Trainer John Ennis two years ago saddled Epic Ride, who won the Leonatus Stakes and finished second in the John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park. Rather than continuing on that track’s prep series for the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby, Ennis ventured to Keeneland for a dirt try with Epic Ride, who finished a creditable third in the Grade 1 Blue Grass behind Sierra Leone. He drew in to the Kentucky Derby off the also-eligible list, and finished 14th. But Ennis said that, in his heart of hearts, he knew Epic Ride wasn’t a true Derby threat at 1 1/4 miles because of his speed and, over the next year, expressed interest in putting him on turf. The trainer’s instincts were right, as Epic Ride is now a graded stakes-winning millionaire on the turf. “They are different horses,” Ennis said. The "different" horse is Great White, with whom Ennis is now live on the Kentucky Derby trail for the second time in three years. After winning the Battaglia Memorial, Ennis is using a similar Turfway-to-Keeneland prep plan, as Great White is expected to start in the Grade 1 Blue Grass this Saturday, the crown jewel of the Keeneland spring meeting that opens the day prior, and a race that lost expected favorite Paladin to injury over the weekend. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. “Can’t believe it,” Ennis, who is based at the Thoroughbred Training Center in Lexington, said of having Derby dreams again so soon. “It doesn’t happen to somebody like me. It’s crazy. It’s just crazy just to be in the picture.” Ennis, 44 and a native of Ireland, has been steadily upping his game recently, with his stable improving its earnings each year since 2022. After coming to the U.S., Ennis was at one point an exercise rider for two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan, before transitioning from riding to breaking and training horses. When he sent Epic Ride out in the Blue Grass, he had only three stakes wins to his name, and was looking for his first graded stakes score. Last year, he got that first graded win when Epic Ride took the Grade 3 Mint Millions at Kentucky Downs. Epic Ride is still in the barn and Ennis is hoping for a breakthrough season at age 5. In addition to Great White, he also has stakes winners Coco Connect and Coming in Hot active.  “Thank God, we’re getting better clients and better-bred horses,” Ennis said. “Look, it’s a hard, hard grind, and it’s not easy, and all these lads and lasses and grooms that come in every day, they are the ones that make this work. It’s just a fantastic effort from the whole team.” One of the clients Ennis spoke of is Goncalo Torrealba’s Three Chimneys, with whom he owns in partnership Great White, a massive and still-developing May foal by that farm’s stallion Volatile. “I think he’s a great horseman, a hard worker,” Three Chimneys general manager and COO Tony Cissell said of Ennis. “[He is] able to see the best in a horse like this. He absolutely believes in him. And I think his attitude would be, ‘Why can't he?’ versus the negative of, ‘Here are the reasons why he can't.’ To me, it's more of, ‘Here are the reasons why he can.’ John has that kind of attitude.” Great White was originally slated to be sold at the 2024 Keeneland September yearling sale, but had an episode of choke, and was withdrawn. Following that, Cissell broke the colt – and was enthusiastic about his good mind, saying he used a relatively inexperienced rider as a partner in the endeavor – and he was entered in Fasig-Tipton’s December digital sale. The yearling was available for inspection by interested parties at the farm. “And the only person who came to see him was John,” Cissell said. Three Chimneys bought the young Great White back for $55,000, but vice chairman Doug Cauthen didn’t forget Ennis’s interest. “Doug says, ‘Well, give John a call and see if we can work some kind of deal out,’” Cissell said. “Because he’s not a bad horse at all, but he was one of those horses that kind of fell through the cracks a little bit, I think, commercially.” Ennis was pleased to get another opportunity at the colt, who had been out of his own price range in the December auction, and was thrilled to add Three Chimneys to his client roster. “It’s been fantastic,” Ennis said. “Great people, super easy to work with, and just very, very lucky.” Open communication, and willingness to follow Ennis’s horsemanship instincts have been clear keys in Great White’s development. After beginning his race training at the Thoroughbred Center, Great White went home to Three Chimneys for a period for bucked shins. At that time, Ennis spoke to the team, and said that as big as the colt was, for him to continue getting heavier, aided by testosterone, would be a physical impediment. Thus, he was gelded. Ennis has been allowed to take his time with the horse, whom he describes as still building physical strength, especially in his hind end, and whom regular jockey Alex Achard describes as “a big baby.” Great White did not debut until Dec. 12 at Turfway, and a victory moved him into stakes company in just his second start, the Leonatus. Breaking from post one, he was checked early and never got his large frame into a good rhythm. In the Battaglia Memorial on Feb. 21, he worked out a perfect outside stalking trip and, perhaps idling after he made the lead, held off Fulleffort by a neck. While Fulleffort continued on at Turfway, and flattered his foe by winning the Grade 3 Ruby on March 21, Great White awaited the Blue Grass. He faces the new challenge of moving to dirt – a surface his Grade 1-winning sire did his work on, but at sprint distances – and going 1 1/8 miles. Ennis said added distance is “not an issue” with the gelding, who he says has a high cruising speed. Nor is he concerned about the surface. “His confidence about him on the dirt has never wavered,” Cissell said. “I think that John has a very good eye as far as running at Turfway. I do think there are synthetic horses, and John's like, ‘No, no, I'm not worried about the dirt with this horse at all.’ ” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.