ACTION THIS DAY/MINISTER ERIC - Trainer Richard Mandella's Derby pair of Action This Day and Minister Eric were leg stretchers this cloudy but nice Thursday morning at Churchill Downs as Kentucky Derby 130 looms right around the corner. Both colts already have done their heavy lifting, so Mandella's intentions are to keep them loose and happy coming up to the Saturday classic.

Action This Day went trackside about 6:45 with regular exercise rider Paul Nilluang in the tack. The well-made Kris S. colt jogged a mile following his three-panel blowout in :35.20 Wednesday morning. His exercise was just what Dr. Mandella ordered.

Stablemate Minister Eric, who might win the award Saturday for best-looking horse in the Derby, took Nilluang through a strong gallop out in the middle of the track at about 7:30 with Mandella taking in the exercise from a backstretch viewing stand.

"He's pulling hard," the trainer observed. It was a statement of compliment for his Old Trieste colt, who completed his serious preparations with a four-furlong work of :50 on Tuesday morning. The trainer has David Flores in from California to ride Action This Day in the Derby and has signed on local hero Pat Day for Minister Eric.

BIRDSTONE/THE CLIFF'S EDGE - Two-time Kentucky Derby winning trainer Nick Zito had his two entrants for Derby 130 on the track before the renovation break Thursday morning.

Marylou Whitney's Birdstone, who will exit post 13 under Edgar Prado on Saturday, galloped a mile and a half with regular morning partner Maxine Correa aboard.

Robert LaPenta's The Cliff's Edge also went a mile and a half with Correa up. The Cliff's Edge will break from post 11 under Shane Sellers on Saturday.

With a chance of scattered thunderstorms in the forecast for Saturday afternoon, Zito was asked how his contenders would do with an off track. "I really don't know. I don't have an idea one way or another," said Zito, whose Birdstone broke his maiden at first asking on a muddy track at Saratoga. "Cliff has trained on it here and it looks like he has handled it. You just never know. I can't worry about it. I don't really have too much of a concern either way, but you hope it is a nice track."

BORREGO - Irish Andy Durnin was up on Borrego Thursday morning as they stood by the six-furlong gap waiting for the track to reopen after the 8 a.m. renovation break. He was loose and easy, trading well wishes and lighthearted barbs with friends and acquaintances in the crowd that formed on the backside to watch the Derby and Oaks horses do their things. His colt, a husky chestnut by El Prado, was more intent on getting down to business, and when the all clear was sounded he went off eagerly to gallop on the big Churchill Downs oval.

Upon return, the exercise rider was asked how far he had gone. "A mile and five (eighths)," Durnin noted. "He's galloping as strong as ever; maybe even better than ever."

Trainer C. Beau Greely, who oversaw his charge's exercise, was plenty pleased with the proceedings, too.

"The horse is doing great," the trainer, co-owner and co-breeder said. "He'll gallop again tomorrow."

Victor Espinoza, who won the 2002 Kentucky Derby on War Emblem, has the call on Borrego Saturday.

CASTLEDALE - Lyons and Knee's Irish-bred Castledale, who staged a $62 surprise in the Santa Anita Derby to validate his spot in Saturday's 130th Kentucky Derby, had an interesting morning of exercise Thursday at Churchill Downs.

Trainer Jeff Mullins said the Peintre Celebre colt jogged a mile, schooled in the starting gate and then galloped a mile. In the saddle was exercise rider Joe Vaca.

Castledale, who will be attempting to join Omar Khayyam (1917) and Tomy Lee (1959) as the only Derby winners bred in Europe, also may school in the paddock this afternoon. Mullins said the colt definitely will school Friday afternoon.

Mullins was pleased with his post position draw, number 16 in the field of 20 three-year-olds.

"He has speed if you need it," said the trainer. "He's versatile. The plan is for him to follow the speed down toward the inside. He's the kind of horse that you can turn on and off, as long as you don't use him up too soon, and then wait until the last minute to move."

Jose Valdivia Jr., has the assignment in the Kentucky Derby.

FRIENDS LAKE - The son of A.P Indy was out for a good gallop and more work at the starting gate Thursday morning.

"He had a great, strong gallop and he was well-behaved at the gate," trainer John Kimmel said. "I expect big things out of this horse, barring incidents out of my control."

