2010 Kentucky betting on Dean’s Kitten may not be very popular since the horse is a longshot but the horse does have a great story.
Trainer Mike Maker has always wanted to have a horse in the Kentucky Derby and in this year’s race he gets his first two in Kentucky Derby odds.
2010 Kentucky betting odds list Dean’s Kitten and Stately Victor as longshots but Maker is not concerned. He is just happy to be in the race. Dean’s Kitten won the Lane’s End while Stately Victor won the Blue Grass. Make has called Louisville home since 1993. “It’s something you work your whole life for and hope it happens, but … that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to happen,” said Maker.
Mike Maker’s father is the late George Maker who trained horses at Hazel Park and Detroit Race Course in Michigan. Mike became a trainer in 1991 and became an assistant to D. Wayne Lukas in 1997. He went out on his own in 2003. Maker is working for Ken Ramsey, who owns Dean’s Kitten with his wife, Sarah. “He called me one morning and wanted to take me out to dinner, and nobody ever wants to take me out to dinner so I thought he must be up to something,” Ramsey said. “He said he was going out on his own … and wanted to know if there was anything I could give him.” Ramsey gave him six horses to train and has worked with him ever since that time. “He’s not a big, loud-mouth person and stays very quiet,” Ramsey said. “He sort of goes under the radar because he’s not out there pounding his chest … but he knows what to say and when to say it.”
Maker nearly had a horse make it in Kentucky Derby odds in 2006 but With A City came down with an illness and later was euthanized. This year, Maker got Dean’s Kitten into 2010 Kentucky Derby betting as the horse won the Lane’s End at Turfway Park and then he got another horse in when Stately Victor won the Blue Grass in a big upset. “I look for Mike to be on the Derby trail with us on a regular basis,” Ramsey said. “He has two in this year, and that speaks to how well he can take a 2-year-old and develop it.”