PREAKNESS IS THE WORD ON THE STREET.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Carl Nafzger has made his point -- and he may keep on making it.

The questions about bringing a good horse to the demanding Kentucky Derby with only two prep races have stopped since Street Sense was crowned the 133rd Derby champion with a 2 1/4-length victory under jockey Calvin Borel.

They've given way to speculation that the light prep work that was supposed to be a disadvantage in the Derby turned into a bonus for the Preakness because it leaves Street Sense with more gas in the tank than most 3-year-olds chasing a Triple Crown.

"I would think it would work to my advantage," said Nafzger, who trained his second Derby winner, in the minutes after Saturday's Derby.

Sunday morning, Nafzger's rivals seemed to agree: After getting over the Derby hurdle, becoming the first horse to win after only two starts at age 3 since Sunny's Halo in 1983, Street Sense might only just be hitting his stride.

"He has a fresh-legged horse," said Doug O'Neill, trainer of California also-rans Great Hunter and Liquidity. "Everything he scheduled has worked out as he planned."

"They said he couldn't get here with two preps," said Larry Jones, trainer of Hard Spun, the Derby runner-up. "But he wanted to have a fresh horse for the Triple Crown."

Hard Spun looks like the leader of as many as 10 horses trying to beat Street Sense in the May 19 Preakness Stakes and deny the champion 2- year-old turned top 3-year-old a shot at the TripleCrown in the June 9 Belmont Stakes.

Curlin (third in the Derby after rough early going), Sedgefield (fifth) and Teuflesberg (17th) also were listed as "possible starters" in the Preakness by executives at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

Also called "likely" Preakness entrants were King of the Roxy (second in the Santa Anita Derby), Chelokee (third in the Florida Derby), Xchanger (winner of Maryland's Tesio Stakes), Slew's Tizzy (winner of the Lexington Stakes), C P West (second in New York's Withers Stakes), and either Flying First Class (winner of Churchill Downs' Derby Trial) or Starbase (second in the Lexington Stakes) from D.Wayne Lukas' barn.

Chelokee is trained by Michael Matz, so get ready foranother round of Barbaro stories.

A year after Barbaro, the Derby again was won by the right horse. Excluding two defeats on Keeneland's quirky synthetic surface, Street Sense has won four races in a row.

Is he the right horse to become the seventh Derby winner in 12 years to repeat in the Preakness?

Jones can hope the front-running speed that put Hard Spun 250 yards from an upset at Churchill Downs will carry farther at Pimlico.

"It's only a 16th of a mile shorter," Jones said, comparing the 13/16-mile Preakness with the 1 1/4-mile Derby. "It's just the way the tracks play (that's different). It's no secret that the Preakness favors speed."

Though the speed-wins-the-Preakness angle sometimes is overdone, one statistic highlights the challenge facing Street Sense, who rallied from 19th -- in the 20-horse field -- to win the Derby.

From 1989 to 2006, horses who won the Derby after running in the front eight early in the race have gone on to win the Preakness seven times in 11 tries (including Barbaro, who broke down in the Preakness). Horses who won the Derby from farther back in the pack have a Preakness record of 0 for 7.

Borel might have to keep Street Sense close to the front in the Preakness, as he did in several earlier races.

Nafzger set out Starbucks coffee and donuts for the press outside barn 26 Sunday morning before taking bows for confidently preparing the 2006 2-year-old champion to peak on Derby Day. As with Unbridled in 1990, Nafzger backed off and lost the final prep race.

The author of a horse-training how-to book called "Traits of a Winner," Nafzger is certain of his approach with Street Sense, and the former rodeo bull rider expressed it all week in a friendly Texas twang.

"You can either win the press or win the Derby," Nafzger said, referring to the doubts about Street Sense's preps (although most of the writers at Churchill Downs picked Street Sense). "You can't do both."

Nafzger told Pimlico executives Street Sense is coming to the Preakness, but refused to be drawn into talking about the Triple Crown on Sunday.

"I don't have any comments about the Preakness," Nafzger said. "My mind stopped yesterday at about 6 o'clock. ... I've focused so hard on the Derby, I haven't thought one day past it."

Yet the plan that worked so well for the Derby could pay off bigger in the next five weeks. Jones pointed out that Steve Asmussen-trained Curlin also remains lightly raced as he heads to Baltimore.

"I think maybe trainers are looking more at the Triple Crown than just the Derby," Jones said. "We may see a better Preakness than we're used to."

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