Baffert. Lukas. Zito. No serious student of horse racing and particularly the Kentucky Derby (G1) could have traveled through the 1990s without being keenly aware of the three most prominent American classics trainers.

Like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig of the 1920s and '30s New York Yankees or Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the National Basketball Association during the 1980s, Bob Baffert, D. Wayne Lukas, and Nick Zito dominated the 1990s Derby scene to such an extent that first names were optional. Just call them Baffert, Lukas, and Zito.

Between them they found the winner's circle on Derby day at Churchill Downs seven times during the 1990s, a record of accomplishment few other groups of trainers can match. In the 1990s, Lukas won three-his first winner was Winning Colors in 1988-while Baffert and Zito won two each.

For practically the entire decade, Lukas was talking about competing with Zito, or Zito was focused on what he had to do to defeat Baffert, or Baffert was casting a gaze toward Lukas's well-manicured barn. To collect their seven Derby trophies, the trio generally had to beat each other to do it.

With everything that can happen-anticipated and unexpected-on the road to Churchill Downs, it is amazing that Lukas is on the verge of saddling a starter in the race for an unprecedented 20th consecutive year.

The record is just as impressive for Zito, who sent out starters in eight Derbys in the 1990s, and for Baffert, the late starter of the bunch who nonetheless has sent out eight runners in the last four races. However, both Baffert and Zito are looking at being secondary players in this year's race.

Getting to the Kentucky Derby just once is a significant accomplishment for any trainer. To do it on a regular basis is indicative of a stable's hard work, a consistent base of talented young horses, and a master plan that is followed to the letter from the time Derby contenders arrive at the trainer's barns as green two-year-olds.

That is what Baffert, Lukas, and Zito have achieved. And they have done it with different management styles. In corporate terms, Lukas's barn is the steady blue-chip corporation, Baffert's is the upstart technology company, and Zito's is the classic hands-on entrepreneurial company.

The three hope to carry the competition on into the new decade. But the competition could have a few new wrinkles.

The corporate blueprint

Lukas arrived at the Derby for the first time in 1981 with an undistinguished field horse named Partez. That he finished third despite jockey Sandy Hawley misjudging the finish line was a precursor of two decades of dominance for the always quotable, often controversial Lukas.

Lukas's Derby performance, winning the race four times-equal to Herbert J. "Derby Dick" Thompson and second only to Ben A. Jones's six victories-is no accident. Lukas long ago developed a program that was built around weeding through a stable of expensive, well-bred prospects until the logical Derby candidates emerge.

"We're not trying to go for a longevity career of being in (the Derby); we are trying to go for winning it more than anybody else," Lukas said. "And we think that's a possibility. My health is good and has been. Our clientele base is second to none. We have great people who are focused on the Derby."

Lukas, 64, has won one Derby apiece in the 1990s for three of his major clients-Overbrook Farm (Grindstone in 1996), Michael Tabor (Thunder Gulch in '95), and Robert and Beverly Lewis (Charismatic in '99). He said owners such as these are one of the keys to his operation because of their willingness to breed or purchase yearlings at the high end of the market and their hunger for classic success.

"You have to be focused on the Derby, but you also have to have a clientele base that says, 'Look, I want to be in the Derby,' because some people take the position that they feel like the Derby is hard on (three-year-olds)," he said. "They say it comes up too early; it's too grueling a race; it compromises them later in their careers. So you've got to hold hands with your clients, and they've got to believe that you're doing the right thing, and they have to want it as bad as you do, or you're in trouble.

"Bill Young said, 'I'm old, I'm a Kentuckian, and that's my favorite race.' If I can get there, he wants to be in it; whereas, you might get some clients who say, 'Don't press for the Derby.'

"I trained for one: John Nerud never wanted to run in the Derby. I ran (Tartan Stable's) Muttering for him, but he was reluctant. When Codex wasn't nominated (in 1980), he thought that was great. He told me that took all the decision right out of it; he said: 'We're not in it, we'll go to the Preakness.' "

Codex won the 1980 Preakness Stakes (G1) in a controversial but clear-cut victory over Derby-winning filly Genuine Risk. (Lukas maintains that they never bumped.)

Sales strategy

Lukas has the clients. He also has a set strategy when he goes to yearling sales, stressing conformation first while looking for pedigrees that suggest classic potential.

"You may love a horse on conformation that does not appeal to your competition in the sales ring, but pedigree is very easily identified," he said. "Conformation is an individual taste. Pedigree is cold black and white right there in front of you; it's either good or it's bad. When you get the combination of the two, you should be prepared to step up and pay for it."

The final piece in Lukas's operation is personnel. Lukas is the chief executive officer, the driving force and guiding spirit of the operation. But his corporate structure, with its emphasis on satellite operations, is dependent on the ability of Lukas's assistants to work within the system and implement his plans.

It is a system that stresses Lukas's philosophy of working his horses hard, racing them often, and finding out which ones have true classic potential.

"We don't entrust any of the Derby prospects with anybody that hasn't been with us for a great deal of time," he said. "Of course, I stay on top of it as much as I can, but I can't be at every work. I am very comfortable with our staff, and most of them are geared to the thinking that we have to get to the Derby. I think you'll find that the guys that have been in our organization, in the years to come, will be in the Derby. They know how to get here."

Several, such as Dallas Stewart and Mark Hennig, have already sent out Derby starters. Todd Pletcher could saddle as many as four starters this year.

"He's set the standard for a lot of things," Stewart said. "He's got good vision. He gets pumped up. He gets himself up at 4:30 a.m. and he works his tail off. He's a smart man."

"I think you can win a Derby without a lot of preparation and planning and months of setting yourself in a position to win one," Lukas said. "You can wake up with a good horse, and history has shown that you can come over and pick one up. But I don't think you can show any kind of consistency of winning more than one or hitting the board without planning it. (Zito, Baffert, and I) plan it."

Baffert's approach

Baffert was standing along the fence at Churchill Downs one cloudy mid-April morning when it was suggested to him that his rise from nowhere and his spectacular early performance at the Kentucky Derby was akin to the success of many Internet start-up companies.

Baffert, aware of the tech-heavy NASDAQ index's record drop on April 14, could not help but smile. "I just hope I don't end up like them," he said laughing. Of course, the NASDAQ index recorded a record rise on the next trading day.

But Baffert could understand the comparison. In 1996, his first year at the Derby, Cavonnier lost by a nostril, and Baffert was gutted, thinking his best chance to win a Derby had passed him by. Then he won the race the next two years, erasing the memory of C