Louisville, KY (Apr. 28, 2004) -- Robert V. La Penta's The Cliff's Edge, winner of the Toyota Blue Grass (Grade I), and Someday Farm's unbeaten Smarty Jones, winner of the Arkansas Derby (GII), have been installed as the top wagering choices in a field of 20 3-year-old Thoroughbreds entered in Saturday's 130th renewal of the $1 million guaranteed Kentucky Derby (GI) at Churchill Downs.

Post positions were selected by the owners and trainers of the 20 3-year-olds in a post selection process that was televised live to a national audience Wednesday on ESPN's "Sportscenter." La Penta and two-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Nick Zito selected post 11 for The Cliff's Edge, a son of Gulch who was installed as the 4-1 morning line favorite for the Derby by Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia.

Zito will also saddle Marylou Whitney Stable's Birdstone, a son of 1996 Kentucky Derby winner Grindstone and half-brother to Whitney's Bird Town, who won the 2003 Kentucky Oaks. Birdstone, a winner of one of three races in 2004, was listed as a 50-1 risk by Battaglia in the wide-open field of 3-year-olds.

The Kentucky Derby is scheduled as the tenth of 12 races on a special Derby Day racing card at Churchill Downs and post time for the 1 1/4-mile classic for 3-year-olds is set for 6:04 p.m. (all times EDT). Post time for the first of the Derby Day races is 11 a.m. and the track's admission gates open at 8 a.m.

The Pennsylvania-bred Smarty Jones, who made the Arkansas Derby (GII) his sixth win in as many starts, was installed as the 9-2 second choice. The John Servis-trained son of Elusive Quality, owned and bred by the Someday Farm of Roy and Patricia Chapman, will break from post 15. That is the first spot in an auxiliary starting gate used for the Derby by Churchill Downs to supplement the 14-horse gate used for all of the track's other races.

"I think we can force the hand of the speed inside of us," Servis said. "I'm happy because we are the first horse in the auxiliary gate and you can leave a little margin for error from there so we don't get squeezed off early. I wanted to be outside most of the speed."

Veteran Stewart Elliott makes his Kentucky Derby debut aboard Smarty Jones, who would earn a $5 million bonus with a victory in the Derby. The bonus was offered by Oaklawn Park to any horse that could sweep its Rebel Stakes and Arkansas Derby and then take the Kentucky Derby.

Other major contenders in Kentucky Derby 130 include Winchell Thoroughbreds' Tapit (8-1), the Michael Dickinson-trained winner of the Wood Memorial (GI); Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith's Lion Heart (10-1), the runner-up in the Toyota Blue Grass; the Bobby Frankel-trained Master David (12-1), the Wood Memorial runner-up; and the Rick Violette-trained Fountain of Youth (GI) winner Read the Footnotes (12-1).

View the complete Derby 130 Draw

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