BALTIMORE -- War Emblem is sure to have company up front this time.

The Bob Baffert-trained colt led wire-to-wire and was never challenged in breezing to a four-length victory over Proud Citizen in the Kentucky Derby on May 4. The dark bay colt may win the 1 3/16-mile Preakness, but he won't steal the race.

No less than three speed horses -- Booklet, Table Limit and Menacing Dennis -- are set to challenge War Emblem as soon as the gates spring open Saturday.

"I think everybody is going to be after War Emblem," Booklet's trainer John Ward said. "You're going to see a jam-up in the first turn. Everybody is going to be gunning for it."

Baffert says there's nothing he can do to fend off the early opposition since War Emblem has one running style -- fast and in front.

"If he gets there, he does; if he doesn't, we don't win," Baffert said.

On Tuesday, trainer D. Wayne Lukas declared Table Limit in for the second leg of the Triple Crown. Table Limit, who will be ridden by Gary Stevens, will be making his stakes debut coming off two wire-to-wire wins by a combined 12 lengths.

Lukas also saddles Proud Citizen, who stalked War Emblem in the Derby but never made a strong move. The trainer said he was worried about the colt's fitness since Proud Citizen had just two races this year before the Derby.

"We were playing a little bit of catch-up in the Derby, but now we're tight enough that we can probably do a little more in the race if we have to," said Lukas, aiming for his sixth Preakness win.

A field of 13 3-year-olds is likely, including two other Derby runners -- fourth-place finisher Medaglia d'Oro and seventh-place finisher Harlan's Holiday. Medaglia d'Oro, with Jerry Bailey aboard for the first time, is another colt with front-running capabilities.

The last front-running Preakness winner was the Nick Zito-trained Louis Quatorze in 1996, a year in which Derby winner Grindstone missed the race.

More intriguing, though, is what happened to the last wire-to-wire Derby winner -- Winning Colors in 1988 -- in the Preakness. Trainer Woody Stephens was so incensed his Forty Niner lost by a neck, he guaranteed that Lukas' filly would not win the Preakness.

In a comment that shows the competitive nature of trainers, Stephens declared before the Preakness: "I'm going to the lead. I might finish last, but she'll finish next to last."

True to his word, Forty Niner, ridden by Pat Day, shot to the lead in the middle of the track and kept Winning Colors outside, nearly seven wide. Nearing the backstretch, Forty Niner brushed several times with Winning Colors. On the turn for home, Forty Niner dropped out of contention and finished seventh; Winning Colors, with Gary Stevens aboard, wound up third. Risen Star won the race.

Fourteen years later, Lukas says: "If Woody didn't let his emotions get the best of him, he probably would have won the race."

Many of the same names are involved in Saturday's Preakness. Lukas sends out his two runners, with Stevens aboard Table Limit, while Day rides Booklet.

Could something be brewing in an effort to prevent Baffert and War Emblem, owned by Saudi Prince Ahmed Salman, from running his race?

"I don't think so, but I know there was talk about that," said Zito, who has two Preakness starters in Crimson Hero and Straight Gin. "I think that would be silly, just to knock one horse out. But like I said, a lot of trainers don't like each other. You never know."

Booklet, with six wins, one second and a third in nine starts, could pose the biggest threat to War Emblem, purchased three weeks before the Derby for $900,000. With more than a month since his last race -- second to Harlan's Holiday in the Blue Grass on April 13 -- the speedy colt is fresh and capable of keeping pace with War Emblem.

"You're probably going to see Booklet and War Emblem locked together for most of the race," said Ward, who trained 2001 Derby winner Monarchos. "Whether or not they finish together and whether or not somebody runs by both of them, I'm not really sure."

Baffert, who won the Preakness last year with Point Given after a fifth-place Derby finish, is looking at a third Triple Crown try in the last six years if War Emblem wins on Saturday.

In the Derby, War Emblem, with Victor Espinoza aboard, won at odds of 20-1. On Saturday, he could be the favorite. Zito, who told Baffert the morning of the Derby he would steal the race by going to wire-to-wire, already has sized up the Preakness:

"If Victor doesn't go, Jerry Bailey will be on the lead going :49. Pat Day, Jerry Bailey, these are jockeys with brains. There's no way someone's going to steal the race. If it is, it's going to be them. And Victor's no dummy. It's going to be an interesting race. It might turn out good for us."