With Thunder Gulch and Circle of Life in his past, Circular Quay's trainer points the colt toward the Derby winner's circle. Pletcher hasn't won roses in 14 Derby tries.

Todd Pletcher's charges continue to propel him toward a possible fourth straight Eclipse award as the year's top trainer. But can he win his first Derby with one of five top rated colts in his stable?

Pletcher's Circular Quay, owned by Michael Tabor and ridden by the accomplished John Velazquez, is his latest Derby prospect to get to the graded stakes winner's circle. Circular Quay ran the circuitous route of the $600,000 Louisiana Derby (gr. ll) at the Fair Grounds March 10 in front of an appreciative audience that welcomed back the biggest race day of the season there. Last year, the effects of hurricane Katrina rendered the Fair Grounds unusable.

Winning in a clocking of 1:43.01 by 2-1/4 lengths, Circular Quay displayed his true running style, Pletcher said. The trainer praised his charge as among the best of his generation, while jockey Velazquez said a good trip got the colt home free, and he ran well.

Speaking of the colt's last race, the Risen Star Stakes (gr. lll), as a close call for disaster, Pletcher said he was thankful Circular Quay came through safely in his fifth place effort. In that race on February 10 at the Fair Grounds, a spill on the track in front of the colt significantly altered Circular Quay's race.

A good trip at the Fair Grounds this time helped tremendously, Velazquez agreed. Circular Quay prefers to stay behind the others in the early going, and run hard late, his trainer said. The colt got the enjoyable trip against seven rivals in the 1-1/16 miles.

Except for the Risen Star Stakes, Circular Quay has never finished worse than second. Despite the wins piling up for Pletcher's many charges this season, he takes nothing for granted. He has yet to win the Kentucky Derby in 14 posts.

In the meantime, jockey Garrett Gomez, aboard Zanjero, the third place finisher in the Louisiana Derby, gave notice after the race about his mount: watch out in the near future. Look sharply at Zanjero, he indicated. He's got good stuff, and he's doing things positively, Gomez said. Zanjero is trained by Steve Asmussen, a prolific winner.

In horse racing, especially during the positioning in the two months before the Run for the Roses, the future can be right around the corner. Zanjero, a Cherokee colt out of Checkered Flag, by A.P. Indy won two of four starts in 2006, followed by a show finish in the Risen Star Stakes.

In 2007, Pletcher has the equivalent of the Fab, or Pletch Five. King of the Roxy won the Hutcheson Stakes (gr. ll) March 3; Scat Daddy won the Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. ll) the same day; Any Given Saturday turned in a victory February 17 in the Sam F. Davis Stakes; and Ravel captured the Sham Stakes on February 3. With Circular Quay this past weekend completing the circle of wins racked up by five Derby contenders, Pletcher leads the odds with five of the top ten rated hopefuls under his tutelage. Opportunity isn't just knocking for Pletcher this season. It's breaking down the Derby door.

There is a unique connection for Pletcher this season to a Kentucky Derby from the past. In 1995, he served as an assistant under the outstanding trainer, D.Wayne Lukas. Lukas has 13 Triple Crown race wins to his credit. Among them were three in 1995. Thunder Gulch won the Derby, gave way to Timber Country, another Lukas star, in the Preakenss, and then regrouped to triumph in the third leg of the Triple, New York's Belmont Stakes.

Thunder Gulch is the sire of Circular Quay. The colt's dam is Circle of Life, a mare purchased in 1999 by Michael Tabor and handed over to Pletcher for training. Circle of Life was a grade one winner, and now, she is a grade one mare with a grade one son.

By the end of 1995, Pletcher had started his own business. He regularly has big race hopefuls sent to his stables. The next hope for Circular Quay could be the April 7 Wood Memorial (gr. l)at Aqueduct in New York.

If what goes around, comes around, and circles eventually close, a colt named Circular Quay may be that closer for Pletcher.

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