By JENNIE REES
The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal

BALTIMORE - Every year, the Preakness Stakes features several "new shooters," horses who did not compete in the Kentucky Derby.

These horses are regarded as dangerous because they did not run a grueling one and one-quarter miles two weeks earlier. Yet it's nearly always a Derby starter who takes the black-eyed Susans. Only one horse that skipped the Derby has won the Preakness in 20 years, Red Bullet in 2000.

There's a simple explanation: Almost inevitably, the best 3-year-olds try the Derby.

But the field for Saturday's 129th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico offers an interesting twist in that two of the 11 entrants are horses whose owners and trainers dearly wanted to run in the Derby. Disqualified Santa Anita Derby runner-up Rock Hard Ten and Wood Memorial third-place finisher Eddington were excluded from the Derby because of insufficient graded earnings.

"It's a very odd year," said Mark Hennig, Eddington's trainer. "Most years, you'd be begging for the numbers 21 and 22 earners not to get in the field because you wouldn't want them in there anyway. It would be just somebody chasing a dream. But it wasn't just us chasing a dream. A lot of fans and the media think these two horses had legitimate reasons to be in the Derby ..."

"If Eddington and Rock Hard Ten are driving down the middle of the racetrack (tomorrow) and it's a 1-2 finish, it will create a lot of stir."

Three others who skipped the Derby will get their chance in the Triple Crown's 1 3/16-mile middle leg. But the attention is on Rock Hard Ten and Eddington, a pair of big, athletic horses whose inexperience contributed to narrow defeats in their last races.

Rock Hard Ten is a huge black colt with a monstrous stride who was second by a head in the Santa Anita Derby in only his third career start but was disqualified for drifting in on third-place Imperialism. Gary Stevens thinks so much of the son of Kris S. that he is coming from France to ride, then returning in time for Sunday's French races.

"It would make him a pretty exceptional horse if he is able to win the Preakness off three starts," said trainer Jason Orman. "... Come fall, he's going to be a very nice horse. But he ran well enough in the Santa Anita Derby that he deserves to run against these horses."

Eddington, a son of 1990 Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic winner Unbridled, has exhibited so much promise that jockey Jerry Bailey - who rode Red Bullet to his Preakness upset - said he'd ride Eddington if the horse got into the Kentucky Derby, even though he'd already agreed to ride Wimbledon. Wimbledon was eventually scratched.

"That's a big compliment to the horse," Hennig said of his colt, who has yet to win a stakes. "... When the best rider in the world feels that way, it shouldn't be taken lightly."

Though disappointed at the time, Orman and Hennig now both think missing the Derby might have been a blessing in disguise because the track was sloppy that day.

The Preakness always has a token Maryland horse in the field. But Water Cannon, a $37,000 2-year-old purchase, appears a cut above the usual fare. He's won five straight races since adding blinkers, including the 1 1/8-mile Federico Tesio. The Derby was never considered.

"We wanted to come along gradually and see how much we had," said co-owner Ellen Fredel. "He tries really hard, so I just can't imagine I'm going to be disappointed."

Said trainer Linda Albert: "We wouldn't be doing this if we thought he didn't have a chance. Five wins in a row gives you a little confidence."

Smarty Jones' jockey fined

BALTIMORE (AP) - Winning the Kentucky Derby brought attention to Smarty Jones jockey Stewart Elliott. Not all of it has been positive.

Since his victory, details of his troubled past have come to light. He pleaded guilty to charges stemming from fights with a friend and a former girlfriend, and was fined $1,000 Thursday for omitting mention of the misdeeds in his application for a license to ride in the Derby.

"I kind of thought they might dig up some of my bad stuff," Elliott said Friday, a day before he was to ride Smarty Jones in the Preakness.

"I have nothing to hide," he said. "I've had a lot of personal problems and I've done some things that I'm not proud of, but that's behind me."

Elliott attributed his difficulties to alcohol abuse.

"All of it because of that," he said. "The people I was with, they were all the same."

Elliott said he's been sober since October 2000.