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Zito to enter five horses in today's Kentucky Derby

Nick Zito is about to join D. Wayne Lukas as the only trainers to saddle five horses for a single Kentucky Derby.

Lukas turned the feat in 1996, sending out five horses and winning with Grindstone, "by half an inch," Lukas said. "That made the day."

Zito hopes any of his five horses hit the finish line first in today's Derby, whether it's 5-2 favorite Bellamy Road or 50-1 long shot Andromeda's Hero. New York Yankees boss George Steinbrenner is partial to Bellamy Road, though, because he's the owner.

"It'll be a memorable Derby," Zito said. "May the best horse win, and hopefully it'll be one of ours."

Bellamy Road comes into the 2,000m Derby off two overpowering victories, a 17 1/2-length romp in the Wood Memorial last month and a 15 3/4-length win in an allowance race a month earlier.

There were no arguments from the rest of the field when Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia tabbed Bellamy Road as the top choice.

"Off his last performance he earned it," said Tim Ritchey, trainer of 9-2 second choice Afleet Alex. "Horses don't do that every day of the week."

Bellamy Road will be ridden by Javier Castellano and leave from the No. 16 post.

"I wanted to be on the outside with that horse," Zito, looking for his third Derby win, said. "He's like a big cat. I have no excuse. We have a shot, and he'll get a clear run."

The No. 16 post has worked well in the last 10 years, producing three Derby winners: Thunder Gulch in 1995, Charismatic in 1999 and Monarchos in 2001.

A full field of 20 3-year-olds was entered, with Blue Grass winner Bandini the third choice at 6-1, followed by High Fly, another of Zito's horses, at 8-1. The Florida Derby winner drew the No. 11 post.

Zito's other horses are Noble Causeway at 12-1 (No. 4 post) and Sun King at 15-1 (No. 3).

Asked how long it took to decide which horse would leave from which gate, Zito said: "Five minutes, a minute for each horse. I think we got everything we wanted."

Last year, Zito's The Cliff's Edge was the slight early favorite, but Smarty Jones ended up as the top choice.

It's unlikely the favorite's role will change this year, not after Bellamy Road's last two races.

"I've been doing this a long time and I've never seen a horse come in off a 15- and a 17-length win," Battaglia said. "For a normal race, this horse would've been 6-5 or less. But in the Kentucky Derby, with 20 horses, you've got to keep him at 5-2."

Trainer Todd Pletcher has three horses in the field: Bandini and 20-1 shots Coin Silver and Flower Alley. He was happy Bandini got an outside post, and his job got even easier when Flower Alley owner Eugene Melnyk's lucky number -- 7 -- was still available.

"He said if it's open, take that," Pletcher said. "After that, he said `I don't care what you do.'"

The Derby is no easy picking for Bellamy Road. The last horse to win with only two prior races as a 3-year-old was Sunny's Halo in 1983.

Steinbrenner, scheduled to arrive in town on Friday, said he feels "very good about Bellamy Road."

"I hope he runs well, and I think he has a good chance but anything can happen," Steinbrenner said in a statement issued by spokesman Howard Rubenstein. "I'm very hopeful."

Zito won the Derby in 1991 with Strike the Gold and in 1994 with Go for Gin.

Steinbrenner's Derby record is 0-for-5.
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