LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Churchill Downs stewards and the Kentucky Racing Commission cleared jockey Jose Santos on Monday of any wrongdoing in winning the 129th Kentucky Derby, leading an exhilarated Santos to proclaim that he is "thankful the nightmare is over."

All-sources handle on Saturday's Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs was a record $87,663,663, a 10.8 percent increase over last year.

Total handle on the Derby - and on Churchill's Derby card - has risen for 13 consecutive years, with the figures tripling over that time. In 1989, the last year that Derby handle fell, total betting on the race was $29,840,582.

NBC-TV did another proficient job with its 90-minute broadcast of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, but the impact of the show was deadened by a handful of questions that went unanswered. In fact, the questions were never asked.

Questions should have been posed to Bobby Frankel, the trainer of two horses in the race, including the beaten favorite, Empire Maker. But NBC's reporters never collared Frankel after the race was over, even though a camera crew was assigned to the trainer as he watched the race from an unorthodox spot in Churchill's paddock.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Not many trainers have ever had a Saturday like Paul McGee, who went from winning a Grade 1 to becoming a hot walker inside an hour last weekend at Churchill Downs.

McGee won the richest race of his career when Honor in War pulled an upset in the $400,000 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic. But instead of heading to the clubhouse for champagne, McGee quickly excused himself to return to the stables. He had promised his brother-in-law Ron Ellis that he would help him prepare Atswhatimtalknbout for the Kentucky Derby, which was an hour away.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Funny Cide left Churchill Downs at 8:15 Sunday morning, bound for Belmont Park, where he trained leading up to his victory in Saturday's Kentucky Derby, and where he will train leading up to his next start, the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on May 17.

Funny Cide will face Peace Rules and several other Derby runners in the Preakness, but Empire Maker, the runner-up in the Derby, will likely not be among them. His trainer, Bobby Frankel, said the Derby favorite might wait for the Belmont Stakes, or even until Saratoga.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Start spreading the news.

Funny Cide, second to Empire Maker in the Wood Memorial three weeks earlier, turned the tables on the highly regarded favorite and struck a great blow for his home state by becoming the first New York-bred to ever win the on Saturday at Churchill Downs.

In addition to becoming the first New York-bred to win the race, Funny Cide also became the first gelding to win the Derby since Clyde Van Dusen in 1929. There had been 74 losing geldings since then.

With Derby wagering still ongoing at some locations at 7 p.m. Eastern on Friday, Ten Most Wanted was the early favorite and Empire Maker was fifth choice in the betting.

With approximately $400,000 in the pool, Ten Most Wanted was 9-2 and followed in the wagering by Buddy Gil, 5-1; Atswhatimtalknbout and Peace Rules, 6-1; and Empire Maker, 8-1.

Early Kentucky Derby wagering:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Sir Cherokee, the longshot winner of the Arkansas Derby, was scratched from Saturday's Kentucky Derby on Friday morning with a small fracture in his right hind ankle. The injury will keep him out of the entire Triple Crown series.

An emotional trainer Michael Tomlinson announced the scratch during a morning press conference in the Churchill Downs backstretch recreation center.

"This is a very common injury," said Tomlinson, who trains Sir Cherokee for Domino Stud. "It's not career-threatening, but the timing of it is horrendous, as you all know."

STRENGTHS: Aside from having a different running style, Ten Most Wanted looks like a mirror image of War Emblem, the 2002 Derby winner. He won the Illinois Derby in a romp, and sharp works in recent weeks indicate he is peaking at Derby time.

The 110 Beyer Speed Figure he earned in winning the Illinois Derby is the co-second-highest figure posted by a Kentucky Derby entrant. Only favored Empire Maker has run faster. Empire Maker earned a 111 Beyer winning the Wood Memorial, and Funny Cide, the runner-up, received a 110 for his narrow loss in that race.

STRENGTHS: Trainer D. Wayne Lukas has won the Derby four times, two times with longshots (Thunder Gulch, 1995, and Charismatic, 1999). But, Ten Cents a Shine's odds will rightfully exceed the prices on those two winners, who actually won Derby preps.

The only track he has thrived at is Churchill Downs. In addition to winning his maiden and finishing a close second in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill last November, he has put in some razor-sharp workouts at five furlongs since his Blue Grass debacle.