LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Can a lousy gate derail the lightly raced favorite?

Does a filly from Delaware Park backed by Hillary Rodham Clinton have a chance or is she in the wrong race?

Will Star Jones like her hat?

There are plenty of questions about today's 134th Kentucky Derby. All 20 horses have knocks against them, yet they will run anyway, as soon as the local populace ritually toasts the day with mint juleps after singing and crying their way through "My Old Kentucky Home."

This year, barely any horses offered consistently strong performances in the Derby preps, leaving the role of clear favorite to Big Brown, who won all three of his career starts impressively, and worked three quick furlongs Thursday morning. In clearing out his lungs, Big Brown went a little faster than trainer Rick Dutrow wanted, although the hyper-confident Dutrow professed no concern.

"It's a fast racetrack, and he's a fast horse," said Dutrow, a first-time Derby trainer in a race where first-time trainers have won four of the last five years.

Big Brown, 7-2 last night, would be a bigger favorite if the colt didn't have to worry about breaking cleanly from the outside No. 20 gate. Getting hung out wide immediately isn't the best way to win this 11/4-mile race.

If Big Brown gets hung up, the race gets more interesting, although around the barns there are plenty of reasons nobody else is even qualified to win. "For the 19 horses who lose, the experts already know why," joked Larry Jones, trainer of Eight Belles. Jones won the Kentucky Oaks yesterday with another Delaware Park-based filly, Proud Spell, who scored an impressive five-length victory in the premier race of the year for 3-year-old fillies.

Eight Belles' owner, Rick Porter, of Wilmington, who watched his horse Hard Spun, also trained by Jones, finish second in last year's Derby, was up for another run at the roses. Eight Belles was 20-1 in the morning line but getting more early support at the windows, especially after Clinton picked her to win, and was at 8-1.

Explaining that Chelsea Clinton will be at Churchill today, the presidential candidate told supporters this week, "My daughter is going to be there, and so she has strict instructions to bet on Eight Belles."

The filly's trainer, also the trainer of 2007 Derby runner-up Hard Spun, is a popular figure on the backstretch, quotable and affable to the press, and a proven horseman who has become a star on the national circuit over the last year. And he's a character. Instead of a barn cat, Jones has a barn parrot this year, a nine-month-old African grey named Buddy who was a Christmas present from his wife, Cindy, his assistant trainer.

There are some smart guys who think Eight Belles could contend, but not everybody is convinced the filly belongs in this race. D. Wayne Lukas, who trained the last filly to win, Winning Colors in 1988, said he didn't think Eight Belles could get it done, despite her four straight wins and impressive size. Her speed figures match up against the boys, but she's never run against them, and never run longer than 11/16 miles, which is a big knock against her.

"I don't see her winning," Lukas, who doesn't have a Derby horse this year, told reporters outside his barn earlier this week. "Winning Colors beat the colts in the Santa Anita Derby by 81/2 lengths, or something like that. She just dominated them. I think it's a stretch for her in the Derby."

Her presence doesn't exactly have Dutrow quaking.

"I can't imagine there is a filly in this world that can beat Big Brown," he said.

Gabriel Saez, a 20-year-old from Panama, who rode Proud Spell yesterday, will ride in his first Derby today. Larry Jones talks about how unflappable Saez has been.

"Why are these people here?" Saez said to Jones at the Breeders' Cup, although Jones said the jockey wasn't fazed by the scene at all. Jones said he did make sure that Saez knew about the significance of the Kentucky Derby.

"It's the biggest race in the world," Saez said.

"Right," Jones said, adding yesterday after the Oaks, "nothing rattles. He's so calm - it passes to those horses."

Today, Jones will have a chance to be the first trainer since Ben Jones in 1952 to win the Oaks and the Derby, and he would be the first to do it with two fillies.

Of course, Derby week is never just about winners and losers. This week, a woman arrived in the lobby of a nearby hotel, in from Florida. She brought beautiful Kentucky Derby hats she'd made from fine straw. A red and blue hat was for Caroline Kennedy. One with feathers was for Star Jones.

But shortly after 6 p.m, the horses will take center stage. If Big Brown can't get there, Santa Anita Derby winner Colonel John is a legitimate second choice, although the colt has never raced on dirt. Pyro is the biggest threat if the pace of the race gives a closer a chance to get past.

If the favorites fall short, there are some interesting story lines. Trainer Michael Matz is back with a fast-closing colt named Visionaire after his late horse, Barbaro, won in 2006 by 61/2 lengths, the greatest Derby margin in six decades.

Another heartstring story would be a victory by long shot Smooth Air, the runner-up to Big Brown in the Florida Derby. The colt is trained by 70-year-old Bennie Stutts Jr., at his first Derby after 40 years in the business. Stutts said he was having the time of his life.

The co-owner of Arkansas Derby winner Gayego, Carlos Juelle, was born in Havana in 1939, spent two years in a labor camp after he requested an exit visa in 1960, and eventually immigrated to Barcelona, Spain, then moved to California in 1977.

His partner, Jose Prieto, a physician, had an even more dramatic story. He was sentenced to death by a firing squad by Fidel Castro's regime, but was spared by his wife's uncle, a member of the government. Prieto spent five years in prison before following a similar path to Juelle's, getting to Spain and then California.

Five trainers have two horses in this field, including Todd Pletcher, trying for his first Derby win after 19 misses. Of course, Pletcher tends to win when he has the best horse. That hasn't been the case here.

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The Field and Updated Odds

PP Horse         Jockey            Trainer          Odds

1 Cool Coal Man   Julien Leparoux   Nick Zito          36-1    2 Tale of Ekati      Eibar Coa         Barclay Tagg      45-1    3 Anak Nakal      Rafael Bejarano   Zito               57-1    4 Court Vision      Garrett Gomez      Bill Mott            14-1    5 Eight Belles      Gabriel Saez      Larry Jones       8-1    6 Z Fortune         Robby Albarado   Steve Asmussen    17-1    7 Big Truck         Javier Castellano   Barclay Tagg       20-1    8 Visionaire         Jose Lezcano      Michael Matz      22-1    9 Pyro            S. Bridgmohan      Asmussen         5-1   10 Colonel John      Corey Nakatani   Eoin Harty          4-1   11 Z Humor         Rene Douglas       Mott               67-1   12 Smooth Air      Manoel Cruz      Bennie Stutts, Jr.   40-1   13 Bob Black Jack   Richard Migliore   James Kasparoff    26-1   14 Monba         R.Dominguez      Todd Pletcher      30-1   15 Adriano         Edgar Prado      Graham Motion    24-1   16 Denis of Cork   Calvin Borel         David Carroll       27-1   17 Cowboy Cal      John Velazquez   Pletcher            42-1   18 Recapturetheglory   E.T. Baird      Louis Roussel      47-1   19 Gayego         Mike Smith         Paulo Lobo          21-1   20 Big Brown      K. Desormeaux   Rick Dutrow       7-2   As of 7:30 p.m. last night.

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Kentucky Derby

When: Today, 6:04 p.m. Where: Churchill Downs, Louisville, Ky. TV/Radio: NBC10; ESPN-AM (950)

Distance: 11/4 miles.

Total purse: $2,211,800.

Winner's share: $1,451,800.

Weather forecast: Temperatures in the upper 60s with a 40 percent chance of thundershowers.

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Contact staff writer Mike Jensen at 215-854-4489 or mjensen@phillynews.com.