LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -Robert LaPenta has been on a crusade of sorts in recent weeks, saying the graded stakes earnings system used to help determine the Kentucky Derby field needed an overhaul.

The decision by trainer Todd Pletcher to pull likely favorite Eskendereya out of the race with a leg injury may have LaPenta changing his mind.

The Derby is limited to 20 starters, with preference given to those with the most graded stakes money.

Though LaPenta has one Derby starter in Florida Derby winner Ice Box, Fountain of Youth and Wood Memorial runner-up Jackson Bend found himself 22nd on the earnings list and on the outside of the Derby looking in.

Eskendereya's injury put Homeboykris - 21st on the list - in the field and with Pletcher wavering on the availability of Interactif, meaning Jackson Bend could be in the race after all.

``That's why I tell (LaPenta), 'never say never,''' said Nick Zito, who trains both LaPenta horses.

LaPenta has suggested placing more emphasis on the money horses win during the 3-year-old campaign. While trainers Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher understand LaPenta's concern, they feel the Derby field has a way of shaking itself out.

Both trainers said they've never had a horse they felt was good enough miss the Derby based on a lack of graded money.

``I think the system works,'' Baffert said. ``I've never seen it keep a really good horse out.''

Jackson Bend, a distant second to Eskendereya in both Derby preps, put together a blistering four-furlong work last Thursday, covering the distance in 47.8 seconds. Zito hardly thinks the horse is a simple field-filler.

``The last two races he was second to the favorite,'' he said. ``Why shouldn't he get in the Derby? Come on.''

Jackson Bend will be ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith if he runs in the Derby. Smith is also the jockey for unbeaten mare Zenyatta.

``You can't ask for anything better,'' said Zito, a two-time Derby winner.

Homeboykris, who is co-owned by Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre and trained by Rick Dutrow Jr., will likely be a longshot. That's fine with Dutrow, who won the Derby two years ago with Big Brown.

``I guarantee it, with Homeboykris being 99-1, there hasn't been a group to have so much fun as we're having with this,'' Dutrow said. ``And 'Homeboy' is very, very happy.''

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CHIP'S BACK: Chip Woolley tilted his trademark black cowboy hat back and smiled.

A year after saddling Mine That Bird in a stunning Derby upset, Woolley is back at Churchill Downs, though this time without a horse in the field and - better yet - the crutches he was forced to use after breaking his right leg in a motorcycle accident last spring.

Woolley still walks with a slight limp more than a year after the accident, though it's a small price to pay to not have to get around the track's sprawling backside on crutches.

``I'm having a little more fun this year,'' he said with a smile from underneath his Fu Manchu mustache.

Mine That Bird hasn't raced since finishing his grueling 3-year-old campaign with a disappointing ninth in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita.

He's been resting at Double Eagle Ranch in New Mexico for the last few months and Woolley said he expects the gelding to return to training soon but won't put a timetable on when he could race again.

Woolley said he's tabbing likely favorite Lookin At Lucky or Endorsement in the Derby. Woolley, in a way, helped pave the way for Endorsement to get into the race.

Mine That Bird finished fourth in last year's Sunland Derby, but his Kentucky Derby performance helped the Sunland receive graded stakes status. Endorsement won the $800,000 prep race by three lengths over Conveyance.

``It's nice to think that you're part of something like that,'' Woolley said. ``It's a good race and it's been a good race.''

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NARROW ESCAPE: D. Wayne Lukas' colt Dublin gave his trainer - and half of the horses on the backstretch - a major scare on Saturday when the 3-year-old colt was spooked by runners competing in the Louisville mini-marathon and bolted in the middle of a gallop.

The horse nearly ran into 3-year-old filly Beautician after taking off. Beautician is slated to run in Friday's Kentucky Oaks.

Dublin nearly did it again on Sunday, making a sudden move to the right under jockey Terry Thompson.

``He was looking for the runners from yesterday, he remembered that,'' Thompson said. ``Once he saw that there was nobody there everything was fine.''

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NOTES: It could be another soggy Derby. The National Weather Service is calling for a high of 75 with scattered showers on Saturday. The track was hit with a deluge over the weekend, with two inches falling on Saturday and another early Sunday morning. Rain is forecast for Monday and Tuesday as well. Several horses are expected to work on Monday, including American Lion and Noble's Promise. ... Hurricane Ike, who won Saturday's Derby Trial, came back fine for trainer John Sadler and owners Ike and Dawn Thrash. The colt will return to Southern California while the Thrashes decide where to send him for his next start.