Trainer Bobby Frankel (left) looks on as Empire Maker is led to the track Thursday morning.

And so it goes, an exercise in futility that will continue up to the minute Empire Maker is loaded into the starting gate early Saturday evening. Everyone will continue looking for clues and answers and they're just not going to find them, at least definitive ones.

Will Empire Maker run his race Saturday? The answer is: there is no answer.

Bobby Frankel says that he will.

"He's 100 percent," Frankel said. "This kind of bruise happens all the time and it's nothing serious. It has been blown out of proportion. He's fine. I'm not worried about this thing. I've been around for 40 years and I know what's going on."

And will his story change after the race?

"No," he barked. "He will have no excuses."

But that's not good enough for me, nor should it be for anyone else. He could be right. He probably is right. Then again, maybe he just doesn't know the answer himself. Or maybe he's not being as forthcoming as he says he is.

"I guarantee you that Bobby won't know himself until after the race," rival Derby trainer Ron Ellis said. "If the horse runs bad, then maybe the foot was bothering him. And if he runs well then it wasn't bothering him. The horses can't talk to you. He can look one way when he's jogging or galloping, but that's not like running full out for a mile and a quarter. Just like a person, you can go out and do something at 50 percent and be okay and then when you go out and give it your all it could bother you. There's a lot of guessing in our game."

And Frankel. may be telling the absolute truth when he says he is certain there will be no excuses Saturday, but, the problem is, there is no way of telling. He's a horse trainer and horse trainers, can, well, lie.

It's not just Frankel. This is what all trainers do, particularly at the Kentucky Derby. They say things, they fill up a reporter's notebook and the public pays it's 50 cents the next morning to read what Joe Horsetrainer has to say, most of whom declare that their horses have never been doing better, thank you. It's all very well and fine, but, remember what they say: don't be lieve everything you read in the papers.

It's part of the fabric of the racetrack. Trainers have never put a big priority on being forthcoming or straight about their horses and it's not just with the media. There are a lot of owners out there who will tell you eve n they can't get a straight answer from their trainers. A lot of them believe it's simply no one else's business.

Frankel asks us to trust him now, but how can you when he failed to disclosed Empire Maker's injury for 2 1/2 weeks and would probably still be doing the same if the news hadn't finally leaked out. We know now that the horse injured the foot during the running of the April 12 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. So maybe no one ever asked him directly if Empire Maker has a bruised right front foot, but was he being perfectly honest every morning when he told everyone Empire Maker was doing just fine?

At least he's made the race a lot more interesting from a betting perspective. Most everyone agrees that Empire Maker is the most talented horse in the field and picking him and betting on him was almost too easy. There really wasn't a reason to go in another direction unless you're one of those people who'd rather eat rusty nails than bet on the chalk. Now, it's a matter of trying to figure out whether or not you should bet on the best horse, but one who may or may not have a problem that will hinder his performance.

"Empire Maker is going to be 8-5 or 9-5 now with all the press this foot thing is getting," Frankel said. "It will raise the price."

I am going to go ahead and pick Empire Maker because he is the best horse and I don't want anything that has happened this week to distract me from that. I think the foot will be fine, but that, if course, just a guess.

For the final words, back to Frankel:

"The horse has to do the talking now," he said. "Me talking doesn't mean a thing."

And that's the truth.