KENTUCKY DERBY UPDATE : At Least 16 Are Expected; Day to Take Over on Wallenda

In a survey by the Louisville Courier-Journal, there are 16 definite starters and five others that might make it for the Kentucky Derby on May 1.

The starters are Prairie Bayou, Personal Hope, Storm Tower, Dixieland Heat, Corby, Bull Inthe Heather, Union City, Wallenda, Rockamundo, Diazo, El Bakan, Kissin Kris, Sea Hero, Wild Gate, Truth Of It All and Mi Cielo. Other candidates are Grand Jewel, Tossofthecoin, Silver Of Silver, Foxtrail and Ragtime Rebel. After a second-place finish in Saturday’s Wood Memorial, trainer Tom Bell indicated that Tossofthecoin would skip the Derby and might be targeted for the Belmont Stakes, the final Triple Crown race.

Pat Day has been given the riding assignment on Wallenda, the second-place finisher in the Blue Grass. Day, who won his first Derby last year, on Lil E. Tee, replaces Herb McCauley, who suffered a broken collarbone in a spill at Aqueduct on Saturday. . . . Dalhart bled during his disappointing run in the Arkansas Derby. “He had bled slightly before, and we raced him with Lasix,” said John Ed Anthony, president of Loblolly Stable. “This time the bleeding was more than before, but still not significant, and I’m not using it as an excuse for his poor showing.” . . . Union City worked seven furlongs at Churchill Downs in 1:26 and trainer Wayne Lukas was pleased.