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The Preakness Stakes on Saturday might be drawing the most interest this week at Pimlico, but it could be argued that the best race of the week will be run the day before, when an outstanding field of older horses, headed by Funny Cide, competes in the Grade 1, $500,000 Pimlico Special. Funny Cide won the Preakness here in 2003, two weeks after winning the Kentucky Derby. The Special, run at the Preakness distance of 1 3/16 miles, was supposed to be part of Funny Cide's campaign in 2004, but unseasonably hot weather that week caused trainer Barclay Tagg to keep Funny Cide out of the race. This year, Funny Cide will be making his seasonal debut in the Special. The weather is mild. And Funny Cide is raring to go, having completed his serious preparation with a seven-furlong drill in 1:25.40 on Sunday morning at Belmont Park. "He's doing great," Tagg said Monday from Belmont. "I sure am eager to see him run. He likes it there. And the timing is right for me." Funny Cide got a late start this year. He needed extra time in Florida to recover from a minor injury in last year's Breeders' Cup Classic, then had to work off a few extra pounds he picked up. He was scheduled to run in a New York-bred stakes race last month, but Tagg balked at his hefty weight assignment. As it turns out, the late start works for Tagg, who thinks Funny Cide might have been over the top at the end of his 2003 and 2004 campaigns. "Both times he ran in the Breeders' Cup he had to ship into hot climates," Tagg said. "He ran in the Triple Crown in 2003, and last year he had run nine times before the Breeders' Cup. It's not like he was sleeping. This year, he'll have six races. Other than Friday, he'll run in New York. This year the Breeders' Cup is at Belmont. The weather should be cool. And it'll be in our own back yard. I want to have him a bit fresh for it." Funny Cide drew post 2 in the field of nine for the Special. His rivals include the first three finishers from the Oaklawn Handicap - Grand Reward, Second of June, and Eddington - as well as Pollard's Vision and Badge of Silver, the one-two finishers in the National Jockey Club Handicap at Hawthorne, and Offlee Wild, who comes off a powerful win in the Excelsior Breeders' Cup Handicap at Aqueduct. "It looks like a very competitive spot to me," said Richard Dutrow Jr., who trains Offlee Wild. The Special is the 11th race on a 12-race card. Also Friday, trainer Todd Pletcher will run either Ashado or Colony Band in the Grade 3, $150,000 Pimlico Distaff at 1 1/16 miles for older fillies and mares. The other will run in the Shuvee Handicap at Belmont Park on Saturday. Runway Model, who was sixth in the Kentucky Oaks, will look to rebound in the Grade 2, $200,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, which drew a moderate field of six 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/8 miles. The wickedly fast Maddalena is the 9-5 morning-line favorite in the Grade 3, $100,000 Miss Preakness Stakes for 3-year-old fillies going six furlongs. Nicole's Dream, who won the Mamzelle Stakes at Churchill Downs, meets Elusive Diva in the $75,000 The Very One Stakes at five furlongs on turf for older fillies and mares.

