Running Three

Wayne Lukas, once Pletcher's mentor, used to get a similar question, until Lukas, after running 12 horses, finally won his first of four Derbies with Winning Colors in 1988.

Pletcher has started nine horses in four of the last five Derbies, two of them hitting the board, but he seemed surprised by the question.

"I'm only 37 years old, you know," he said. "Some make it, and some don't. But it's not like there won't be other years if I don't do it this time."

Pletcher ran four horses in his first Derby, in 2000, but his chances will be better when he saddles three colts in the 131st Derby on Saturday.

All of them will run at Churchill Downs off strong prep races: Bandini's Blue Grass win came against what was arguably the best field of 3-year-olds on the same track this year, Coin Silver punched his Derby ticket with a win in the Lexington Stakes at nearby Keeneland a week ago and Flower Alley was second in the Arkansas Derby, albeit eight lengths behind Afleet Alex, who will be either the second or third choice on Saturday.

"It's a number game," Pletcher said, sounding a little like Lukas. "The more good horses you have, the better your chances."

Since leaving Lukas in December 1995, after a 6 1/2 -year stint in which he rose to top assistant, Pletcher's numbers have increased to the point where he has close to 200 horses in training. He started out with a handful, and not a classy handful at that, but when his ship came in last year, it was the size of the Queen Mary. Pletcher's outfit led the country with $17.5 million in purses, he won his first two Breeders' Cup races and he was voted an Eclipse award as outstanding trainer.

Still missing, however, is a Triple Crown win, and a Derby victory in particular.

"It's one race you want to win, any trainer will tell you that," Pletcher said. "But I don't think our operation has tunnel vision toward the Derby. On May 8, no matter what's happened the day before, I'll get up and go to Belmont Park to get ready for that meet. It's like what somebody said about Roy Williams, after he finally won an NCAA basketball title [with North Carolina]. After the title game, he was no better coach than he'd been two and a half hours earlier."