NORTH EAST, Md. - Some trainers watch their horses work out from the grandstand. Others prefer to view a breeze from the back of a stable pony. There's only one who would do it from the backseat of a sports utility vehicle, traveling in tandem with the horse at roughly 30 miles per hour.

Michael Dickinson's unorthodox methods were on display once again Wednesday at his 200-acre Tapeta Farm on the north end of Maryland's Chesapeake Bay, where Tapit put in his next-to-last workout for next week's Kentucky Derby.

BENSALEM, Pa. - The veteran sat at a card table in the corner of the jocks' room and talked about riding the Kentucky Derby favorite.

"I get spoiled," he said. "This is my best horse. I can't imagine guys who never had that experience. It's a big difference. Night and day."

Jerry Bailey? Pat Day? Gary Stevens?

WHO'S HOT

Quintons Gold Rush, who won last Saturday's Coolmore Lexington Stakes at Keeneland, plummeted from last week's 50-1 to 25-1 on the Kentucky Derby future line set by Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form's national handicapper. Quintons Gold Rush is attempting to emulate Charismatic, who won the Derby in 1999 after a victory in the Lexington. Sinister G was put back on the top 25 when his connections reconsidered his Derby status. He had been taken out of the Derby following his dull effort in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. Watchmaker has him at 60-1.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - If Wednesday morning is any indication, tracking this year's Derby contenders up to the main event will not only require a stopwatch and binoculars but also an umbrella and a reliable alarm clock.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Being a little overlooked never hurt anybody. In fact, being a slight underdog is so appealing to Bobby Frankel that the trainer is unable to suppress a sly grin when he considers Master David's chances in the 130th Kentucky Derby.

"I like being in that position, to be honest with you," said Frankel. "You'd always like to have the best horse in the race, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way."

The victory by Quintons Gold Rush in Saturday's Coolmore Lexington Stakes at Keeneland, and the subsequent decision by jockey Jerry Bailey to jettison both he and Read the Footnotes in favor of Wimbledon, caused a domino effect in terms of both the expected field and the probable riders for the 130th Kentucky Derby on May 1 at Churchill Downs.

Friends Lake's Kentucky Derby stock rose dramatically in the eyes of handicappers last weekend after two of his Florida Derby victims, Tapit and The Cliff's Edge, won the Wood Memorial and Blue Grass Stakes, respectively. On Saturday morning Friends Lake's stock went up even higher in the mind of trainer John Kimmel after Friends Lake worked five furlongs in 1:03.06 at Payson Park.

"That was perfect," said Kimmel. "This work was pretty much a ditto of his final breeze before the Florida Derby."

In an era when the use of the anti-bleeding medication Lasix, or Salix, has become routine, both Lion Heart and Smarty Jones have come through their preps for the Kentucky Derby without ever racing on that medication. Only one, however, will remain Lasix-free for the May 1 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

John Servis, who trains Smarty Jones, on Friday said the Arkansas Derby winner would go on Lasix for the first time in the Derby. But Patrick Biancone, who trains Lion Heart, said the Blue Grass Stakes runner-up would continue to race without Lasix.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - It seems altogether fitting that in a year in which the Kentucky Derby outlook could scarcely get more confusing, the final major Derby prep looks just as bad.

Or good, as it were. A full field that promises a bounty of lucrative wagering opportunities is set for the $325,000 , the 1 1/16-mile race that should help finalize the composition of the field for the May 1 Derby.

The sharks are circling. They always do this time of year, when lesser-name jockeys end up on big-name horses for the Kentucky Derby, and when big-name jockeys find themselves caught on more than one potential mount, while perhaps desiring yet another.