A week out from the start of the 130th Preakness Stakes, the cast of players remains scattered from coast to coast. The $1 million Grade I event is the headline race of a terrific weekend of racing. Fourteen added money races are spread out over a two-day period, including 10 graded races. Afleet Alex, the only contender at Pimlico, went out onto the main track twice this morning. The son of Northern Afleet jogged two miles just before 6 a.m. and after cooling out and eating breakfast, went back out just after 8 a.m. He jogged a mile, turned around, galloped a mile and a half and jogged back another half-mile with exercise rider Salamon Diego. Trainer Tim Ritchey plans to send “Alex” out once on Sunday and Tuesday, twice on Monday and Wednesday and will also have him visit the starting gate prior to the Preakness. “He will not breeze before the Preakness. I want to keep him just a little sharper,” said Ritchey. “You have to remain focused in the mornings, whether you are at the Breeders’ Cup, the Derby or here at the Preakness. In the afternoons you can step back and consider where you are and what you’ve achieved and enjoy the whole experience. He’s the star of our show and we’re all supporting actors and have to do our part in order to have him shine.” Much of the focus on Team Ritchey prior to the Kentucky Derby was on the lack of big race experience by jockey Jeremy Rose, the 2001 Eclipse Award winning apprentice. The 26-year old answered the critics with a flawless ride in the “Run for the Roses”. Rose has already felt the pressure of Preakness Day, having ridden on Maryland’s signature day three times. “I think his ride in the Derby answers all questions,” added Ritchey. “There wasn’t a jock living today that could have ridden a better race.” The only other Preakness contender prepping in Maryland is new shooter Malibu Moonshine. The Malibu Moon gelding worked three furlongs at Laurel Park this morning in 36 2/5 and galloped out a half-mile. The King Leatherbury trainee won the Miracle Wood, Private Terms and Tesio Stakes this spring. “He was nice and relaxed. It was a fluent work,” said Steve Hamilton, who worked Malibu Moonshine and who will be back aboard on Saturday. “I’m excited. The Preakness is like the Super Bowl. It is every rider’s dream to have a Triple Crown mount. I don’t think he’ll have any problem getting the distance and he’s won over the course. I think he has a shot.” Greeley’s Galaxy remains in Kentucky and worked in the slop at Churchill this morning. His time was the fastest on the work tab, a bullet 5 furlongs in 1:00.20. “That’s good. Just what I wanted. It’s been a week since the Derby and he needed the exercise,” said trainer Warren Stute. Stute spoke about training horses and his outlook on life. “I’ll never retire. Charlie Whittingham was the same way. At the racetrack, something new happens every day. You never get bored. In my case, I’m lucky to have such good owners. Owners make the difference. “One owner approached me and said he was looking for a trainer with experience. I told him ‘You want a guy with experience, I’m your man.’” Stute is 83 years old. “Every morning I wake up at 4 a.m. I try to turn the alarm clock off quickly so I don’t wake up my wife. For the last 40 years, I’ve had breakfast with my friend (fellow trainer) Henry Moreno. I drink a lot of coffee.” Trainer Barry Rose reported from Florida on the status of Unbridled Stakes winner Hal’s Image. Rose said, “Hal’s Image is doing very well. He just worked a bullet 5 furlongs in :59.80 and came back great.” Regular rider, Carlos Olivero, was aboard for the work. “He’s scheduled to arrive via van early Wednesday morning.” Derby runner-up Closing Argument is training in New York. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said, “He continues to do very well. Today we galloped him a mile and jogged him 1-3/8 miles. He might have an easy work on Monday, depending on the weather situation. “Despite his speed-oriented blood lines, he’s not built like a sprinter. He’s medium sized and quite well balanced. From day one he’s been a straightforward, classy horse.” Nick Zito reports High Fly (10th) , Noble Causeway (14th) and Sun King (15th) will work at Churchill Downs Monday before a decision will be made on who will get on the Tex Sutton charter next Wednesday for a date in the middle jewel. Zito’s lone Preakness victory came in 1996 when Louis Quatorze bounced back from a 16th place in the Derby for a victory the Preakness, in record time. “I think High Fly is a hard trying horse,” said Jerry Bailey, who will ride High Fly if he runs. “The way the Preakness usually plays out-including the distance-it fits better for him than the Derby. I don’t know if he’s a true mile and a quarter horse.” Rafael Bejarano, who was aboard Sir Shackleton in last year’s Preakness, will ride Golden Man, provided that horse gets into the race.