Amanda Roxborough, who gallops Friends Lake, showed off her evidence of how the gallop went.

"I've got holes in my gloves and blisters on my fingers," Roxborough said, "that's how hard he was pulling me."

Friends Lake has been known to be a handful loading into the gate, but he's schooled three straight days at Churchill Downs and has calmed down considerably.

"He went in and out twice," Kimmel said, "and he behaved very well."

Owner-breeders Mary and Chester Broman Sr. were on hand Thursday morning to watch Friends Lake go through his paces. The colt will try to become the second New York-bred in a row to win the Kentucky Derby. He received some encouragement in that quest this morning when Jack Knowlton, managing partner of the Sackatoga Stable, and several other members of the partnership stopped by to wish Friends Lake luck. Sackatoga owns Funny Cide, who upset Derby 129 last year to become the first New York-bred to wear the roses.

Friends Lake has not raced since winning the Florida Derby seven weeks ago. He trained at Payson Park in Florida until last week when he shipped to Churchill Downs. No horse has won the Derby without a race in April since Needles pulled it off in 1956.

The chestnut colt out of the millionaire mare Antespend will break from Post 6 in the field of 20, with regular rider Richard Migliore in the boot.

IMPERIALISM - Trainer Kristin Mulhall limited Imperialism's morning activity to a half-hour visit to the mile chute. Imperialism blew out down the stretch in :24.80 on Wednesday. Mulhall let the Langfuhr colt stand and take in the surroundings and jog at the far end of the chute Thursday.

Two-time Kentucky Derby winning rider Kent Desormeaux will be aboard Imperialism, who will break from post 10, a spot that delighted Mulhall and owner Steve Taub.

"It was kind of like the NFL draft and you are sitting there with the fourth pick and the top choice falls to your spot," Taub said of the draw. "Nine and 10 were sitting up there and within a hundredth of a second Kristin, her father (Richard) and I all said '10.'"

Imperialism has two wins in four starts on wet tracks and Mulhall said the colt galloped well this week over sloppy tracks in the morning and that an off track Saturday would not be a concern.

LIMEHOUSE/POLLARD'S VISION - Pollard's Vision went early, while Limehouse went late Thursday morning at Churchill Downs with trainer Todd Pletcher right there for both colts' gallops.

Exercise rider Patti Krotenko was in her usual spot aboard the Carson City offspring as they toured the big oval in the dark shortly after 5:15 for a gallop of a mile and one quarter, the same distance the dark bay or brown Kentucky-bred will travel Saturday afternoon in Kentucky Derby 130.

Exercise rider Michelle Nihei was aboard Limehouse when the chestnut went trackside shortly after 8:15 for a similar mile and one quarter gallop.

Pletcher has John Velazquez named to ride Pollard's Vision and Jose Santos for Limehouse.

In discussing his two runners, the trainer referred to Pollard's Vision as "my pleasant surprise," while Limehouse was said to "have lived up to his abilities the way we hoped he would."

LION HEART - Of the 20 Kentucky Derby horses this year, only one is not at Churchill Downs as of today and that is Lion Heart. He will remain at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. until Saturday when he will make the 1 ½ hour van ride to Louisville. Today, the Kentucky-bred son of Tale of the Cat galloped 1 ½ miles for trainer Patrick Biancone.

"He is very relaxed and happy," said Biancone by phone. "He knows his training schedule and knows that a race is coming up. The job of the trainer is to bring him there, to know he is ready."

Lion Heart is owned by the partnership of Derrick Smith, who will attend the Kentucky Derby, and Michael Tabor, who will remain in England for Saturday's running of the 2,000 Guineas. Tabor has three horses in that classic race: One Cool Cat, the "general 2-to-1 favourite," according to sportinglife.com, Tumblebrutus and Salford City.

Tabor has owned winners of both the Kentucky Derby and the 2,000 Guineas: Thunder Gulch (1995 Kentucky Derby) and Entrepreneur (1997 2,000 Guineas). As the two races are held on the same day, Tabor could be in a position to win the first legs of two Triple Crowns, the American and English versions, a feat believed to never have been accomplished.

MASTER DAVID - Exercise rider Jose Cuevas took Wood Memorial runner-up Master David to the starting gate for some schooling Thursday morning around 7 a.m. and got a mini-preview of how things might look Saturday afternoon shortly after 6 p.m.

