LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Kafwain, the runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last October, has been diagnosed with a tendon injury that will keep him out of training until late in the year, trainer Bob Baffert said on Wednesday.

The injury was first detected on Tuesday after Kafwain worked five furlongs with stablemate Indian Express in preparation for Saturday's Kentucky Derby. Kafwain was declared from the Kentucky Derby.

"He has a tendon injury," Baffert said. "It's pretty small, but he'll be out for four to six months."

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With the Kentucky Derby favorite, Empire Maker, cooling his sore heel back at the barn and more than one-third of the prospective field having worked the previous morning, training hours were relatively quiet here on Wednesday. The morning offered few, if any, clues to solving the Derby puzzle, now just three days away.

A total of 17 horses were entered Wednesday morning for Saturday's 129th running of the Kentucky Derby. The official post position draw will be broadcast live on Wednesday from 5:00-6:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN. Connections of the 17 entrants will select their post positions in the following order:

1. Offlee Wild

2. Funny Cide

3. Outta Here

4. Lone Star Sky

5. Buddy Gil

6. Brancusi

7. Empire Maker

8. Peace Rules

9. Indian Express

10. Atswhatimtalknbout

11. Ten Cents a Shine

12. Domestic Dispute

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Empire Maker is suffering from a bruise to his right front foot that needed attention Tuesday morning from both a veterinarian and a farrier, but trainer Bobby Frankel believed the injury would not prevent Empire Maker from running in the 129th Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs.

Still, the timing is not ideal. Foot bruises can clear up quickly, but can prove problematic if they linger or develop into something more serious. That is why Frankel and his staff jumped on the problem Tuesday after Empire Maker jogged one mile around the track.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Tuesday was the busiest of all Kentucky Derby training sessions with seven workouts on the tab, six at Churchill Downs and one at Belmont Park in New York. The Churchill Downs racetrack, which has been extremely fast during much of the past week, appeared to be quicker than ever Tuesday.

Work of the day

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The defection of Kafwain, a bruised foot suffered by Kentucky Derby favorite Empire Maker, and a solid workout turned in by their own horse Tuesday morning prompted the connections of Lone Star Sky to announce they would run their horse in Saturday's Derby.

Trainer Tom Amoss also announced that Shane Sellers would ride Lone Star Sky. Sellers is 0 for 11 in the Derby.

Kafwain, the third place finisher in the Santa Anita Derby, was declared from the Kentucky Derby on Tuesday after he pulled up with an apparent injury following a five-furlong workout with stablemate Indian Express.

The preliminary diagnosis is that Kafwain has suffered an injury to the check ligament of his right foreleg, according to Richard Mulhall, the racing manager of The Thoroughbred Corp.

"It just happened today," Mulhall said. "He had been perfect. It looks like there is a little filling there."

Kafwain worked five furlongs in 59.60 seconds.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Empire Maker, the favorite for Saturday's 129th Kentucky Derby, has a bruised foot that needed attention from both a veterinarian and a farrier on Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs.

Bobby Frankel, the trainer of Empire Maker, said he did not think the bruise to Empire Maker's right front foot would keep the colt from starting in the Derby. "Don't worry. He's going to be fine," Frankel said. "Put it this way -- if he's not right, he's not going to run."

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - At first blush, Bobby Frankel is a red-hot trainer who occasionally has a white-hot temper. Dig deeper, though, and a far more complex personality is revealed, one whose personal and professional lives are frequently at odds with one another.

Frankel was born to a middle-class family in Brooklyn, retains a generous dollop of his New York accent, but lives in the pricey Southern California neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, on a bluff with a view of Santa Monica bay.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The sight of the twin spires at Churchill Downs has been known to cause a jockey or a trainer to get a dry mouth and go weak in the knees, and the commotion around the track the week of the Kentucky Derby has often caused a Derby contender to become unhinged. But Gary Stevens and Jeff Mullins on Monday had the quiet confidence of poker players waiting for everyone to show their inferior cards, this after Buddy Gil strutted around the track like he owned the joint.