After losing his mount on High Limit early this week, jockey Ramon Dominguez didn't have to wait long to pick up another ride for the 130th Preakness Stakes on May 21.Delaware Park-based trainer Robert Bailes said Dominguez will ride Scrappy T, who did not run in the Kentucky Derby last Saturday, in the second leg of the Triple Crown at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.Scrappy T, owned by Marshall Dowell of Virginia, won the Withers Stakes in New York, then skipped the Derby to prepare for the Preakness. He ran a distant third to Bellamy Road in the Grade I Wood Memorial at Aqueduct (N.Y.) on April 9.Dominguez learned from his agent, Steve Rushing, that trainer Bobby Frankel would change jockeys on High Limit. High Limit ran last among 20 horses in the Derby. After the race, Frankel said High Limit apparently was clipped from behind and his hind quarters cut. On Wednesday, Pimlico listed High Limit as a possible Preakness starter.Dominguez was aboard Scrappy T for an early morning workout Wednesday at DelPark. The horse has never finished out of the money in nine career starts: three wins, four second-place finishes and two thirds."The horse went great [Wednesday] and I'm glad to get another mount like this," said Dominguez, the leading rider at DelPark the past two years. "Mr. Bailes told me that in the beginning of his career, the horse had a lot of speed. He told me now he rates nicely off the pace."Bailes said a factor in choosing Dominguez was his familiarity with Pimlico."I sat down with the owner, and Ramon was high on our list," Bailes said. "The fact Ramon knows the Pimlico track so well played into it."Dominguez rode High Limit in his first five career starts through the Derby, including two wins at DelPark. Frankel kept Dominguez after he took over training of the horse from Anthony Dutrow this year, and Dominguez won the Louisiana Derby in March."I was disappointed to lose the mount on High Limit. I like the horse a lot," Dominguez said. "I don't know what happened in regard to me [losing the mount]. After the horse ran so bad, I don't really blame them for making a change. That's how the business goes sometimes."I talked to Mr. Frankel the day after the Derby to see how the horse was doing. He didn't say anything about the mount then."Bailes said he believes Scrappy T is capable of winning the Preakness."He had some problems and his saddle slipped in the Wood," Bailes said. "Unless he had a huge race in the Wood, we weren't thinking of the Derby. He came back and ran a big race in the Withers."We decided to let the other big boys sort of tire each other out a little and take our shot in the Preakness. It's worked out pretty good so far."Bellamy Road in Belmont?Bellamy Road has not been ruled out of the Belmont Stakes on June 11, although it is unlikely that the beaten Kentucky Derby favorite owned by Yankees boss George Steinbrenner will be healthy enough to run in the final leg of the Triple Crown.Edward Sexton, who runs Steinbrenner's Kinsman Farm in Ocala, Fla., said Wednesday that the popped splint in Bellamy Road's left front leg was "a very minute injury" and the 3-year-old colt would resume light training in two weeks."He'll be back in full training in three to four weeks," Sexton said. "The Belmont is looking doubtful, but we'll just have to see what happens."Lemonade salesAlex's Lemonade Stand raised nearly $11,000 at the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks last weekend, the children's cancer charity reported. The owners of Delaware Park-based Afleet Alex also donated a portion of the horse's third-place Derby winnings.Alex's Lemonade Stand also has been invited to the Preakness, as it pursues its goal of raising $5 million in 2005.

Trainer is 'honored just being here' after spending three of the last five Derbys .His cup overflows, but fresh in his memory are the years when it was empty.
You can ask Nick Zito about his five strong entries in Saturday's Kentucky Derby 131, and you will have plenty of company.
But don't forget, too, the years he didn't make it here, when the trainer with two Derby victories couldn't find his way back for the first Saturday in May.
Nick Zito has seen the Derby from every side now.
"The older I get, the more humbled I am by winning," he said last week.
"When you put everything in the proper perspective, it's an honor just being here."
Kim Zito fell in love with horses first, the trainer second. She is a native Californian, a free spirit who, in 1994, up and moved to Kentucky.
"My family says I must have some gypsy blood in me," she said last week.
In truth, the horses brought her here. She loved them enough to want to live and work in "the horse capital of the world."
Then one day at Keeneland in 1998, just by happenstance, she was introduced to Nick Zito. They became friends. If Nick was going somewhere, he might ask Kim along. And she likewise. No big deal. They enjoyed each other's company.
"We were friends at first," she said, "then eventually, it turned into a romance."
A year later, it turned into more, for on June 4, 2000, they were married -- Nick's second marriage.
"Have you ever been to Disneyland?" she asked with a smile. "Have you ever been on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride? That's what it's like being married to a trainer. Never a dull moment."
There are ups and downs, twists and turns. Some days are good. Some are bad. No two are the same.
Long about 2002, the days were not as good. Zito was winning races, just not big races. He had good horses, just not Derby horses.
This wasn't natural; it wasn't right. Nick Zito had made his name in the Derby, winning in 1991 with Strike the Gold, then again in 1994 with Go for Gin.