Joining the Grand Slam colt at the gate in the chute near the head of the stretch were Kentucky Derby starters Tapit and Read The Footnotes, also getting some familiarization education. On Saturday that trio will break from posts No. 8 (Master David), No. 14 (Read The Footnotes) and No. 18 (Tapit).

Master David then jogged a mile for Cuevas before heading back to trainer Robert Frankel's headquarters at Barn 43. Frankel, who has two seconds, a third and a fourth from six previous Derby starters, has named Alex Solis to ride Master David in the mile and one-quarter Run for the Roses.

PRO PRADO - With jockey Rodney Trader up, Mrs. James Winn's Pro Prado worked three furlongs in :36.60 shortly after 7 o'clock.

"I told him to go in 37 and he was pretty close," trainer Robert Holthus said. "He will walk Friday and jog about 5:15 Saturday morning."

"I thought the horse worked super good," said Trader, who worked the colt some this winter at Oaklawn Park. "He's a nice animal and he's doing as well, if not better, than he was in Hot Springs."

John McKee, who has ridden Pro Prado in all seven of his starts, will ride Derby Day.

Pro Prado won his 2004 debut in the Mountain Valley Stakes at Oaklawn over a sloppy track, and then was third to Smarty Jones in the Arkansas Derby on a muddy track.

"An off track would help this horse," Holthus said, adding that he felt the surfaces at Churchill Downs and Oaklawn Park were similar.

QUINTONS GOLD RUSH - Padua Stables' Quintons Gold Rush, who will break from the extreme outside, post position 20, in Saturday's 130th Kentucky Derby, had a typical morning of exercise, galloping a mile and one quarter after a schooling session in the gate.

"He's doing extremely well, physically," said trainer Steve Asmussen. "The '20' is quite a bit to overcome, but he's a horse who has been programmed to run away from there. If it rains, an off track would help his chances because he's trained well on a wet track."

Quintons Gold Rush, whom Asmussen says tends to get "wound up" before his races, has schooled several times in the Churchill Downs paddock and is scheduled to visit the paddock again this afternoon. Asked if the colt would also school Friday, Asmussen said, "We're trying to get to the point where we won't have to."

READ THE FOOTNOTES - The Klaravich Stables color-bearer had a mostly easy morning Thursday as he walked, trotted and galloped once around the oval. He also had a bit of schooling at the gate with exercise rider Morna McDowall aboard.

Trainer Richard Violette Jr. was happy as could be with the post he chose for the New York-bred son of Smoke Glacken. Violette picked 12th and took Post 14.

"I'm thrilled with the post," Violette said. "It's another one of those things that just worked out well on their own. Everything has been going smoothly like that since we've been here."

Post 14 is the last stall in the main starting gate, and gives Read the Footnotes some room to his right to maneuver because of the gap created by putting two gates together.

Read the Footnotes, who won the Fountain of Youth Stakes in February and earned a huge Beyer Speed Figure (113), has not started since running fourth behind Friends Lake in the Florida Derby on March 13.

The colt will have a new rider for the Derby in Robby Albarado, one of the leading jockeys on the Kentucky circuit.

"Robby and I watched tape of Read the Footnotes' races this morning," Violette said. "I just want him to have an idea of how the horse runs."

Albarado never has been on the colt, even in the morning. "He's tough to handle in the morning and Morna does a great job with him, so there's no reason to change the routine," Violette said.

ST AVERIL - Stan E. Fulton's St Averil, highly regarded until finishing sixth as the 2-1 favorite in the Santa Anita Derby, schooled at the gate and galloped a mile and one quarter this morning under exercise rider Kevin Power.

"We're taking it a day at a time," said trainer Rafael Becerra, who is appearing at Churchill Downs for the first time in 20 years, since 1984 when he was an assistant to Gary Jones who had Fali Time. That colt finished fifth behind Swale and was moved up to fourth with the disqualification of Gate Dancer.

St Averil, a son of Saint Ballado who won the Santa Catalina Stakes, has been training in bar shoes because of tender front feet since the Santa Anita Derby. However, blacksmith Buzz Fermin is due in Louisville Thursday night and he will be at the track Friday morning to shod the colt with conventional shoes on his front feet.

"I want to get the bar shoes off before he gallops tomorrow (Friday) and I hope the new shoes make a difference," said Becerra. Tyler Baze rides St Averil, who will break from post position 9.

