A Look at the Field for the 115th Kentucky Derby

Here, in post-position order, are thumbnail profiles of the 16 3-year-olds running today in the 115th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs:

1. CLEVER TREVOR--If the Derby were being run over Equitrack, the synthetic surface that made its U.S. debut at newly built Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Okla., this Oklahoma-bred might have a better chance. Clever Trevor has won four of six there, including the Remington Derby, but since leaving home this year he has been fourth in the Jim Beam at Turfway Park and second in the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park.

2. FLYING CONTINENTAL--This colt’s handlers can give numerous reasons why he shouldn’t be running in the Derby. He has lost weight after his last two races, he is not a sound horse to begin with and he lost by 11 lengths while running second to Sunday Silence in the Santa Anita Derby. However, owner Jack Kent Cooke wants to be here.

3. WESTERN PLAYBOY--After victories in the Jim Beam and the Blue Grass at Keeneland, this looked like one of the now horses for the Derby. But then, at Keeneland, Western Playboy came up with an infection in a rear leg. Although he apparently has recovered, he hasn’t looked as sharp since arriving at Churchill Downs.

4. HAWKSTER--Owner Shelly Meredith is unabashed in lauding his colt. “He’s one of the five best 3-year-olds in the country,” Meredith said. On paper, though, the facts are that Hawkster hasn’t won a race in almost seven months, since he captured the Norfolk at Santa Anita as a 2-year-old.

5. SHY TOM--A last-minute entry, this Blushing Groom colt has done his best running on the grass, but the first two victories of his career, as a 2-year-old, came on dirt at Aqueduct. He’s coupled in the betting with another Wayne Lukas trainee, Houston.

6. HOUSTON--The weather is expected to be cool today, and after his fifth-place finish as the favorite in 95-degree weather in the Santa Anita Derby, the temperature has become a factor for Lukas’ top Derby hope. Houston won the Derby Trial last Saturday here, but he has to run another quarter of a mile if Lukas is to add to the Derby that he won last year with Winning Colors.

7. DANSIL--This colt and Hawkster are both sons of Silver Hawk, a horse who was a European standout, finishing second in both the English and Irish Derbys. Dansil beat Clever Trevor by a half-length in a field of mediocre horses in the Arkansas Derby.

8. FAULTLESS ENSIGN--Ben Perkins Sr., one of the owners of this $100,000 purchase, is hoping for better luck than he had the last time he participated in the Derby. In 1975, Perkins trained Bombay Duck and the speedy colt ran what was then the fastest half-mile in Derby history. Maybe Bombay Duck would have stopped, anyway, but a fan from the infield hit the colt in the side with a beer can and he faded to last. The next year, Churchill Downs installed a protective fence that separates the infield crowd from the horses.

9. TRIPLE BUCK--If a horse is rated by the company he keeps, Triple Buck is pretty good. He was third, only three lengths behind Easy Goer, in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, and fifth, only 3 3/4 lengths behind Western Playboy, in the Jim Beam. But Triple Buck hasn’t won as a 3-year-old.

10. SUNDAY SILENCE--Trainer Charlie Whittingham’s colt will try to become the fourth consecutive California-based horse to win the Derby, after Winning Colors, Alysheba and Ferdinand, the latter also trained by Whittingham. The trainer has followed the same training pattern with Sunday Silence that he did with Ferdinand at Churchill Downs, and this colt has responded beautifully.

11. IRISH ACTOR--Another entrant who is winless this year. Still, Irish Actor was second, two lengths behind Awe Inspiring, in the Flamingo at Hialeah. Irish Actor is a son of Bold Forbes, who won the Derby in 1976.

12. NOTATION--A lukewarm winning performance in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland propelled this colt into the Derby. An off track would not help this horse, either--mud resulted in a 10th-place finish in the Jim Beam and a seventh in a Maryland stake.

13. AWE INSPIRING--The overshadowed stablemate of Easy Goer earned his way into the Derby by winning the Everglades and Flamingo at Hialeah. His late-running style won’t interfere with Easy Goer, who figures to be closer to the pace.

14. EASY GOER--He will go off at the shortest price since Spectacular Bid won the Derby at 3-5 in 1979. Favorites, aside from last year’s co-favorite Winning Colors, and 2-year-old champions haven’t won the Derby in the 1980s and Easy Goer is trying to end both jinxes. The first question trainer Shug McGaughey will be asked if Easy Goer loses is whether his weird final workout contributed. Easy Goer wound up in a speed dual through the stretch with another 3-year-old, Tricky Creek, and McGaughey chewed out Easy Goer’s exercise rider for not being able to control the horse. “I don’t think it’ll matter one way or the other,” McGaughey said.

15. WIND SPLITTER--In his second career start, this colt was claimed for $23,500 out of a race at Laurel. Wind Splitter, who has earned $142,000, has finished second in six of his 10 starts and frequently finds himself in heavy traffic. He has been involved in two disqualifications.

16. NORTHERN WOLF--The colt is partly owned by a Washington, D.C., psychiatrist who is a friend of comedian Dick Smothers. “I like Northern Wolf and I’ve always admired Jack London, so this is a natural,” Smothers says.

TODAY’S KENTUCKY DERBY FIELD

PP Horse Jockey Odds 1. Clever Trevor Don Pettinger 40-1 2. Flying Continental Corey Black 80-1 3. Western Playboy Randy Romero 8-1 4. Hawkster Marco Castaneda 50-1 5. a-Shy Tom Chris Antley 7-2 6. a-Houston Laffitt Pincay 7-2 7. Dansil Larry Snyder 21-1 8. Faultless Ensign Chris DeCarlo 60-1 9. Triple Buck Jose Santos 50-1 10. Sunday Silence Pat Valenzuela 3-1 11. Irish Actor Don Howard 35-1 12. f-Notation Herb McCauley 30-1 13. b-Awe Inspiring Craig Perret 1-1 14. b-Easy Goer Pat Day 1-1 15. f-Wind Splitter Donnie Miller 30-1 16. f-Northern Wolf Jo Jo Ladner 30-1

a--Wayne Lukas-trained entry.

b--Shug McGaughey-trained entry.

f--mutuel field

Trainers (by post position): 1. Donnie K. Von Hemel; 2. Jay M. Robbins; 3. Harvey Vanier; 4. Ron McAnally; 5. Wayne Lukas; 6. Wayne Lukas; 7. Frank Brothers; 8. Ben Perkins Jr.; 9. John Lenzini; 10. Charlie Whittingham; 11. LeRoy Jolley; 12. James W. Murphy; 13. Shug McGaughey; 14. Shug McGaughey; 15. Dale Capuano; 16. Hank Allen.

Owners (by post position): 1. Don McNeill; 2. Jack Kent Cooke; 3. Harvey and Nancy Vanier, and Ray Roncary; 4. J.S. Meredith; 5. William T. Young; 6. Wayne Lukas, L.R. French and Barry Beal; 7. John Franks; 8. Anthony Tornetta, et al; 9. Gary Morano; 10. Arthur B. Hancock III, Charlie Whittingham, and Dr. Earnest Gaillard; 11. Kalarikkal Jayaraman. 12. J.C. Johnson, et al; 13. Ogden Mill Phipps; 14. Ogden Phipps; 15. Randall F. Williams; 16. Deep Silver Stable.

Weights: Each 126 pounds.

Distance: 1 1/4 miles.

Purse: $759,200 if 16 start. First place: $584,200. Second place: $100,000. Third place: $50,000. Fourth place: $25,000.

Post time: 2:33 p.m., PDT.

TV: Ch. 7, 3, 10, 42, 1:30 p.m., PDT.