In the spring of 1995 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, three-year-old Timber Country ran third in the San Rafael Stakes and second in the San Felipe Stakes. Going into the Kentucky Derby the colt was winless in all three of his 1995 starts and was up against a field that included strong competition such as Tejano Run, who had finished third to Timber Country in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile; Thunder Gulch, who was also trained by D. Wayne Lukas and who had won that spring's Fountain of Youth Stakes and Florida Derby; Talkin Man, the Canadian Two-Year-Old Champion coming off an impressive win in the Wood Memorial Stakes; plus the future Hall of Fame filly Serena's Song, who was owned by Robert and Beverly Lewis, one of Timber Country's owners.
