When racing fans run down the lists of jockeys riding in the Kentucky Derby they'll see what amounts to an all-star roster. Three of the riders are already enshrined in the Hall of Fame and several others are headed in that direction. In a race as prestigious and as nerve-rattling as the Derby, most trainers are unwilling to align themselves with anyone but an experienced, top rider who has been tested under the pressure. The best trainers with the best horses want the best riders, a natural partnership that is likely to produce positive results.

So what's somebody named Tony Farina doing in here?

Who is he? The short answer is a 24-year-old French native, who will be aboard longshot Brancusi in the Kentucky Derby. He has been riding in this country only since late last year and rides almost exclusively for Patrick Biancone. Entering Wednesday's card at Churchill Downs, he had ridden a paltry eight winners from 64 mounts in the U.S.

The better question is why would a trainer of Biancone's status give someone with so little experience a Kentucky Derby mount?

"He's a very talented kid," Biancone said. "He has worked with me, and by luck, he came to me at the right time. Brancusi broke his maiden with Tony on him and (owner) Michael Tabor has been very kind to say let's keep going with him. For a jockey, it's one horse who makes your life, not 100 horses to start out. Let's hope this is the horse for him."

Biancone is showing tremendous loyalty to Farina, but he has demanded the same from his young protege. In France, where Biancone was a top trainer for some 20 years before shifting first to Hong Kong and then the U.S., many jockeys are under contract to a particular stable and the younger ones are required to do a lot of the grunt work. Though he is allowed to ride for other stables (only one of his U.S. wins has been for a trainer other than Biancone), Farina is more or less a Biancone employ, and he must show up at Biancone's barn every morning, where his duties include exercising Brancusi.

Still, Biancone was able to offer him far more opportunity than was available to him in France, where, one of his problems was that he too light. He weighs just 112 pounds, which caused problem in French handicap races, where horses can carry 130 pounds or more. European trainers were reluctant to use someone who would have to carry so much dead weight.

Farina began riding in 1995 and lost his apprentice allowance last August with his 70th career winner. He never won a group stakes race and had 73 French winners before deciding to try something else. Frustrated with a lack of opportunity, he called Biancone last October and asked for a chance.

"I wanted to develop my skills as a jockey because some of the best riders in the world are here," Farina said through an interpreter. "I was too light to ride in handicap races there and I would lose mounts to riders who didn't have to carry so much lead."

Said Biancone: "I followed him in France. He was the leading apprentice in France, did well quickly and at a young age. He just gave me a phone call one day and I said why not? I like to have young guys work for me. In Europe, his lightness worked against him. They don't like to have any dead weight. The weights are higher. It's the reason Steve Cauthen and Cash Asmussen went there. The situation was the opposite for Tony."

Farina didn't have high expectations. Biancone has a good stable, but he was sure to let someone else ride his better horses. At first, Brancusi didn't seem to fall into that category. He lost his first three starts before Farina rode him for the first time, in a Nov. 29 maiden at Hollywood Park, where he finished third.

A 3-year-old by Deputy Minister, Brancusi was not seen again until Feb. 15, when he galloped by five lengths in a Santa Anita maiden. He's been improving ever since and has been one of the bigger surprises of the season. He was second in the San Felipe and third in the Blue Grass and Farina believes he run even better in the Kentucky Derby.

"He has matured a lot and is getting better with every race," he said. "He's more assured, more confident in himself. He's become a very manageable horse."

Farina is still learning about American racing, but he knows that the sharks were starting to circle after the Blue Grass, the agents of prominent riders trying to convince Biancone to go with someone more established. He hoped that he had already proven he was the man for the ride.

"I know this horse very well and I get on him every day," he said. "I felt that I had proven to Patrick Biancone that I was capable of riding this horse in any race."

In Biancone's mind, he had, and now the trainer has a jockey with 81 career winners going up against the likes of Jerry Bailey, Pat Day and Gary Stevens, racing's elite riders. Is he worried?

"Derby or no Derby, at the end of the day, when the gates open, they just ride the race," he said. "The race is the race."

It's not that simple, but Biancone deserves points for loyalty. He told Farina he'd give him a chance and he has, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to proves he belongs.