INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Lycitus is not quite of the same quality as Suances, but the two Darrell Vienna-trained European imports do share one frustrating similarity. The American debut of both horses was delayed nearly two years.

A full field of 20 horses was drawn for Saturday's 128th running of the Kentucky Derby on Wednesday afternoon. Harlan's Holiday, the likely Derby favorite, will break from post 14 after drawing the seventh selection in the random draw. Post 14 is the outermost post in the main starting gate.

This will not go down as the happiest week in the life of trainer Neil Douglas Drysdale. First he had his courtesy car re-claimed by Churchill Downs. Then he had his Kentucky Derby contender, Sunday Break, excluded from Saturday's race because of insufficient earnings in graded stakes races. And then Wednesday morning, Drysdale was forced to scratch his outstanding 3-year-old filly Bella Bellucci from Friday's Kentucky Oaks.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Gotham winner Mayakovsky was not entered for Saturday's 128th Kentucky Derby, enabling Windward Passage to get into the race.

"He's not working and not running," trainer Patrick Biancone said Wednesday morning, when Mayakovsky was scheduled to breeze. "He's not ready mentally. He was only a backup anyway. As long as the other two horses arrived safely he was off the hook."

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - For a horse who is supposed to be the favorite for the 128th Kentucky Derby on Saturday, Harlan's Holiday has an odd constituency. For while most people acknowledge that he is the horse to beat, it's rare to find anyone who is actually picking him on top. He's seemingly in everyone's top three, but not first.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - What a difference a year makes.

Last year the $100,000 Mamzelle Stakes drew a field of only six filly and mare turf specialists, and was dominated by Separata, who drew off to an easy six-length victory over Elvi Gamble and Penny Marie. This year's edition of the Mamzelle features a full and more evenly matched lineup, with Elvi Gamble and Penny Marie returning to take on 10 rivals going five furlongs on the grass.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Ken McPeek fancies himself a racing historian, so when he was asked Tuesday morning if he knew the last time a trainer had won both the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby, he rattled it off like it was a $100 question on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"

"Ben Jones, 1952," he said confidently.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - To date, they have been splashier than the majority of their male counterparts. That is primarily why the word has spread that with such 3-year-old fillies as Take Charge Lady, You, and Bella Bellucci in the field, the 128th is better than the 128th Kentucky Derby.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - When a horse has been away for as long as seven months, horseplayers usually send up the red flag.

But when Cashier's Dream makes her return to action Thursday in the $100,000 La Troienne Stakes at Churchill Downs, there doesn't have to be a stigma attached to her being absent since Oct. 6.

"There hasn't been a thing wrong with her," said trainer Steve Asmussen.

Although such an intentional layoff may seem unorthodox, it was done with a certain goal in mind, said Asmussen.

JAMAICA, N.Y. - The moving vans are at the ready for next week's shift to Belmont Park, but in the meantime horseplayers get a Derby-week treat on Thursday with one of the most interesting weekday cards in New York since last fall at Belmont.

Highlighting the treat is the seventh race, a 1 1/8-mile allowance on the turf course for older males who have not won a meaningful turf race in the last eight months.