LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With the outlook for the 130th Kentucky Derby still remarkably unclear, the third and final pool in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager opens Thursday at noon Eastern for its customary four-day run at outlets throughout the United States.

The highly unsettled nature of the Derby picture has led Daily Racing Form national handicapper Mike Watchmaker to make an 8-1 favorite on his morning line: Lion Heart, the speedy California-based colt who runs next in the April 10 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.

Gradepoint, who won the Risen Star Stakes but then finished eighth in the Louisiana Derby, has suffered a serious knee injury that will keep him from racing for at least the rest of the year and might necessitate his retirement, trainer Neil Howard said Tuesday.

Eurosilver, one of the top contenders for the May 1 Kentucky Derby, will have to miss the April 10 Blue Grass Stakes because of a neck infection of undetermined origin, trainer Nick Zito said at Keeneland Friday. The ailment could put Eurosilver's participation in the Kentucky Derby in jeopardy.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Mike Mitchell has been training for more than 30 years and has won numerous training titles at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, and Del Mar. Yet in all that time, he has never won a Grade 1 stakes race, which makes the April 3 Santa Anita Derby - in which he will send out Quintons Gold Rush - more than just a Kentucky Derby prep race for Mitchell.

WHO'S HOT

Sinister G, the upset winner of the Lane's End Stakes, and Purge, who finished second in the Rebel Stakes, are the newest additions to the top 25 of Derby Watch. Sinister G is a 30-1 shot on the Kentucky Derby future line set by Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form's national handicapper. Watchmaker has Purge at 40-1. Smarty Jones, who ran his unbeaten streak to five in the Rebel, was lowered to 30-1 from 50-1 last week.

WHO'S NOT

Nick Zito is a native New Yorker, but considers Kentucky his second home. He got a rude homecoming last weekend, and the disappointment was still etched in his voice Monday morning, two days after Birdstone finished fifth as the 3-5 favorite in the Lane's End Stakes at Turfway Park.

Zito was still upset that Turfway Park management decided to seal the track just before the Lane's End because of an impending thunderstorm, which hit the track just after the Lane's End. Zito thought that the condition of the track failed to let him evaluate with certainty Birdstone's performance.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Although Eddington has yet to run in a stakes race, he has quickly become one of the most-watched prospects for this year's Kentucky Derby. He closed as the fifth choice among individual runners in last week's Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, in part because of his two powerful victories at Gulfstream Park last month, in part because a number of top-ranked 3-year-olds this year disappointed last weekend.

WHO'S HOT

Friends Lake and Preachinatthebar, who won the two biggest stakes races last weekend, are newcomers to this week's top 25 of Derby Watch. Friends Lake, the upset winner of the Florida Derby, is 30-1 on the future line set by Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form's national handicapper. Watchmaker was more impressed by Preachinatthebar's victory in the San Felipe. He made that colt 15-1. The Cliff's Edge, 40-1 last week, is now 25-1 following his third-place finish in the Florida Derby.

WHO'S NOT

ARCADIA, Calif. - A weekend of largely inscrutable stakes results among the nation's leading 3-year-olds brought several newcomers to the fore, and raised questions regarding some heretofore highly regarded Kentucky Derby contenders.

Preachinatthebar's victory here at Santa Anita in Sunday's San Felipe Stakes proved to be the fastest of the weekend's five stakes for 3-year-olds. His 101 Beyer Speed Figure equaled the Beyer earned by his Bob Baffert-trained stablemate Wimbledon in the previous Sunday's Louisiana Derby.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Apparently befuddled by how the Kentucky Derby picture continues to unfold, bettors settled Sunday on the mutuel field, or the "all others" option, as the lukewarm 4-1 favorite in Pool 2 of the Derby Future Wager.

Eurosilver closed as the Pool 2 second choice at 10-1, followed by Birdstone (13-1), Wimbledon (13-1), St Averil (15-1), and Eddington (15-1). Six more horses closed at less than 20-1, which seems to reflect a remarkable competitive balance in pre-Derby speculation this year.