Nick Zito

A successful return to the races for War Pass, the champion 2-year-old of 2007, was not the only highlight Sunday in Florida for owner Robert LaPenta and trainer Nick Zito. About 30 minutes before War Pass, the 1-20 favorite, did the expected and toyed with four outclassed rivals in a $60,000 allowance, Cool Coal Man, his stablemate, became a graded stakes winner with a 7-1 upset in the $350,000 Fountain Of Youth at Gulfstream Park.

Trainer Nick Zito won the Kentucky Derby in 1991 with Strike The Gold, then won again in 1994 with Go For Gin. At dinner the night after Go For Gin's win, Zito mused, "Winning the Derby every three years. That wouldn't be too bad, would it?" But that's not the way it works with the Derby gods. Zito hasn't won a Derby since, having started 11 horses and finishing no better than fourth. Zito's Louis Quatorze, who would win the Preakness, ran 16th in the Derby.

Five contending horses, five owners, one set of weathered hands. Being the most saddled individual in the 131-year history of the Kentucky Derby, trainer Nick Zito at least has his choice of race-day companions. Yet, come Saturday, he will watch from a most unusual place. A most appropriate place. "Alone," he says. * He steps upon the chipped green platform outside Barn 36 and looks out over the dozens of reporters whose bluster and breath are evident in the morning chill. Nick Zito is right.

*--* 1. SORT IT OUT (50-1) Post: No. 1. Owner: Stonerside Stable LLC and Preferred Partners. Trainer: Bob Baffert. Jockey: Brice Blanc. Record: 12-4-2-1. Earnings: $272,375. Sire: Out Of Place. Dam: Vex. Comment: Privately purchased earlier in the year, he didn't exactly stamp himself as a threat in three subsequent races.... Finished second in the Lexington and third in a weak WinStar Derby at Sunland Park after checking in eighth in the Louisiana Derby in his first start for Baffert....

In the tunnel that leads from the track to the paddock at Churchill Downs, trainer Nick Zito stood crestfallen. One by one, the army of jockeys who had ridden for him in Saturday's Kentucky Derby stood before him with their postmortems. Javier Castellano, who rode Bellamy Road to a seventh-place finish, the best of Zito's five horses, had no excuses. Rafael Bejarano, aboard Andromeda's Hero in eighth place, said that his horse was gaining ground at the end.

Trainer Nick Zito indicated Monday that three of the five horses he ran in the Kentucky Derby would run Saturday in the Preakness, the middle leg of the Triple Crown, at Pimlico in Baltimore. After Sun King and Noble Causeway worked five furlongs at Churchill Downs, Zito declared them ready for the Preakness. Zito added that High Fly, scheduled to work today, would also probably run. Two planes from Louisville will transport Preakness contenders to Baltimore on Wednesday.

Trainer Nick Zito was voted into the Racing Hall of Fame, it was announced Tuesday, but under new voting rules, no horses or jockeys were elected. Zito, on the ballot with four other trainers, was named on at least 75% of the 163 ballots cast. Although the Racing Hall of Fame has adopted rules similar to those used by the Baseball Hall of Fame, unlike baseball, the racing shrine does not announce exact totals.

On the day he is inducted into racing's Hall Of Fame, trainer Nick Zito won't have a runner in the $150,000 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame, today's feature at Saratoga. Nine 3-year-old turf specialists were entered in the Grade II at 1 1/8 miles, including co-highweight Rey de Cafe. Owned by breeder G. Watts Humphrey and trained by Rusty Arnold, the son of Kingmambo will be looking for his fourth win in eight starts on turf in what will be his Saratoga debut.

Trainer Nick Zito recalled his first two visits to a racetrack as he was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame on Monday in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The Brooklyn-born Zito was a young boy when his father, who had exercised horses, took him to Aqueduct and turned him over to a security guard at the New York track for the day. The next time Zito went to Aqueduct, he sneaked in by climbing over a fence.

Those who believed the Kentucky Derby picture was fuzzy before are even more confused after prep races in Kentucky and New York on Saturday. The biggest loser was trainer Nick Zito. Birdstone, arguably the best of his supposed three contenders for the Derby, was fifth as the 3-5 favorite in the day's richest race, the $500,000 Lane's End at Turfway Park. Sinister G, a shipper from New York who was making his graded stakes debut, went wire to wire at 16-1 on a wet day in Florence, Ky.