Reddam Racing Seeks Derby Hat Trick with Longshot Irap

There is a full gate of owners hoping to hold the Kentucky Derby trophy late in the afternoon May 6, but only one with a chance to hoist it for the second consecutive year.

Paul and Zillah Reddam will be attempting the difficult double in the name of their Reddam Racing and on the legs of Irap, not much more than an afterthought until he whipped a handful of highly touted runners in the April 8 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) at Keeneland.

How much of an afterthought? Well, Irap hadn't won a race in seven tries before the Blue Grass, becoming the first maiden to take the Lexington oval's signature race. That makes this a very different experience for the Reddams than the one they had a year ago, when the undefeated Nyquist  , the 2015 champion 2-year-old male and winner of the 2015 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) carried their white and purple silks to victory under the Twin Spires on the First Saturday in May.

How different?

"What's different is you're the first reporter to contact me this year," Reddam said a week before the Derby. "Last year, even though we had confidence in Nyquist, there were a ton of expectations, and every day there was pressure about how the horse was doing and keeping everything all right. Everybody was talking about him. I've kept Irap under wraps as far as telling people that we’re going back to the Derby. It’s surprising to me the race is coming up in a few days, because there just hasn’t been the attention."

The California-based Reddams, while taking a low-key approach, are still expecting a contingent of some 70 guests for the race. That is a far cry from about 300 tickets they scrambled to acquire for Nyquist's run.

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They have been through the drill enough now to be veterans of how to handle the Derby experience. The Reddams had a piece of Ten Most Wanted, who competed in the 2003 Derby—at least until he got pinballed around leaving the gate and lost all chance. Wilko  , another Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner, ran sixth in 2005. Two years later Great Hunter and Liquidity took their shots, but failed to challenge.

The breakthrough for the Reddams came with I'll Have Another  , who took the first two legs of the Triple Crown before being injured and withdrawn from the Belmont Stakes (G1) the day before the race. Nyquist's triumph put the owners in rarified company, joining just Penny Chenery's Meadow Stable and Bob and Beverly Lewis as the only multiple Derby-winning owners over the past 66 years, since King Ranch pulled it off in 1946 and 1950.

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Paul Reddam, a former philosophy professor and a big believer in logic, often brings a shoot-for-the-stars philosophy to his stable, and was rewarded after Irap turned in a pair of disappointing runs at Sunland Park this year in the Mine That Bird Stakes and Sunland Park Derby (G3). Instead of bringing him home to Southern California for a maiden race, Reddam reasoned that the horse was halfway to Kentucky already, so why not try the Blue Grass in what he thought would be a short field due to the presence of McCraken, Tapwrit, J Boys Echo, and Practical Joke.

Reddam bristled for a while when turf writer Steve Haskin called him "the luckiest man in racing," but in the wake of his second Derby victory, he's embraced the title.

"I now accept the label," Reddam said with a chuckle. "If a miracle happens and we win it again this year, how cool would that be? That would be crazy. We've been lucky enough to live the dream and then re-live it, so we can't really be greedy. We're going to go and enjoy the experience, and when the gates open I’m sure my heart will be pounding because anything can happen."

Irap (Tiznow  —Silken Cat, by Storm Cat), a half brother to champion and successful stallion Speightstown  , has continued to thrive in Kentucky, training at Keeneland for several weeks after the Blue Grass and then vanning to Churchill Downs, where he continues to make a good impression galloping. He's a powerfully built colt who resembles a linebacker in stature, and drew well in post 9. He is 20-1 on the morning line.

Reddam, an avid handicapper, was asked to make the case for and against his horse in the Derby.

"The case against him is easy: He just broke his maiden and he's a complete fluke, and everybody else had a bad day in the Blue Grass and the race wasn't particularly fast," Reddam said. "The case for the horse is simple. Maybe this horse is better than people give him credit for after he defeated all those others. He's been blossoming out of the race, he looks fantastic, and maybe he’s a late-developing Tiznow  ."

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Having been through the Derby wars several times is a big advantage for owners and trainers, so Reddam has confidence in Doug O'Neill, who has conditioned both his Derby victors.

"We don't have to worry about the horse not being prepared as it could and should be," he noted. "There's real excitement if you’re doing the Derby for the first time, but what’s really exciting is winning it."

Reddam is realistic about his colt's chances.

"You're not going into the race thinking it's just a technicality," he said. "There’s a 95% chance you're going to lose, but this horse is not without a chance. It wouldn't be a tremendous surprise to me if he won, and it wouldn't be a shock if he ran 10th.

"I'm definitely more relaxed about going through it. Even if we had one of the favorites I'd be relaxed, because once you've gone through it a few times—like anything—you kind of know what to do. The first time, it's like ‘holy s---'"

If Irap delivers Reddam Racing with its third Derby victory in the past six years, "lucky" might be forever attached to the owners' name.