DERBY PROFILES

Thumbnail sketches of the 17 horses in today’s 114th Kentucky Derby (in order of post position):

1. RISEN STAR--”This horse could win if he can overcome his trainer,” the trainer of another Derby horse said of loud Louie Roussel, asking for anonymity. Roussel, who also owns half of Risen Star, has been training since 1970, but has only started horses in just over 1,000 races. Risen Star came out of Louisiana to strike a blow for his c redibility by beating Forty Niner at Keeneland in his last start. He likes to run from just off the pace, but has a disadvantageous post position. Only one horse--Ferdinand--has won from No. 1 in the last 24 years.

2. CEFIS--Part of an entry with Forty Niner, this colt is supposedly Woody Stephens’ second-stringer, but the veteran trainer has twice won the Derby with his lesser horses, Cannonade clicking in 1974 while Judger ran eighth and Swale coming home first in 1984 while the ailing Devil’s Bag stayed in the barn. Cefis has won only 3 of 15 races and has never beaten top horses.

3. REGAL CLASSIC--Chris McCarron, without a Derby mount because Stalwars took sick, feels that this horse will run a much-improved race off of his disappointing third-place finish in the Blue Grass at Keeneland last week. One of last year’s best 2-year-olds--second in the Breeders’ Cup, third in the Hollywood Futurity--this Canadian-bred was ill early in the year and will be making his third start as a 3-year-old, all in the last three weeks. The addition of Laffit Pincay, 1 for 14 in the Derby but a fearless rider in a big race, can’t hurt his chances. For betting purposes, Regal Classic runs as part of a four-horse mutuel field, along with Din’s Dancer, Sea Trek and Purdue King.

4. KINGPOST--The only gelding in the field, this one-time ugly duckling won the 1 1/8-mile Jim Beam against purportedly good horses at Turfway Park, but then two of the colts he beat--Stalwars and Brian’s Time--ran poor races the next time out. Dianne Carpenter, who’ll become the first woman to saddle two horses in the Derby, second-guessed herself when Kingpost finished second in a photo finish with Jim’s Orbit in last Saturday’s Derby Trial. She regretted her instructions to jockey Jorge Velasquez about not punishing the horse, then felt that Kingpost could have won with a stronger ride.

5. BRIAN’S TIME--John Veitch, who trained Alydar in his frustrating runner-up finishes to Affirmed in the Triple Crown races 10 years ago, did something he’s never done--asking a clocker to time the last three-quarters of a mile of a horse’s race. Brian’s Time brought a smile to Veitch’s face, finishing in an excellent 1:09 and something as he ran fifth in the Wood Memorial. “We were disappointed, but not disillusioned,” owner Wally Phillips said after the race. Angel Cordero may try to “wake up” this son of Roberto today, showing more vigor at the gate and having him slightly closer than he’s been in the past.

6. GRANACUS--The longshot winner of the Blue Grass ran the race in a snailish time, but Pat Collins, his trainer, still thinks he has a chance, mainly because of the presence of Jacinto Vasquez, a two-time Derby winner who is riding with the flourish of yore. Granacus ran seven times before he broke his maiden and in fields considerably smaller than today’s has frequently found himself in trouble.

7. INTENSIVE COMMAND--This is trainer Johnny Campo’s second stringer, Cherokee Colony having been sidelined after a third-place finish in the Wood. Nelson Bunker Hunt, who has run only one horse in the Derby, bred Intensive Command, whose grandsire, Sir Wiggle, probably should have started in the Derby. He loved the mud and there was an off track the year he could have run here. Intensive Command has never won a stake, finishing second in his last two starts, the Blue Grass and the Tropical Park Derby. Intensive Command runs coupled with Lively One.

8. SEEKING THE GOLD--A solid horse who, like Forty Niner, is a son of Mr. Prospector, whose progeny seldom show stamina. Seeking the Gold beat everyone in four Florida starts this year, before he ran into Private Terms in the Gotham and the Wood, finishing second both times.

9. DIN’S DANCER--Second to Sea Trek in the Rebel at Oaklawn Park, this Jack Van Berg-trained colt missed the Arkansas Derby because of a fever. Van Berg, who won the Derby last year with Alysheba, tried to give this colt a foundation in California, winning a couple of races at Santa Anita, but he was unable to keep up with Stalwars and All Thee Power, finishing far back in his first stakes race two months ago.

10. SEA TREK--A son of Roberto, like Brian’s Time, he won the Rebel, then finished third in the Arkansas Derby. He’s handled by the race’s most obscure horsemen--trainer Gary Hartlage and jockey Pat Johnson, neither of whom has ever participated in the race.

11. WINNING COLORS--The guess here is that she’ll either win the race or finish off the board. By sundown, the world will know what she’s made of, after possibly being pressed early, running into Private Terms in mid-race and then facing a charge by the likes of Brian’s Time, Lively One, Proper Reality and Kingpost.

12. PROPER REALITY--Early on, Jerry Bailey chose to ride this colt instead of Brian’s Time. Proper Reality, the most lightly raced of the starters with only five outings, has won four and in his last appearance overcame lots of trouble to be pounds the best in a 1-length victory in the Arkansas Derby.

13. JIM’S ORBIT--The winner of the Derby Trial in a five-horse photo finish, this Texas-bred has finished behind several of the Derby starters, including Kingpost, Brian’s Time, Risen Star and Forty Niner.

14. PURDUE KING--There are reports that this California-bred might try to run with Winning Colors early--if he can. Sold for $1 million to his current owner, Bob Starnes, shortly before a seventh-place finish in the Santa Anita Derby. Purdue King and Regal Classic are the only starters who haven’t won as 3-year-olds, with Purdue King’s losing streak approaching six months.

15. LIVELY ONE--The Charlie Whittingham-Bill Shoemaker trainer-jockey combination, and not the Halo colt’s record, make this horse more formidable than he might figure to be. A well-beaten second in the Santa Anita Derby, Lively One had a tough trip and couldn’t beat Mi Preferido and Purdue King in the race before that. But Whittingham and Shoemaker didn’t figure to win the 1986 Derby with Ferdinand, either.

16. PRIVATE TERMS--You can’t win them all if you don’t win the first seven, which is what this Maryland-based colt has done. He is the only horse in the field who has the look of a Triple Crown champion--obviously a factor here, with the tactical speed that’s useful in the shorter Preakness and the bloodlines to negotiate the 1 1/2-mile Belmont. The post position, not the opposition, is the thing that Private Terms has to overcome most.

17. FORTY NINER--There’s little disagreement that 1 miles is not this colt’s optimum distance, and there are also doubts about whether he’s 100% because of a tender foot. Trainer Woody Stephens has pulled a number of wins out of the hat in his long career, and a victory by Forty Niner would top almost all of his surprises.