Out of luck in Kentucky Derby, Todd Pletcher undaunted

Undaunted after watching his five Kentucky Derby contestants finish far back, Todd Pletcher will try again in Saturday's Preakness.

This time the nation's leading trainer for the past three years will have only one horse, a bicoastal colt named King Of The Roxy, whose last outing in a seven-race career that has taken him to six tracks in four states was a second-place finish in the Santa Anita Derby on April 7.

"We started focusing on the Preakness immediately after the Santa Anita Derby," Pletcher said. "He lost some training time when we first got to Florida over the winter so we didn't want to rush him and pointed toward the Preakness."

This will be King Of The Roxy's second meeting with Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense. Their first came in last fall's Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs, where Street Sense won by a record 10 lengths and King Of The Roxy finished eighth, 38 1/2 lengths behind.

Pletcher is 0 for 19 in the Kentucky Derby but in the Preakness his only prior starter is Impeachment, who ran third in 2000. Pletcher's jockey of choice, John Velazquez, who has been the national champion rider for two of the last three years, will make his Preakness debut aboard King Of The Roxy.

Thumbnail profiles of the Preakness probables:

Street Sense

Although the colt bred and owned by Jim Tafel was much the best in the Derby, he had a perfect trip along the rail before moving out to overtake Hard Spun in the stretch. Because he comes from far back, he could encounter traffic problems.

Hard Spun

If Street Sense had run into some hard luck in rallying from second last in the 20-horse Derby, pacesetting Hard Spun might have gone all the way to the winner's circle. Hard Spun's jockey, Mario Pino, is Maryland's all-time leading rider.

Curlin

The third-place finish in the Derby is the only blemish on Curlin's four-race résumé. He won his first three races for trainer Steve Asmussen by an average margin of more than nine lengths and he set an Arkansas Derby record with a 10-length triumph.

Teuflesberg

Unlike the other three holdovers from the Derby, this colt fared poorly and finished 17th. His 16 lifetime starts make him the most experienced horse in the race.

Chelokee

Trainer Michael Matz will decide after a workout today if this colt will take him back to the scene of his 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro's tragic breakdown. Last time out, Chelokee finished third in his stakes debut in the Florida Derby on March 31.

C P West

The Withers runner-up is trained by Nick Zito, who has had 17 Preakness starters since 1991 and won in 1996 with Louis Quatorze. C P West was sixth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile but had traffic problems.

King Of The Roxy

Pletcher's trainee won the Grade II Belmont Futurity last year and Gulfstream Park's Grade II Hutcheson this year, but the distances of the respective races were 7 and 7 ½ furlongs. Now he'll try to run 1-3/16 miles.

Xchanger

The gray colt seems to love the track. He made his only appearance at Pimlico on April 21 and snapped a five-race losing streak by scoring a 4 ½-length victory in the Federico Tesio, the traditional Preakness prep.

Flying First Class

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas has started a record 31 horses in the Preakness and won the classic five times. Flying First Class is coming off an impressive victory in the Derby Trial on April 28.

Starbase

If Lukas decides not to run Flying First Class this will be his Preakness horse. After finishing second in the April 21 Lexington, Starbase turned in the fastest 5-furlong workout of the morning when he was clocked in 58-3/5 seconds last Tuesday at Keeneland.

Mint Slewlep

This horse could be the longest shot in the race. A winner of two of seven starts, he wasn't a threat in his last two in New York.