LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Murray Johnson doesn't know why more Kentucky Derby trainers don't prepare their horses at Trackside, a one-time harness track about a 15-minute drive from Churchill Downs.

Johnson has been training Spiral Stakes winner Perfect Drift there for six weeks and has no complaints.

It's quiet, it's isolated and Johnson says the track surface virtually matches the soft dirt the horses will feel in Saturday's Derby.

"Everything's a lot more settled here. No people, no cars, no media. I don't see any disadvantage," said Johnson, an Australian who has a Derby horse for the first time since Green Alligator finished fourth in 1991.

The solitude of the nearly abandoned training center is nothing like the scene Perfect Drift will see on Derby day, when thousands of fans will cram into Churchill Downs.

Johnson isn't worried about how the gelded bay colt will handle the chaos.

"He'll love it," Johnson said. "He'll be looking at all the pretty girls. He looks at everything, but nothing much really bothers him."

Perfect Drift, whose made five of six career starts at Turfway Park, has never finished worse than second. But history doesn't favor him Saturday.

A gelding hasn't won the Derby since Clyde Van Dusen in 1929, and no horse coming off a six-week layoff has won since Needles in 1956.

Johnson remains confident he's trained Perfect Drift the right way.

"He's fit and healthy and I don't feel like horses lose fitness as long as they continue working," Johnson said.

Easy Grades is the other gelding in Saturday's Derby.

Irish duo arrives on Tuesday
Kentucky Derby entries Johannesburg and Castle Gandolfo will fly to Lexington from Ireland on Tuesday.

The Aidan O'Brien-trained pair is scheduled to arrive at Blue Grass Airport at 5:10 p.m. EDT and will go into quarantine at Keeneland.

"How long they have to stay there depends on blood tests and so on," O'Brien said Monday.

The colts will ship to Churchill Downs on Saturday morning, O'Brien said.

Mayakovski, in or out?
Trainer Patrick Biancone has adjusted the chance of Mayakovsky running in the Derby.

"It was two chances in a million yesterday. It's three chances in a million today," Biancone said Monday, after Mayakovsky galloped 1 1/2 miles.

The Michael Tabor-owned colt ranks 13th in graded earnings of the Derby contenders, which qualifies him for the field.

He has won two of four starts, but finished fourth at the longest distance, the 1 1/8-mile Santa Anita Derby on April 6.

Demi O'Byrne, Tabor's racing manager, will arrive in Louisville on Tuesday. A decision on Mayakovsky's Derby status will be made Wednesday, following the colt's scheduled workout.

Red, white and Lukas
A copy of the famous photograph of three firefighters hoisting an American flag near the fallen World Trade Center now adorns the entrance to D. Wayne Lukas' stable at Churchill Downs.

The name of Lukas' Derby entry, Proud Citizen, is emblazoned in red, white and blue lettering on a plaque above the entrance.

American flags also decorate a flower pot, and Lukas has been handing out flags to visitors to his barn.

"We're trying to market a little bit," Lukas joked. "We're trying to get all of America behind us."

Shug finally back for more
Shug McGaughey, who trains Saarland, was back at his former Barn 43 at Churchill Downs, on Monday. He was quite comfortable, especially after his colt worked five furlongs in a comfortable 1:02 under exercise rider Adolph Krewski.

It's been 13 years since McGaughey saddled a Derby horse, with Easy Goer finishing second and Awe Inspiring third behind Sunday Silence in 1989.

"From 1984 to 1989 I ran five horses in the Derby and haven't had one since," McGaughey said. "The '80s were good, the '90s were bad and maybe the 2000s will be good again."

Saarland, who finished fourth in the Wood Memorial at Belmont Park, has two wins in seven career starts for owner Cynthia Phipps. He was second in the Gotham Stakes in his only other 3-year-old start.