LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -Eightyfiveinafifty and Pleasant Prince are hoping to put the Derby back in the Derby Trial.

The two Kentucky Derby hopefuls will head to the post for Saturday's $200,000 Derby Trial at Churchill Downs needing a win to have a shot at sneaking into next week's Run for the Roses.

Running in the Derby Trial as a last-second prep Derby used to be common practice for decades, one that's been abandoned in recent years as trainers have opted to rest their horses rather than require them to run twice within a week.

The race has since evolved into a prep for the Preakness Stakes. Macho Again won the Derby Trial in 2008, then finished a distant second to Derby winner Big Brown at Pimlico two weeks later.

Tim Tam in 1958 is the last horse to pull off the Derby Trial-Kentucky Derby double, yet Pleasant Prince owner Ken Ramsey says he has no qualms about sending Pleasant Prince back to the starting gate on May 1 if he can beat the rest of the 10-horse field in the one-turn mile and come out of the race healthy.

``There's only one Derby,'' said the 74-year-old Ramsey, a Kentucky native who also owns likely Derby starter Dean's Kitten. ``I don't have a lot of shots left.''

Pleasant Prince is the 4-1 second choice behind 8-5 favorite Eightyfiveinafifty, though Ramsey knows running in the Derby Trial wouldn't have been necessary had Pleasant Prince had just a little more juice in the Florida Derby, where Ice Box edged him by a nose.

Ramsey sent Pleasant Prince back out in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland three weeks ago, but the 3-year-old colt looked uncomfortable on the Polytrack and slogged his way to seventh.

The performance left Pleasant Prince with $162,500 in graded stakes earnings. That number is good enough most years to easily qualify for the Derby, but not in 2010.

The Derby is limited to 20 starters, with preference given to horses with the most graded earnings. Pleasant Prince is currently 28th on the list, with Eightyfiveinafifty 30th with $120,000.

The expected $120,000 winner's purse for the Trial would be more than enough to get Pleasant Prince in the Derby, while Eightyfiveinafifthy would likely need a defection or two. Paddy O'Prado is 20th on the graded earnings list with $250,950.

It would also likely knock promising colt Jackson Bend out of the Derby picture, much to the chagrin of owner Robert LaPenta, who is sponsoring the Derby Trial to promote his stallion The Cliff's Edge. The sponsorship allowed the track to double the purse size, meaning LaPenta could be partly responsible for preventing one of his own horses from making the Derby. Jackson Bend is currently 22nd in earnings with $230,000.

``I'll have a very fresh horse for the Preakness,'' said LaPenta, who will have a Derby starter in Ice Box.

LaPenta suggested modifying the graded stakes format - perhaps giving more weight to races run at age 3 over races run at age 2 - but allows that the ``frenzy'' surrounding the Derby can only mean good things for the prep season in general and the Derby Trial in particular.

``I think the race is getting tremendous attention,'' he said. ``What's transpiring this year if it continues, the frenzy that we're seeing may return the Derby Trial to its previous luster.''