Kentucky Derby winners or Triple Crown contenders overall just don't fall off trees. They have to be nurtured, coddled, scolded and punished like the equine children that they are and it takes more than talent to reach the pinnacle of the game the first Saturday in May. It takes a master game plan.

Trainers and basketball coaches have a lot in common. In hoops, you have to treat players differently. Some respond to being called on the carpet day in and day out when mistakes are made and some go into a shell when singled out because of a mental error or a super bad decision. Trainers have to be a combination of good cop, bad cop, big brother, and maybe most importantly, part the reincarnation of Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons, who won the Kentucky Derby three times and saddled the winners of 10 other Triple Crown races.

Players have to depend on trainers that have a grand scheme and good game plan in regard to the grueling Triple Crown Trail.

Once a trainer tries to play 'catch up' after missing time because of any circumstance, that runner is in jeopardy of not only missing the Triple Crown races, but of having his entire career negatively impacted by being pushed.

It's not always just about the horse or the theory to 'breed the best to the best and hope for the best', but you also need heart, luck, the right weather conditions, great owners and the correct conditioning strategy.

Face it; racehorses are very special athletes. They have tiny ankles that must carry flesh of 1,000 pounds or more at speeds of over 40 miles per hour and cover a distance of ground. During the grueling spring, these animals are pushed to win 3 races in 5 weeks while shipping to different locales in the process.

One of the top rated runners this year is I Want Revenge and his trainer Jeff Mullins has been to the rodeo before. If things go right, Mullins will be making his 5th trip toward Triple Crown glory in the last seven years and like the quick study that he is, Mullins has learned his lessons.

His current star I Want Revenge posted a 113 Beyer cruising to a Gotham Stakes win and his trainer is much better equipped to harness his runner's talent.

Mullins in the Racing Form: "In previous years, I never really had a plan, it was like we'll try this, well, if that works we'll do the next thing. Now we got a plan, we got a fresh horse; I feel great."

The late great Horatio Luro, who won two Kentucky Derbies with Decidedly and Northern Dancer, believed in patient and careful handling and as he put it 'not squeezing the lemon dry'.

This is the type of racehorse that succeeds the first Saturday in May. A horse that has a good foundation, a runner that has been battle tested but not worn out and a runner that has something left in the tank, in other words a relatively dry lemon.