Mike Smith knew something was wrong the second the music stopped. It was Derby Day 1994, and as far as Smith was concerned the 120th running of America’s most famous horse race was Holy Bull’s to lose. Only trouble was, as the gray colt took his place in the post parade in front of 100,000 fans, he clearly was not the keen, looking-for-trouble Holy Bull who blew away his opposition in the Florida Derby and the Blue Grass.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - All 20 prospective starters in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby visited the racetrack on Friday morning for a variety of training activity that ranged from a very easy jog by Creative Cause to a couple of two mile gallops from Optimizer and Done Talking.

[KENTUCKY DERBY: Get PPs, watch analysis video, read latest updates]

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - There were no scratches by scratch time Friday morning from the main body of the field for the 138th Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs, so My Adonis, the lone also-eligible in the race, was officially scratched.

In addition, there are no scratches from the main body of the field for today's Kentucky Oaks, so also-eligible Oaks Lily is out of that race.

Advance wagering has opened ontrack at Churchill Downs.

Countdown to the Crown returns for a seventh season online as one of the most comprehensive handicapper’s scouting reports of the 3-year-old scene. Posted each Friday at DRF.com from Jan. 6 through the Belmont Stakes, Countdown keeps you apprised of the rising stars of the 3-year-old class from the maiden ranks through the Grade 1 stakes. You can access daily updates and interactive features at Countdowntothecrown.com as well.

3 things you won’t read anywhere else

I have no quarrel with those who say this is an unusually wide-open Kentucky Derby, with a dozen legitimate candidates to win the roses and a history of extremely close finishes among them. Two of them, however, stand out to me, and while I'd like to be more imaginative than ending up with the two favorites, that's who I've got.

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. − Not that long ago, Patrick Byrne was the golden boy of racing.

In 1997, Byrne trained Favorite Trick, the undefeated Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner who became the first 2-year-old since Secretariat in 1972 to be voted Horse of the Year. The following year, Byrne guided Awesome Again to a 6-for-6 campaign, capped by a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Somehow, Awesome Again was eclipsed by Skip Away in voting for Horse of the Year.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – At some point, the little boy grows up and establishes his own identity, his own family, his own mark on the world. Dale Romans doesn’t mind being known as the kid who grew up in the south end of Louisville tagging along with his daddy to the races at Churchill Downs, but he is far more interested in being recognized as a highly accomplished professional horse trainer who long ago left his childhood behind.

Churchill Downs Cloudy Track Fast Temp 73

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The post positions were drawn and all 21 Derby entrants, including the also eligible My Adonis, were on the grounds by the time the racetrack opened for training on Thursday although Daddy Long Legs remained confined to the quarantine barn until Friday morning.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A week out from the 2012 Kentucky Derby a news release came from Team Valor International, the ownership group headed by Barry Irwin that won the 2011 Derby with Animal Kingdom. The story on Team Valor’s website included this sentence on Team Valor’s return to the Derby with the colt Went the Day Well:

“Incredulous reporters want to know if it is luck or skill, and how Irwin landed upon a New York-bred in England that had the tools to make it into the Kentucky Derby . . . .“

The sentence nailed Irwin’s public image: Self-important, self-promoting.

To anyone who calls himself a speed handicapper, there should be no doubt about the identity of the best colt in the Kentucky Derby. When Bodemeister won his final prep race, the Arkansas Derby, he appeared to be in a class by himself.