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.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Monday figured to be a relatively quiet one for Kentucky Derby hopefuls. The threat of rain on Tuesday, though, had a couple of trainers move up their horse's final tune-ups by a day, including Wally Dollase, whose Ten Most Wanted put an exclamation mark on the morning's activity with his second impressive drill in five days.

Work of the day

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - After a three-month sabbatical, Gary Stevens had been riding for only a few days in February when he took the mount on the longshot Buddy Gil in the Baldwin Stakes, a turf sprint at Santa Anita.

Stevens could not have known it at the time, but Buddy Gil would turn out to be the Hall of Fame jockey's mount for Saturday's Kentucky Derby.

Following wins in the Baldwin, the San Felipe Stakes in March, and the Santa Anita Derby on April 5, Buddy Gil has secured a place in the Kentucky Derby as a top contender.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Empire Maker and Peace Rules, along with Atswhatimtalknbout and Ten Most Wanted, turned in their final works on Sunday morning at Churchill Downs for Saturday's Kentucky Derby.

Empire Maker and Peace Rules, both trained by Bobby Frankel, both were ridden by exercise rider Mitsu Nakauchida. Peace Rules went out earlier, and was timed by Daily Racing Form in 1:13.98 for six furlongs on the fast track. Empire Maker went out after the renovation break and was timed in 1:12.72. Peace Rules went by himself, while Empire Maker worked in the company of Requete.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Brancusi has been out of sight. Next Saturday, his trainer, Patrick Biancone, is hoping the colt runs out of his mind.

Brancusi has remained here at Keeneland Race Course since finishing second in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes on April 12. Far from the madding crowd gathering 72 miles west at Churchill Downs for the 129th Kentucky Derby, Brancusi has been able to train in relative quiet. In the two weeks since the Blue Grass, Biancone said the 3-year-old colt has made significant progress, and Biancone is hopeful of a big effort in the Derby.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Saturday may not have been the busiest morning on the Kentucky Derby workout patrol, but logistically it was the most difficult to cover. It began at 5:15 a.m. when Ten Cents a Shine stepped on the Churchill Downs track and ended five hours later at Keeneland following Brancusi's one-mile work over the turf.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Domestic Dispute, the winner of the Santa Catalina Stakes in January who is winless in his last three starts, has been purchased by California owners David Bienstock and Chuck Winner and very likely will start in Saturday's Kentucky Derby.

The deal was finalized on Saturday after Bienstock, Winner and their trainer, Paddy Gallagher, spent the morning with trainer Bob Baffert watching Domestic Dispute gallop at Churchill Downs.