No one has been a bigger skeptic of the UAE Derby as a viable prep for the Kentucky Derby than yours truly. But given Mendelssohn's monster performance just now taking the UAE Derby by the length of the stretch (18 1/2 lengths, to be precise) in his first start on dirt, the UAE Derby has the strongest threat for success at Churchill Downs than it ever has before.

Of course, a win from Mendelssohn was by no means a surprise. He confirmed his class when he won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf last fall at Del Mar, and he is certainly bred to excel on dirt, being by Scat Daddy (whose get run on anything), and being a half brother to four time U.S. champion Beholder. Still, few could have anticipated how jaw-droppingly impressive Mendelssohn would be today.

As for Gold Town, whose empty UAE Derby performance was a big disappointment after the way he dominted earlier this year at Meydan, he simply wasn't the same horse when he was denied control of the pace by none other than Mendelssohn.