From '94 through 1999, Zito had at least one horse in the Kentucky Derby, sometimes two. Some ran better than others, but he was there, on the Churchill Downs backstretch, giving interviews, visiting Wagner's up the block, chatting with the fans in the grandstands.
Kentucky was where he belonged. Lexington. Louisville. He knew it the first time he came here, back in 1966, an 18-year-old boy from Ozone Park, N.Y., who had caught a ride in a horse van from Aqueduct to Keeneland just so he could see what everyone was talking about.
He knew then this was where he wanted to be. He knew it when he worked for John Campo, and then LeRoy Jolley. He knew it when he went out on his own as a trainer in 1972.
"You're looking at the red, white and blue here," he said last week. "How could a guy who grew up where I grew up, born in Brooklyn, grew up in Queens, how could he get to the Kentucky Derby? The first time I got here, I was just overwhelmed."
And he kept coming back, until in 2000, he had nothing to come back with.
He didn't have a Derby horse that year. Though he had AP Valentine, the seventh-place finisher in 2001, he missed out in 2002 and 2003, as well.
That was three of four Derbys without Nick Zito.
That was unthinkable.
"He never lost faith," said Kim Zito. "Not for one second. He just rode it out.
"I think right now, if you took all of his horses away and gave him just a cart horse, he'd train it for the Kentucky Derby. That would be his goal."
Then finally, the days turned around, bad luck to good, thanks not to the Derby, but the race the day before the Derby.
"We won I think 90 races in 2002," Zito said. "We just hadn't won any races people paid attention to, until the Oaks."
This was 2003 when Zito was in Louisville, not for the first Saturday in May, but the first Friday, to run Birdtown, owned by Marylou Whitney, in the Kentucky Oaks.
"And I remember I was standing with my daughter, and (Birdtown) stumbled out of the gate," Zito said. "I said to Sara, 'This can't be happening.' "
Then the most wonderful thing did happen. Birdtown regained her balance, picked up speed and won.
It was almost like Zito himself, stumbling, then regaining his balance, finding his stride.
"Psychologically, I think that was very important for Nick," said John Hendrickson, the husband of Whitney, who also runs Whitney Farm.
"That race was huge," Zito said. "That was the springboard.
"I remember at the press conference, I had that feeling like, 'I'm back.' "
Oh baby, is he back, and bigger than ever. Zito won the 2004 Blue Grass Stakes with The Cliff's Edge -- who ran fifth in the Derby -- then the Belmont and the Travers with Birdstone.
The trainer already boasted three top-notch Derby candidates this year -- Sun King, Andromeda's Hero and Noble Causeway -- when he picked up two more in High Fly and Bellamy Road.
"I'm blessed," said Zito.
He is also the man in demand. For the first time in his Derby career, there is a white plastic fence around his Barn 36 to keep gawkers at arm's length. There is a daily news conference.
"There won't be a fence up here next year, I can promise you that," Zito said. "This is a great honor, a great thing to do. But it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I know that."
He was 43 when he won his first Derby. Now he's 57, and life is good. The Zitos own a home in Lexington to go with their home in Saratoga, N.Y. Kim has five horses of her own, including Straight Gin, a gift from Whitney after the horse suffered a bowed tendon in the 2002 Preakness. Straight Gin is now being trained for steeplechase races. They are both active in the anti-slaughter campaign for the retirement of racehorses.
"They are both wonderful people," Hendrickson said. "They give back to the game. They don't just take.
"We think Nick is probably one of the best trainers in the history of the sport. What he's done this year is tremendous."
But come Saturday, what if Zito doesn't win?
"I don't think he feels pressure at all," Kim said. "He's so happy, so relaxed. He would never say this, but I think he feels like he's done something now. I think he's very proud of himself."
Proud, but humble. He's won, he's lost. What's worse is not being here at all.
"Disappointment is inevitable in this game," Zito said. "But I think not being here, I realize what a great thrill it is just to be in the Kentucky Derby.
"There's so many that don't even get the opportunity. To be in this position, no matter what happens, it's just a very humbling experience. It really is."
