By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LEXINGTON - Shane Sellers was thrown from a mount Friday and his shoulder ached Saturday.

"But I'd have to have been in the hospital not to ride today," he said.

His comeback had come too far to miss this moment. Sellers, back after missing most of two years with a severe knee injury, recorded one of the biggest victories of his career Saturday with The Cliff's Edge in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes.

"After being off two years, I didn't know if I'd be able to come back," he said. "I'm so happy to get back on these type of horses and prove I can win these types of races."

In 2000, Sellers ranked third among jockeys in earnings before his injury in December of that year. At the Fairgrounds in New Orleans, he was dislodged from his mount in a post parade and ripped up his knee.

He came back in October 2002 after multiple knee surgeries. He had to lose 26 pounds to get back to racing weight.

"I asked myself many times, why am I doing this?" he said.

"I love the game. I didn't want to go out on those terms. I had to make a decision - I was going to ride in pain - of, 'How bad do I want it?' "

What he wants are Hall of Fame credentials. He rode his 4,000th career winner in late March at the Fairgrounds. Entering Saturday, he had 83 winners this year, seventh-most in North America. This was his first Grade I victory since his comeback.

"In my heart, I know I'm a Hall of Famer," he said. "I want to leave no doubts."

Sellers won the Blue Grass in 1996 on Skip Away and '97 aboard Pulpit.

MARCHING ON: Patrick Biancone, trainer of runnerup Lion Heart, was pleased with how his horse battled down the stretch.

"This horse fights," he said. "He ran brave and he ran hard."

The biggest surprise was the poor showing of Preachinatthebar, the third choice at 6-1 who finished seventh. Yet he is still pointed toward the Derby.

NOTABLES: Trainer Nick Zito has won the Blue Grass three times, tying him for most victories with Woody Stephens, Ben Jones and LeRoy Jolley. Zito previously won the Blue Grass with Strike the Gold (1991) and Halory Hunter ('98). No horse that prepped in the Blue Grass has won the Derby since Thunder Gulch in 1995. The last horse to win both the Blue Grass and Derby was Strike the Gold.

DOWN GOES CHAMP: Action This Day, the 2-year-old champion and winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, finished sixth. "I am disappointed," said Richard Mandella, trainer of Action This Day. "I thought he was going to pick it up. I have no excuses. He is not running the way he did as a 2-year-old, and I don't know why. I will go on to Louisville and see what happens."

Lexington next

Minister Eric, second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last fall, and Gotham Stakes winner Saratoga County are expected to head the field for the $325,000 Grade II Coolmore Lexington on Saturday at Keeneland.

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The Associated Press contributed.