3 Kentucky Derby prep races slated on Saturday

Ed Schuyler Jr.

Friday, April 11, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Maybe if Phantom On Tour doesn't make the Kentucky Derby, there'll be a place in the movies for him.

"He a chestnut with a blaze and four white legs," trainer Lynn Whiting said of the 3-year-old colt. "He looks like Roy Rogers (the old singing cowboy who chased bad guys on Trigger) should be riding him."

The Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs, however, is what's on Whiting's mind for Phantom On Tour, who will oppose nine other 3-year-olds in the 1 3/8 -mile Arkansas Derby on Saturday at Oaklawn Park. Whiting won the Kentucky Derby in 1992 with Lil E. Tee, who also prepped at Oaklawn Park.

Two other major 1 3/8 -mile Kentucky Derby steppingstones will be held Saturday, with Florida Derby runnerup Captain Bodgit in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct and Pulpit continuing his pursuit of history in the Blue Grass at Keeneland.

Captain Bodgit will oppose nine rivals in the Wood Memorial, including Ordway, the third-place finisher in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Oct. 26 and a fast-closing second in the 1-mile Gotham at Aqueduct in only his second start of the year. Another Wood contender is Accelerator, third in the 1 3/8 -mile Remsen at Aqueduct in November and third in each of his three starts this year.

Others in the field are Droopy Stone, Activist, Jack At The Bank, Smoking Mel, Twin Spires, Hoxie and Wild Tempest. The field will be level-weighted at 123 pounds.

Pulpit, winner of his first three starts before finishing second in the Florida Derby, will run on Lasix for the first time as he attempts to go to the Kentucky Derby as a winner. A victory in the Derby would make the colt only the second to win the race without starting as a 2-year-old. Apollo did it in 1882.

Acceptable, second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, will be trying to win after a terrible winter in Florida. He took a bad step and bled while finishing sixth in the Fountain of Youth and flipped his palate while finishing seventh in the Florida Derby.

Others in the Blue Grass field are Celtic Warrior, Jules, King Crimson, Stolen Gold and Wright Wood. Each starters will carry 121 pounds.

Phantom On Tour goes into the Arkansas Derby off a win in the Rebel. Three of his rivals are Crypto Star, winner of the Louisiana Derby; Zede, winner of the Tampa Bay Derby, and Pacificbounty, winner of the Golden Gate Derby and the El Camino Real. Each of those four will carry 122 pounds.

Another Arkansas Derby contender is Stop Watch, 118, the Louisiana Derby runnerup. He is trained by Bill Mott and owned by Allen Paulson, who trained and owned the great Cigar. Mott has said that if Stop Watch comes out of the Arkansas Derby all right, he will go to the Kentucky Derby.

Completing the field are Brave Act and Direct Hit, 122 pounds each, and Thatsusintheolbean, River Squall, Star of Halo and Deputy Commander, 118 pounds apiece.