OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The best-laid plans of Pleasant Prince's owner and trainer to squeeze the colt into the Kentucky Derby didn't work out and a run at another jewel of the Triple Crown ended with a resounding defeat.

After giving the horse some time off, they've mapped out a potential route to the Breeders' Cup, one that will bring Pleasant Prince to Remington Park on Sunday for the $400,000 Oklahoma Derby. The 3-year-old Florida-bred son of Indy King is the 7-2 morning-line favorite for the 1 1/8-mile race, the track's most lucrative event for thoroughbreds.

``We're really looking forward to it,'' trainer Wesley Ward said by phone from Lexington, Ky., where he's preparing horses to run this weekend in Keeneland's fall meet. The Oklahoma Derby ``sort of came together late. It's a pretty contentious race. But it will do us really good.

``My horse is doing good now. I think he will run one of his best races, if not the best race in his life.''

Pleasant Prince is owned by Ken Ramsey of Nicholasville, Ky. Like most Kentucky horsemen, Ramsey long has dreamed of winning the Kentucky Derby. In most years, Pleasant Prince's graded-stakes earnings would have earned him a spot in the 20-horse field for that race.

Pleasant Prince finished second by a nose to Ice Box in the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 20. Ward had planned for that to be the colt's final prep race for the Kentucky Derby, run six weeks later. But when it became clear that Pleasant Prince needed more graded-stakes earnings, Ramsey and Ward decided to run the colt in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes on April 10. That decision backfired, as Pleasant Prince finished seventh on Keeneland's Polytrack surface.

Desperate, two weeks later, the pair started the colt in the Grade 3 Derby Trial, which is run a week before the Derby at Churchill Downs. Pleasant Prince's third-place finish left him short of the necessary earnings to make the Derby field.

``We were just half a fingernail away from running in the race,'' Ward said. ``We tried the best that we could to get enough earnings to get in there, but it wasn't meant to be.''

On May 15, Pleasant Prince ran in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico but never threatened, finishing 11th.

``Those three races trying to get him into the Derby meant we had a tired horse,'' Ward said. ``He never fired at all in the Preakness.''

After more than two months off, Pleasant Prince came back to win the Grade 3 Ohio Derby at Thistledown on July 31. In his latest race, he finished third in the Smarty Jones Stakes at Philadelphia Park on Sept. 6. Based on those two results, Ward said he's ``not that surprised'' that track oddsmaker Jerry Shottenkirk tabbed Pleasant Prince as the early favorite in the 10-horse field.

``This is probably one of the most talented and competitive Derby fields seen here in years,'' Shottenkirk said. ``Pleasant Prince is deserving of the favorite's role but is a slight choice at that.''

A top California jockey, Joel Rosario, will ride Pleasant Prince. Ward said a good showing in the Oklahoma Derby could mean another trip to Churchill Downs for Pleasant Prince, this time for the Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 6.

Distorted Economy, the runner-up to Apart in the Grade 2 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs on Sept. 25, is the second choice at 4-1. The son of top sire Distorted Humor is trained by Hall of Famer Neil Drysdale and will be ridden by another California regular, Joe Talamo.

For the second straight year, top trainer Todd Pletcher has a horse in the Oklahoma Derby, with Monsignor starting at 5-1 odds after winning an allowance race at Monmouth Park in New Jersey on Sept. 6. Pletcher won his first Kentucky Derby this year with Super Saver.

Trainer Steve Asmussen, who has longtime ties to Remington Park but is still seeking his first Oklahoma Derby win, has two horses in the field in Holiday Buzz and Raven Hawk. Grade 3 Canadian Derby winner No Hesitation has won five straight races for trainer Jim Meyaard, who drove that horse and another, Professor Pollard, 30 hours to Oklahoma for the race.

``I came here for one reason, and we'll see how we shake out in the end,'' Meyaard said. ``We'll find out on Sunday how good (No Hesitation) really is. Running with this kind of caliber of horses, there is no room for mistakes nowhere.''

A Kentucky Derby horse will run at Remington Park on Sunday, although not in the Oklahoma Derby. Backtalk, who won graded stakes at Churchill Downs and Saratoga as a 2-year-old, finished last in the 20-horse Kentucky Derby field. The son of Smarty Jones will make his third start since then in a $40,000, 6-furlong allowance sprint at Remington Park.

The field for the Oklahoma Derby, from the rail out, is: Professor Pollard (Quincy Hamilton, 20-1); Monsignor (David Cohen, 5-1); Paris Vegas (Joe Bravo, 9-2); Holiday Buzz (Luis Quinonez, 8-1); Distorted Economy (Joe Talamo, 4-1); Timely Pursuit (Terry Thompson, 30-1); Raven Hawk (Aaron Gryder, 6-1); Pleasant Prince (Joel Rosario, 7-2); Stachys (Bobby Walker Jr. 15-1); No Hesitation (Cliff Berry, 10-1).