Zito's Derby record.
2004 -- The Cliff's Edge (5th); Birdstone (8th)
2001 -- AP Valentine (7th)
1999 -- Stephen Got Even (14th); Adonis (17th)
1998 -- Halory Hunter (4th)
1997 -- Jack Flash (7th); Shammy Davis (12th)
1996 -- Diligence (9th); Louis Quatorze (16th)
1995 -- Suave Prospect (11th)
1994 -- Go for Gin (1st)
1991 -- Strike the Gold (1st)
1990 -- Thirty Six Red (9th)
Nick Zito
Age: 57
Hometown: New York
Residence: Garden City, N.Y.
Family: Kim (wife); Alexander (son); Sara (daughter)
Top wins: Birdstone (2004 Belmont Stakes, Travers); Go for Gin (1994 Kentucky Derby); Louis Quatorze (1996 Preakness); Storm Song (1996 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies); Strike the Gold (1991 Kentucky Derby); Birdtown (2003 Kentucky Oaks)
Derby record: 2-for-14 (Strike the Gold, 1991; Go for Gin, 1994)
Accomplishments: Two-time Kentucky Derby winner ... won 2004 Belmont with Birdstone, spoiling Smarty Jones' Triple Crown bid ... three-time Blue Grass Stakes winner ... trains for Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, Louisville basketball Coach Rick Pitino, Saratoga philanthropist Marylou Whitney
How he got started: Went to track at age 9 with father, who exercised horses for trainer Max Hirsch ... hotwalker, groom for trainer Buddy Jacobson, assistant for trainers John Campo and LeRoy Jolley ... went out on his own in early 1970s.

Kentucky Derby contender Consolidator was retired Monday because of a fractured bone in his right front ankle.The San Felipe Stakes winner galloped Sunday and took some bad steps coming off the Churchill Downs track, where the Derby will be run this Saturday."These type of things always seem to happen," trainer D. Wayne Lukas said. "You just hope it doesn't happen to you."Lukas said he grew concerned when the colt was tentative during his Sunday afternoon walk around the barn. The Hall of Fame trainer had an X-ray taken Monday that showed Consolidator had fractured his sesamoid.Lukas said the colt would not require surgery; he will be treated with stall rest."I think he'll stay with me for a while," Lukas said. "He will not run again. I think he'll have a stud career. With sesamoid injuries, you can bring back a $25,000 claimer on Wednesday, but not this level of horse."Consolidator is owned by Bob and Beverly Lewis, who won the Derby in 1997 with Silver Charm and in 1999 with Charismatic. The couple will still have a horse in the race with Going Wild, who also is trained by Lukas."We've been blessed -- Bob and Beverly and especially myself -- in this race," Lukas said. "It would be selfish of me to say, 'Oh, my gosh' and feel sorry for our situation."The Lewises paid $1.25 million for the son of Storm Cat in 2003. Consolidator had three wins in 10 career stars and earnings of $661,760. He won the Grade 1 Lane's End Breeders' Futurity as a 2-year-old and the Grade 2 San Felipe on March 19.The withdrawal of Consolidator opens a spot in the anticipated 20-horse field for Illinois Derby winner Greeley's Galaxy. His owner, B. Wayne Hughes, will have to pay a $200,000 supplemental fee because the colt wasn't nominated to the Triple Crown series.Hughes also owns Don't Get Mad, who is expected to run in the Derby.

Rockport Harbor will not participate in Saturday's $1 million Arkansas Derby, one of the final preparatory races for next month's Kentucky Derby.The 3-year-old Rockport Harbor, who has been hampered by a series of ailments, including foot problems and a blood clot in his neck, completed a 7/8-mile run in 1:25.6 at Oaklawn Park on Sunday before the decision was made by trainer John Servis. Horse bettingRockport Harbor instead will start the $325,000 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland Race Track on April 23.

Over 500 people attended the "Ponies On Parade" Unbridled Gala and Auction to benefit the Northwest Center for disabled people. "Ponies on Parade" was sponsored by The Wells Fargo Bank, a public art project produced by the Downtown Seattle Association. The Gala was held at the Bell Harbor International Pavilion at Pier 66