Atswhatimtalknbout Tops Madame Wizard's Latest Derby Top 10
By: William F. Reed

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Mar. 17, 2003) - I ran into Madame Wizard, our fearless female forecaster, at the Florida Derby. She loved Trust N Luck in that race, but not the Kentucky Derby. So I was curious to learn what she thought about Empire Maker's stunningly impressive 9 3/4-length victory, a record for the 52-year-old race.

Obviously, she had to go back to the drawing board. After watching Sunday's San Felipe and Tampa Bay Derby, here's the latest scoop:

1. Atswhatimtalknbout: Loved how he threaded his way through traffic from the back of the pack and circled the field to just miss having his picture taken in the San Felipe.
2. Empire Maker: Beautifully bred half-brother to Chester House added blinkers and trounced his Florida Derby foes.
3. Peace Rules: Unleashed a furious kick at the top of the stretch before pulling away to capture the Louisiana Derby in a stakes record-tying time.
4. Indy Dancer: Tremendous effort to get up for third after falling 20-plus lengths behind the Florida Derby field.
5. Kafwain: Powerful, hard-trying colt will have his final prep in the April 5 Santa Anita Derby.
6. Lion Tamer: Grandson of Easy Goer must show he can stretch his speed in Saturday's Lane's End Stakes.
7. Hold That Tiger: Was nominated to the Lane's End, but trainer Aidan O'Brien has been mum on his plans for this son of Storm Cat.
8. Buddy Gil: Versatile San Felipe champ overcame a troubled trip and surged late for the win over nine solid rivals.
9. Region Of Merit: Prevailed in the mile and a sixteenth Tampa Bay Derby despite appearing to have trouble with the track and should have no problem with added distance.
10. Trust N Luck: Florida Derby pacesetter couldn't sustain his quick fractions when hooked by Frankel's monster in the stretch but hung on for place money.

Native Kentuckian William F. Reed has been a sports writer in various capacities for 43 years and has missed covering the Kentucky Derby a mere two times since 1966. He has been a high-profile sports writer in Kentucky for the Commonwealth's two largest daily newspapers, the Louisville Courier-Journal and the Lexington Herald-Leader and was a national columnist for Sports Illustrated, covering among other sports, Thoroughbred horse racing and college basketball. Reed currently pens a column for the Louisville Sports Report and covered Kentucky Derby 128 for kentuckyderby.com. He will be filing frequent installments for CDSN's (Churchill Downs Simulcasting Network) websites throughout 2003.

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