruby's logo associated with Raise Cain unless he shared in the proceeds. Kentucky rules permit jockeys to negotiate sponsorship deals for their pants but also give owners the right to refuse to have any sponsors represented atop their horses. 

"The ownership is supposed to have the right to say we don't want to do advertising," Warren said. "It's not like we were overreaching."

In the end, this footnote to Derby history may have helped to nudge Castellano onto his first Derby winner. Or perhaps Castellano's agent, P.J. Campo, was aiming to get on Mage all along. Either way, Warren just wants the record to show that, as published news reports reflect, Castellano committed to Mage a full two weeks before the Derby, not at the last minute. And with that off his chest, now Warren can focus on Raise Cain's campaign on the track.

"He's put together three pretty good races," Warren said. "He handled himself well in the Derby. I still feel like he's a good horse and he'll have opportunities to show it."