No favs in this year's crown jewel

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- This just in from Churchill Downs: Unbridled's Song was eating like a horse Thursday.

"He ate all his oats and is a very happy horse this morning," reported Buzz Chace, racing manager for Ernie Paragallo's Paraneck Stable, sending up a collective sigh of relief from among sophisticated horse people and rudimentary sportswriters alike.

You see, there is a concentrated effort being made here to give this 122nd running of the Kentucky Derby a "normal" appearance by assigning it a consensus favorite, doomed to lose for what would be the 17th year in a row that the Derby favorite didn't win, so that we can all get on with our lives next week.

In truth, there is no real favorite this year, no unequivocal favorite that has everyone buzzing about how here's a horse that promises to become the first favorite since Spectacular Bid (1979) to actually win a Derby. Unbridled's Song would be that horse -- no questions asked -- if not for an unpredictable foot injury that requires him to wear special shoes in front.

On paper, Unbridled's Song remains the Derby favorite, but last time I looked, this race was run on a 1 1/4-mile dirt track. Can you imagine Carl Lewis being asked to win the gold in LA, Seoul or Barcelona with orthopedic shoes on his feet? Don't think so.

WELL, UNBRIDLED'S SONG is being asked to make his run for the roses Saturday in a pair of aluminum oval "egg bar" shoes to protect an injured left front foot, which he suffered in the Wood Memorial on April 13. The heel crack, which extends down the side of the hoof from a gash incurred on the bulb of the left front heel, is being treated with antibiotics and laser.

On Wednesday, he clicked off a nifty 46-second workout in a half-mile gallop, and even then didn't want to stop running. On Thursday, he walked for an hour under the shedrow with trainer Jim Ryerson.

Still, insiders wonder if this injury is more problematic than being reported.

That isn't to say that anyone is trying to be dishonest. Maybe it's just easier to stay the path, keep the faith, and report to the world that your prize colt, approaching the race of a lifetime, has a healthy appetite and could be heard singing in the shower Thursday.

At least one trainer, the highly respected Ron McAnally, whose Matty G is among the field of 20 Saturday, has questioned the wisdom of racing such an animal -- protective shoes or no protective shoes -- and risking injury perhaps to another part of the horse's anatomy.

Unbridled's Song is being treated as a special character here this week. While each Derby entry has a security guard assigned to its stall, Unbridled's Song has had as many as three security guards assigned to his stall, plus half a dozen police barricades set up to prevent anyone from getting within 50 feet of the Derby fave.

ONE SECURITY GUARD AT ANOTHER barn was told by a buddy that Unbridled's Song had this thing about wanting to clamp his teeth on anything that moves. "His hot walkers don't even want to get around him because he bites," the security guard said.

Like the man said, Unbridled's Song has quite an appetite.

Meanwhile, the sweetest, kindest, gentlest horse of the Derby bunch may be Zarb's Magic, the Arkansas Derby winner whose handler safely stuck his entire hand inside the horse's mouth Thursday to prove a point. Five fingers in, five fingers out.

Now, I know what you're thinking. This is a horse race, not a congeniality contest. But the fact remains that this year's Kentucky Derby favorite -- at 8-5 -- may be merely a wishful-thinking favorite, especially breaking from the far outside in the No. 20 post position.

While the favorite in thoroughbred racing is said to win .333 of the time, the Derby is batting .000 since Rockhill Native finished fifth to a longshot named Genuine Risk in 1980. The second-shortest odds Saturday at 7-2 belong to Skip Away, breaking from the No. 17 post, followed by the D. Wayne Lukas entry of Editor's Note and Grindstone, breaking from the No. 18 and No. 16 hole, respectively, at 6-1.

THERE IS AN OLD SPORTS cliché about "having all the horses." Well, it's no cliché in the case of Lukas, who will take five (count 'em, five) horses to the starting gate for Saturday's Derby: Editor's Note, Grindstone, Prince of Thieves, Victory Speech and Honour And Glory.

"I have trouble sorting them out myself," said Lukas, who will be seeking a record sixth consecutive Triple Crown race victory.

Keep in mind, Thunder Gulch was the least-touted of Lukas' three Derby entries last year, yet the chestnut colt came out of nowhere to pay $51.00, $24.20 and $12.20.

This time, he has five entries. Wisecracking about running a relay race, Lukas said, "Honour And Glory will lead off and after a quarter, he'll pass the baton to Grindstone, who will hand off to Prince of Thieves. Then it'll be Victory Song, then Editor's Note to bring it home ..." You get the idea.

The last Derby winner to come from Unbridled's Song's No. 20 post position was Clyde Van Dusen, 1929. But that doesn't discourage the overly optimistic Chace. No. 20 post?

"Love it!" Chace shrieked. "(Unbridled's Song) will be in the clear with no horses on the outside of him, bumping into him. We don't have (post position) as an excuse. If we can't get position ... we shouldn't be in the race."

Maybe you shouldn't, but for other reasons.

Ray Buck is the national columnist for the SportsLine USA staff.

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