Trainers with multiple prospects for the Kentucky Derby, and jockeys sifting through various mounts, have both exciting and stressful choices to make as the May 1 Kentucky Derby draws closer. So it was on Wednesday, when decisions made by trainers Rick Violette and Todd Pletcher helped start the dominoes falling.

Violette said Read the Footnotes, the winner of the Fountain of Youth Stakes, had recovered well from Saturday's furious finish and would return in the Florida Derby on March 13. Jerry Bailey has been riding Read the Footnotes, and is expected to stick with him.

WHO'S HOT

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Read the Footnotes and Second of June looked like the leaders of the pack on the road to the Kentucky Derby with their thrilling duel in Saturday's Fountain of Youth Stakes, but only the victorious Read the Footnotes will head to the next stop.

Second of June's quest came to an abrupt end on Saturday. He came out of the Fountain of Youth with a fractured cannon bone, and thus became the first significant casualty of this year's Derby chase.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The mutuel field was the 9-5 favorite over the 23 other betting options when Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager closed Sunday.

Eurosilver closed as the distant second choice at 11-1, followed by his Nick Zito-trained stablemate Birdstone at 12-1. Three horses followed at 14-1: Action This Day, Lion Heart, and Read the Footnotes. Results of the Future Wager are predicated on the 130th Derby, to be run May 1 at Churchill Downs.

Midway through the second of four days of wagering into Pool 1 of the , the mutuel field continued to be a heavy favorite over the other 23 wagering options.

As of 5 p.m. Eastern on Friday, the field was the 2-5 favorite over Master David (15-1), Lion Heart (16-1), Eurosilver (21-1), and Action This Day (25-1). Handle was just over $138,000.

The field has been the heavy favorite since minutes after Pool 1 opened Thursday. The field drew $70,081 from the first-day handle of $101,127.

The opening odds in Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager took on a decidedly lopsided tilt when $30,000 was bet on the mutuel field just minutes after wagering opened Thursday.

According to Churchill Downs officials, one or more people betting through a hub in Maine accounted for "most of" the big wager shortly after windows opened at noon Eastern on Thursday. Maine serves as the hub for numerous offshore and Internet wagering sites.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Nick Zito is a two-time winner of the Kentucky Derby, and he enters this year's Derby chase in the best position of any trainer in the country. He has four prospects in Birdstone, El Prado Rob, Eurosilver, and The Cliff's Edge, yet experience has taught Zito that it's a long way from mid-February in Florida to the first Saturday in May in Kentucky.

WHO'S HOT

Trainers Richard Mandella and Nick Zito each have three runners among the top 25 in the inaugural 2004 edition of Derby Watch. Zito's horse Eurosilver is the 8-1 favorite on the future line set by Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form's national handicapper. Birdstone, another Zito trainee, is the co-second choice at 10-1. Zito also has The Cliff's Edge, a 15-1 shot. Mandella's trio are champion Action This Day (12-1), Minister Eric (25-1), and Spellbinder (40-1).

WHO'S NOT

Ruler's Court, the winner of the Norfolk Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 5, will miss the 2004 Kentucky Derby after injuring a knee. Godolphin, which owns the colt, made the announcement Friday.

The injury will prevent Ruler's Court from starting in the $2 million United Arab Emirates Derby in Dubai on March 27, a race Godolphin has used as a prep for its Kentucky Derby hopefuls.

No further details of the injury were released.

Simon Crisford, racing manager for Godolphin, said in a statement, "All future plans are on hold."

Future wagering on the Kentucky Oaks, which was introduced this year and which produced a one-pool, four-day handle of $117,368, will be expanded in 2004 to the same series of three four-day betting periods as the Kentucky Derby Future Wager.

The dates for the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks future wagers were announced Tuesday by Churchill Downs as follows: Pool 1, Feb. 12-15; Pool 2, March 11-14; and Pool 3, April 1-4.

Betting on the future wagers begins at noon Eastern each day of the betting period and concludes on Sundays at 6:30 p.m.