Track Conditions Perfect for Today's Kentucky Derby
GENE RANDALL, CNN ANCHOR: The Kentucky Derby will be run this afternoon in Louisville, and Nick Charles is at Churchill Downs -- Nick.</s>NICK CHARLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Gene, they're calling this the deepest, strongest Kentucky Derby field in over a decade. At the head of the class is the horse -- is the one we call "the flying horse." Fusaichi Pegasus is the heavy favorite, but there are 18 other 3-year-old colts out to get him, as all systems are go for the hunted and the hunter.</s>NEIL DRYSDALE. TRAINER, "CAPTAIN STEVE": He's lightly raced, as you know, so I would be expecting him to move forward. i mean, you know, when -- you're always concern a little bit when a horse runs a huge race, but we had three weeks. And he looks well to me. He's training well, and he's feeling good. That's -- you know, I mean, he's bucking and playing. And, I mean, that's telling me he's feeling well.</s>BOB BAFFERT, TRAINER, "WAR CHANT": I think this year, I think we have a legitimate favorite. I think he's trained well here. He looks great, he hasn't run too many times. It probably is going to -- it might hurt him a little bit, the distance, but the track is very fast. It's going to be firm and fast, so that's not truly -- it's not going to be a grueling mile and a quarter.</s>JENINE SAHADI, TRAINER, "THE DEPUTY": I'm not afraid of anybody. I'm here with the second choice, and I wouldn't trade places with anybody. And, you know, it's a horse race, and anything can happen.</s>CHARLES: Well, that's certainly true, Gene, when you have 19 horses. But things to consider: Fusaichi Pegasus was the most overwhelming-looking horse in his final derby tune-up. He just overpowered the field in the wood, did it effortlessly. And Kent Desormeaux, the jockey, hardly even had to go to the whip. That suggests this horse could even be improving. He's certainly at the top of his game. But you throw in the fact that he has trained very well over this racetrack since he has come here for the last couple of weeks, and that tells you that he's still fit and fresh. It also appears then that we -- that he will have no excuse, and there's a genuine-article star in the making here. If -- and this a big "if" -- he can stay out of trouble with a 19-horse field and get a clean trip, he should win.</s>RANDALL: Nick, here is the only question I'm qualified to ask: How are track conditions?</s>CHARLES: Well, as Bob Baffert suggested, they're very fast. And that, again, I think, helps everybody. It makes for a fairer racetrack. There's a lot of speed in the race, and if it goes out and it's an unrealistically hot pace -- because again, no horse has ever gone a mile and a quarter who's running in this derby, so it's the great unknown. But if it's a tiring, heavy track, the horses from -- who have to come from behind really have a tough time making up ground in the heavy sledding. So firm and fast, beautiful day out here. There should be no excuse. But there's going to be a lot of bumping and shoving. This is a rough race, the derby.</s>RANDALL: Nick Charles at Churchill Downs. Thanks, Nick, enjoy the race.</s>CHARLES: OK, Gene.