Idaho horse poised for Kentucky Derby

BOISE - It didn't take long for the young chestnut horse to stand out among its peers at Parma's Tree Top Ranches.

"He was special from the time he was a few months old. He just had an elegant look to him," said Dan Kiser, horse manager at the ranch. "He was always kind of in charge with the other colts. I knew pretty early."

Rousing Sermon proved Kiser's appraisal correct in Southern California races as a 2-year-old. When he earned enough winnings in graded-stakes races this year to qualify for the May 5 Kentucky Derby, it didn't take long for his owners - Treasure Valley businessman Larry Williams and his wife, Marianne - to decide to make their first Run for the Roses.

"We just determined that we better do it while we could," Larry Williams said. "We don't know how we'll run. We know we have a good horse. Do we have a great horse? We've always been willing to take a chance. That's what we're doing."

The couple opened Tree Top Ranches more than a decade ago, raising cattle and horses. When Kiser, a former horse trainer at Les Bois Park, arrived 10 years ago, he discussed long-term goals with Larry Williams.

"This was one of our goals, to get a horse in the Kentucky Derby," Kiser said.

It has been a long process. Williams bought Lucky Soul in 2000 and bred her to Pulpit, producing Lucky Pulpit in 2001. They also owned Rousing Again.

Lucky Pulpit and Rousing Again were bred and produced Rousing Sermon, now 3. The colt was broken in at Tree Top Ranches for two years before going to Southern California for training and racing. He was in California last week and will make the trip to Louisville, Ky., on Monday.

"What makes him real special to us is we own the dam (Rousing Again) and we own the sire (Lucky Pulpit)," Williams said.

Rousing Sermon's pedigree is strong, especially his sire bloodline, which includes 1992 Belmont Stakes winner A.P. Indy, whose bloodline includes Triple Crown winners Seattle Slew and Secretariat.

Rousing Sermon has a closing running style, which means he generally is well off the pace early in a race and then makes a late charge. He finished third in one of the major Kentucky Derby prep races, the Louisiana Derby, and has finished in the money (top three) in eight of his nine career races, with two wins.

Still, Rousing Sermon is expected to be one of the biggest long shots in the Kentucky Derby. He ranks 19th among 3-year-olds in graded-stakes earnings, the list used to determine which 20 horses gain entry to the first leg of the Triple Crown.

Williams said his horse could be a "40- or 50-to-1 long shot."

"But long shots do win the Kentucky Derby once in a while," Kiser said.

Mine That Bird (2009) and Giacomo (2005), both 50-1 shots, are two recent examples.

A party of more than 40, including family, friends and employees, will travel to Churchill Downs. Kiser will be there, too. "Even if I have to hitchhike," he said.

Williams, a Midvale native, founded Idaho Timber Corp. in the late 1970s. He and his wife have been generous Boise State donors. Along with the Caven family, they pledged $3 million to the Caven-Williams Sports Complex and $5 million to the latest Bronco Stadium expansion project. There is a Larry and Marianne Williams Plaza at Bronco Stadium.

The 70-acre Marianne Williams Park in Southeast Boise was donated to the city by Larry Williams. The park, which runs along the Boise River, sits on land that was once the home of Barber Mill, a large lumber operation.

Williams is also a co-owner of Treasure Valley Racing, which operates Les Bois Park. The park will open for live racing on May 2 and will be open the day of the Kentucky Derby.