SMARTY JONES - On Smarty Jones Day in Pennsylvania, by proclamation of Gov. Ed Rendell, the undefeated Elusive Quality colt galloped a mile and half with exercise rider Pete Van Trump up and trainer John Servis alongside on the pony. As is his norm, Smarty Jones was out before the renovation break.

Smarty Jones will break from post position 15 under first-time Derby rider Stewart Elliott, who was on the scene at Barn 42 this morning.

The 39-year-old Elliott was asked if he ever thought he would find himself riding in the Kentucky Derby.

"Not really. I'm just trying to take it all in and enjoy it," said Elliott, who will ride his first two races ever at the historic track on Friday.

"I have been here before, but not to ride," Elliott said. "It was back in the '80s and I was driving through here from Florida to New England. The friend of mine I was traveling with knew some people here and wanted to stop off. It was nice. You always hope you get a chance (to ride in the Derby)."

Smarty Jones is scheduled to gallop again in the morning alongside the pony.

SONG OF THE SWORD - Trainer Jennifer Pedersen sent Paraneck Stable's Song of the Sword to the starting gate Thursday morning for a bit of a schooling session.

"They [the gate crew] did a great job," she said. "He can be a little fractious in there...he likes to paw."

Pedersen was considering a paddock schooling session today, but had not decided as of this morning.

The man behind Paraneck Stable, Ernie Paragallo, was at Churchill Downs Thursday morning checking out the scene, which is not an unfamiliar one for him. Paragallo campaigned three other Kentucky Derby starters, with his best finish coming from Unbridled's Song, the sire of Song of the Sword, who finished fifth in 1996.

Paragallo expects a big effort from Song of the Sword on Saturday. "He really hasn't run a true race yet," he said. "The good thing is that each time was better that the race before that. He's improving with each race, you can't say that about the others. "He has the talent of his father, but doesn't have the temperament of him at all. Unbridled's Song was serious from the time he was a yearling. This one (Song of the Sword) is a goof. He has the talent, and if he ever puts it in a race, it would be scary.

"Jennifer's opened up his blinkers a little so he can see more. He just goofs around so much, that's the reason he didn't start as a 2-year-old. He was ready to run [physically] last September," said Paragallo.

The last horse to win the Kentucky Derby without the benefit of a campaign as a 2-year-old was Apollo in 1882. Song of the Sword is the only Derby starter this year that did not race during his juvenile season.

TAPIT - The gray Pulpit colt, who arrived late Wednesday afternoon from Maryland, was out on the track for some light exercise Thursday morning.

With exercise rider Jonathan Ferriday aboard, the Wood Memorial winner visited the gate, jogged a half-mile and galloped one mile around the oval.

Trainer Michael Dickinson has taken every precaution to make Tapit feel as at home as possible, including bringing along large pieces of sod composed of the grasses that the colt munches at home at Tapeta Farm.

"My main concern is to get him to the post healthy on Saturday," Dickinson said. "He's healthy right now, but he has to be healthy on Saturday. I want him to peak on Derby Day."

Tapit, who won both his starts as a 2-year-old, has had an unusual 3-year-old season so far. He made his debut in the Florida Derby on March 13, when Dickinson maintained he wasn't fit enough to win. The colt finished sixth that day, and after the race was found to have a lung infection.

He had to hustle to make the Wood Memorial on April 10, and won the race despite not being at his best, according to Dickinson.

"It takes 28 days to get over a lung infection," the trainer said, "and that was the 28th day. He was not completely healed. He won that race on talent and courage alone, because he wasn't totally healthy."

Both Dickinson and jockey Ramon Dominguez will be making their Derby debut on Saturday. Dominguez has won twice with the colt, and has been aboard in Tapit's breezes at Tapeta Farm.

The trainer said Dominguez will be aboard Tapit Friday morning when the colt goes out to the track for a jog and gallop.

WIMBLEDON - James McIngvale's Wimbledon, trainer Bob Baffert's hope for a fourth Kentucky Derby triumph, was on the Churchill Downs track this morning to gallop a mile and one-half.

The Louisiana Derby winner will break from post position 5 in Saturday's 130th "Run for the Roses."

Jerry Bailey, a two-time Derby winner, has the mount on the son of Wild Rush.

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