You see one farm more spacious and beautiful than another and hundreds of lively foals romping atop limestone clad carpets of luscious bluegrass.

It provides perspective to just how rarefied it is to be one of the 20 entering into the gate on the first Saturday in May. Of course not all the entries are Kentucky-bred and that widens the admiration even further. 

Winning the Derby is the ultimate emotional high for owners, trainers, breeders and jockeys. It’s a time that evokes memories and renews dreams, a great day in America.

This field represents a real cross section of the class of 2005. They have raced all over the country and on every kind of surface. Some are banking on repeating recent successes and others are hoping to recover earlier form. The favorite’s role has changed weekly. The early favorite and 2-year-old champion War Pass is on the shelf with an injury. Pyro stepped to the front of the class off of strong performances in Louisiana only to disappoint in the Blue Grass Stakes which was run on Poly Track.  Hope holds that his disappointing performance was a fluke.

Colonel John has the race record which in other years would have provided him the favorite’s role, but because all of his races have been on Cushion Track, there are questions to how his form will hold on dirt. He was impressive winning both the Sham Stakes and the Santa Anita Derby and it will be interesting to see what happens when its time to pass the money through the windows.

Big Brown is an exciting horse and could be a superstar. He is the favorite going into the Derby, but one has to feel concern for his inexperience. He has three impressive wins in as many starts, but ability is not always enough when racing in this kind of traffic. It can be compared to learning to drive, you know how to steer, shift, and brake but when you hit the highway with all of those other cars, it’s a different story.  

Trainer Rick Dutrow and jockey Kent Desormeaux have expressed bountiful optimism and according to them, shortly after 6 p.m. on Saturday they will deliver a big brown horse with UPS logo imprinted white pants straight into the winner’s circle.  Dutrow told the Daily Racing Form,

“If he breaks clean, it’s a mismatch to me on paper.” The mystique of horse racing is that paper tells you what should happen, but the beauty is that the race still has to be run.

New York is well represented in the Derby field.  Barclay Tagg has two scheduled starters. His Wood Memorial winner, Tale of Ekati, is a solid contender and Big Truck, the New York-bred gelding, belongs in the race.

Adriano is owned by Saratoga summer resident Don Adam. Bill Mott who resides in Malta during the Saratoga season will be represented by Court Vision, a horse who has the potential to surprise. Mott’s second entry Z Humor is hard to like here but with this big field, filled with all kinds of questions, anything becomes possible.   

An extra element of intrigue is added with Larry Jones of Hard Spun fame choosing to send his standout filly Eight Belles into the Derby. Could we see a fourth filly win the Derby? Maybe, she’s coming in riding a four-race winning streak and it’s pretty certain she can get the distance.

I’m just back from a morning at Churchill Downs where I enjoyed watching horses train on a beautiful Kentucky morning.  The Oaks and Derby entries all wear special saddle-cloths so the railbirds can identify them. I saw probably 15 of the 20 Derby horses and if were to step to the windows right now my money would go on Colonel John and maybe a back-up on Tale of Ekati, but I missed seeing Big Brown.  

Marilyn Lane, a freelance writer, has a lifelong association with horses. Her experience includes more than 20 years as an owner, trainer and breeder of thoroughbreds. She was an assistant trainer to Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg during Alysheba’s racing career. You can reach her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it