Kentucky Derby

Derby watch 1. Eskendereya: After dominant victories at the Fountain of Youth and the Wood Memorial, the Todd Pletcher-trained colt, with John Valasquez up, should enter Derby day as one of the strongest favorites in years. 2. Lookin At Lucky: A champion as a 2-year-old, this Bob Baffert-trained horse didn't have a good outing in its final Kentucky Derby prep race at the Santa Anita Derby, finishing third, although Baffert blamed a "horrendous" ride by jockey Garrett Gomez.

Hamilton Smith's brother, Franklin, came out to the track at Churchill Downs to see two horses he knows well Franklin, who breaks about 150 horses each year, turned both Dulluhan, trained by Dale Romans, and Done Talking, trained by Hamilton Smith, into race horses at his South Carolina training facility. “It's good to see them here,” he said. “I can remember having them back then, and even then, they were ahead of the group. It's good for them to be together like that.

What: 129th Kentucky Derby, first leg of thoroughbred horse racing's Triple Crown series When: Saturday Post time: 6:04 p.m. Where: Churchill Downs, Louisville, Ky. Distance: 1 1/4 miles TV:Chs. 11, 4

The colt was a knucklehead, really. He had speed and endurance in his pedigree, but if you had polled his owners and his trainer a year ago, none would have predicted that he'd gallop in the same steps as his great-grandsire, 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. When the gates dropped on his first race, Orb did not even break. Second race? Same thing. He did not win until the fourth and final race of his two-year-old campaign. But where other colts might level off or become erratic, Orb seemed to get better every day. “I've never seen anything like it,” said his trainer, Claude “Shug” McGaughey, who has been in the thoroughbred game more than 40 years.

We'll get to the more serious Kentucky Derby news soon, but before we do, a brief word about patriotic fashion. Although it's only Wednesday here at Churchill Downs, you can already take a stroll of the grounds and see countless beautiful women wearing the kind of gigantic, gaudy hats that have become an important Derby stable during the last 100-plus years. And while I mostly ignored the Royal Wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton, I couldn't help but be struck today by how much better our ridiculous formal headware is in America than the ridiculous formal headware in England.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Lookin At Lucky wasn't particularly charmed Wednesday during the post-position draw for the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby. The pre-race favorite drew the rail in the post position in the blind draw, meaning he'll either have to get out early in the 1 1/4 mile race or fight his way through traffic if he's going to win Saturday's Run for the Roses. Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia said the inauspicious No. 1 position didn't significantly affect Lookin At Lucky's odds and that he'll still go off at 3-1, in part because Sidney's Candy, the second choice at 5-1, drew the No. 20 position.

On Wednesday at Churchill Downs, a crowd clad mainly in Louisville basketball shirts gathered at Barn 45 to watch Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino as he visited a horse of which he owns five percent. Pitino, a month removed from becoming the first coach in NCAA history to win Division I basketball national championship tournaments with two different schools, appeared at trainer Doug O'Neill 's barn shortly after 8 a.m. and joined an entourage following Goldencents.

Crowds are beginning to swell here at Churchill Downs. "They let everybody in here," said Hamilton Smith, the long-time Laurel Park fixture who has a horse in the Kentucky Derby for the first time. "Just look at 'em. " Indeed, there was a Blood Mary or 437 spotted before the sun had lit the track fully. One guy lugged a giant Starbucks cup filled with a golden-hued beverage not sold by Starbucks. The horse that got an uneven share of cheers? Why, that was "I'll Have Another," of course.

Horses chasing a spot in the Kentucky Derby this year must, for the first time, compile points (instead of graded earnings) by finishing in the top four in a series of races chosen by the staff at Churchill Downs. The revised qualification rules are meant to make it easier for the common fan to follow the Derby trail. So let's keep this simple: the hunt really began last week, with the first two races worth a total of 85 points (50-20-10-5). Previous races had only been worth 17 (10-4-2-1)

Todd Pletcher is now 1-for-36 in the Kentucky Derby. The trainer with a vast empire of horses entered five in Saturday's 139th run for the roses and, as bettors expected, Revolutionary, the colt guided by Calvin Borel, moved well over the wet track - but not well enough to catch winner Orb. Borel had Revolutionary running at the end, but ultimately finished third. A three-time winner of the race - twice in mud - Borel had spurred bettors to make Revolutionary the favorite for much of the day. "The only thing I could have done on the far turn was creep up closer on him," Borel said.