NEW ORLEANS - Badge of Silver's minor throat surgery went successfully on Thursday afternoon, and the colt will return to training in the next two days.

Trainer John Ward finally conceded Friday that Sky Mesa would not run in the Kentucky Derby, but "we might be able to make the Belmont" Stakes on June 6 if everything broke right.

Ward, unhappy with the way Sky Mesa was responding to treatment for a bruised right front foot, shipped Sky Mesa on Tuesday to the Rood and Riddle Equine Clinic in Lexington, Ky., where he was examined by Dr. Larry Bramlage. All Bramlage did was confirm the bruise.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The mutuel field was a clear-cut favorite in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager after light action Thursday, the first of four days of wagering into the pool.

As of 6:15 p.m. Eastern, the field - which includes all but the 23 horses listed as separate betting interests - was 3-1. Then came Atswhatimtalknbout (10-1), Kafwain (10-1), Peace Rules (12-1), Badge of Silver (13-1), and Empire Maker (13-1). Odds on 12 of the 23 separate interests ranged from 10-1 to 22-1.

ARCADIA, Calif. - B. Wayne Hughes has built Public Storage into a thriving nationwide company, putting him among the country's 400 richest people as listed by Forbes magazine. At the same time, he has been curiously unlucky in another of his passions, owning racehorses.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Worried that his horse may have peaked too soon, trainer Bobby Frankel said Wednesday that Louisiana Derby winner Peace Rules may not be aimed at the Kentucky Derby.

"As of now, I'm not thinking Derby with him," Frankel said Wednesday morning at Gulfstream Park. "Maybe Lexington, and Preakness."

The Lexington will be run April 19 at Keeneland, the Preakness May 17 at Pimlico.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Reflecting the ever-changing picture for the 2003 Kentucky Derby, eight new horses have been added to the list of 23 separate betting interests in Pool 2 of the , which opens its four-day run Thursday at wagering outlets in 34 states.

NEW ORLEANS - Trainer Bobby Frankel has not had much luck in Triple Crown races, and neither has owner Ed Gann. A little more than a year ago, Gann's wife, Bernice, asked Frankel to widen his scope and buy some horses for them beyond the European-based turf runners in which the Ganns had specialized.

Last year, they came up with Medaglia d'Oro and the filly You. This year, they have Peace Rules, whose Kentucky Derby stock soared with his upset victory in Sunday's $750,000 Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds.

NEW ORLEANS - They come from the same background and grew up around the same kind of horses in the Southwest. They began their training careers with Quarter Horses, then moved to Thoroughbreds with a benefactor who bankrolled the switch. And on Sunday, Bob Baffert and Ronny Werner will square off in the biggest race for 3-year-olds so far this season when Kafwain meets Badge of Silver in the $750,000 Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds.

There are five stakes this weekend for Kentucky Derby aspirants, most notably Saturday's $200,000 San Rafael Stakes at Santa Anita, in which Our Bobby V. will head a field expected to number about six. But most of the news among the nation's leading 3-year-olds was made off the track Wednesday, with training setbacks for Offlee Wild, Saintly Look, Sky Mesa, and Toccet, and a trainer change for Ten Cents a Shine.

Considering his Kentucky roots, his passion for horse racing - from owning to breeding to betting - and his undying love for Churchill Downs, where he has been the leading owner the past six meetings, Ken Ramsey may get a bigger kick out of winning the Kentucky Derby than anyone else in the world.