Mike Brunker Horse racing editor • Profile • E-mail

Denis of Cork showed he is no one-shot wonder by running his record to 3-for-3 in Monday’s $250,000 Southwest Stakes (Gr. 3) Oaklawn Park.

The son of Harlan’s Holiday relaxed in fifth in the early going, well behind the sizzling pace (:22 3/5 and :45 1/5) carved out by unrateable Sacred Journey, moved up rounding the far  turn as the front-runner began to fade and mowed down a stubborn Sierra Sunset to win by 2 ¼ widening lengths .

Denis of Cork’s winning time of 1:37.89 (or 1:37 4/5 rounded off) is faster than Teuflesberg, Lawyer Ron and Greater Good ran in winning the last three runnings of the stakes. It wasn’t as fast as Smarty Jones’ 1:37 2/5 clocking, though, and given the blistering pace, you’d expect the final time to be on the fast side.

In other words, while I thought Denis of Cork showed seasoning beyond his meager experience, this wasn’t the jaw-dropping type of race we saw from Pyro last week in the Risen Star Stakes.

But since the idea is to move forward with each race until the Derby, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. And Denis of Cork already has turned in a race that elicited gasps: his stunning  maiden victory at Churchill Downs, when he zoomed from next to last in a field of 12 to win by three-quarters of a length.

So I’m putting the David Carroll-trained colt, who was 46-1 in the first round of Kentucky Derby future wagering, on my short list of contenders for now. It’s unclear when and where the colt will run next, though the Arkansas Derby (Gr. 2) on April 12 seems a likely target since he’s already demonstrated a fondness for the Oaklawn oval.

Fierce Wind triumphant in Tampa
In the other major Triple Crown prep of the weekend, the rich stayed rich in the $200,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes on Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs, as trainer Nick Zito kept his contingent marching in unison with a victory by Fierce Wind.

The son of Dixie Union has been was one of the more lightly regarded colts in Zito’s barn, where 2-year-old champ War Pass is the deserved star. But he showed on Saturday that Nick’s bench has some depth to it.

Fierce Wind secured a good stalking position in the early stages of the Sam F. Davis, made a four-wide move turning for home and shook clear in the upper stretch. But he looked like he was tiring as he began drifting out in the late stages, and he barely had enough in reserve to hold off the fast-closing Big Truck.

That’s not a trait you like to see at 1 1/6^th miles, as it doesn’t bode well for 1 ¼ miles or farther. Still, Fierce Wind finished the final 5/16ths of the race in just a hair over 31 seconds, and got the final 16^th of a mile in 6 2/5ths – both solid clockings.  Any Given Saturday chased a slightly hotter pace last year to win in the same final time: 1:44 1/5th.

Big Truck also ran a nice race, as he was wide on both turns and was fanned six wide straightening for home.

Meantime, draw a big question mark over the Delta Jackpot after dead-heat winners Z Humor and Turf War were drilled in the Sam Davis and Southwest, respectively.

Questions about Cowboy Cal
What to make of Cowboy Cal’s effort in the $100,000 Hallandale Beach Stakes on the Turf Saturday at Gulfstream?

The Stonerside Stable colt, mentioned as one of Todd Pletcher’s leading Derby contenders all winter, didn’t run bad in 1 1/6^th mile race. But it's not exactly a positive that the 1-2 favorite  lost more than a length in the stretch after pulling within a head of stablemate Why Tonto.

If you like Cowboy Cal, who is trying to follow the Barbaro route to the Derby by prepping primarily on the turf before switching to the dirt, you’ve got to hope he was a short horse in his first effort of 2008. If that’s the case, he’ll have to move forward in the Blue Grass (Gr. 1) on April 12 on Keeneland’s Polytrack artificial surface to be considered a serious contender in Louisville.