When Kentucky Derby 136 arrives on Saturday, May 1, a quick glance around Churchill Downs should convince just about anyone that the facility that is a National Historic Landmark is also a track looking to its future.   

When up to 20 of the world’s outstanding 3-year-olds break from the starting gate for the Kentucky Derby, the landscape at 700 Central Avenue will have changed remarkably from a decade earlier. The hallowed Twin Spires will loom atop the Clubhouse as they have for each Derby since their unveiling in 1895, but on either side of those Spires are the still glistening facilities created in the track’s sweeping $121 million renovation completed just before  the 2005 “Run for the Roses.”

A new view
And a quick glance from any Derby or Oaks Day vantage point – clubhouse, grandstand, Millionaires Row, Jockey Club Suites, infield or backside – will provide a view of Churchill Downs that will include 76 poles bearing permanent lights that will allow the track to conduct its half-dozen “Downs After Dark” night racing sessions in 2010, and assist greatly with new events as the three-day HullabaLOU music festival set for the venerable grounds on July 23-25.

So Churchill Downs, no matter what its critics might try to convince you, is being as pro-active as possible with its 147 acres and working to make the most of the assets on hand on the grounds of one of the world’s great sports shrines.

One step back
But, for Kentucky Derby 136, the track is taking one step back. When the entry slips are dropped for the 20 or more horses that hope to run in this year’s renewal of the America’s greatest race, the slot in the starting ate from which each individual horse will start his or her 1 1/4 mile journey will be decided purely by chance. The draw for post positions for the Derby will return to the traditional “Pill Pull” format – the pure luck of the draw will determine whether your favorite horse starts from post position 1, 20 or somewhere in between.

Since 1998, the process conducted on Wednesday of Derby Week had been a two-tiered process. Former Churchill Downs President Tom Meeker led the charge for that format change as ESPN offered an hour of live television coverage for that important Derby Week event. Meeker envisioned the telecast as an opportunity to grab the casual fan and create something in line with the network’s coverage of the National Football League or National Basketball Association drafts, which collect a good number of channel-hopping grazers during their annual runs.

TV for others
The two-step process allowed owners and trainers to select a post position for their horses following an initial blind draw to determine the order of selection. The process permitted owners, who pay the freight, to get some national TV face time and occasionally produced a little drama.

In the first year, there was a snafu that prompted a second run at the post selection. Then, in 2008, there was some excitement when trainer Rick Dutrow selected post No. 20 from the slim pickings available when the turn of his favored Big Brown came around. Dutrow picked as if his horse was much the best, which Big Brown proved to be three days later with his easy romp.

ESPN pulled back
But the national coverage of the post draw, which in most years was ESPN’s highest rated telecast of its Derby and Oaks coverage, evaporated last year when the network pulled back on most of its racing coverage. The lack of national TV, along with sentiment among many horsemen – though not unanimous – to return to the old “pill pull” format convinced Churchill Downs officials that it was time to step back to allow the Derby to move forward.

So look for 2010 Derby post draw – and the launch of countless office pools centered on the “Run for the Roses” – at noon (EDT) on Wednesday, April 28.

Major contender
Some important early Derby preps were run last weekend. Lightly-raced Winslow Homer established himself as a major contender with a win in Gulfstream Park’s Holy Bull and  stretch-running Ron the Greek caught pacesetting Maximus Ruler in the final yards of the Lecomte at New Orleans’s Fair Grounds.

With those races under the belt, here’s a revised look at my Kentucky Derby 136 Top 10, with Eclipse Award winner Lookin at Lucky on top. The Bob Baffert trainee has yet to run on dirt, but his pedigree tells me this synthetic track ace should be able to do that. But eight of the next nine horses on my list are either dirt or grass winners – with American Lion being the only other horse to have run exclusively on synthetic tracks.

1. Lookin at Lucky
2. Super Saver
3. Lost Aptitude
4. Buddy’s Saint
5. Winslow Homer
6. Maximus Ruler
7. Stay Put
8. American Lion
9. Dryfly
10. Jackson Bend