SATURDAY, 4:04 p.m. MDT, Ch. 5

Lawyer Ron was sold Thursday but will race in the Kentucky Derby and thereafter in the blue and white silks of his late owner.

The executor of the late owner's estate said the horse sold for considerably more than the last Derby contender to be bought in the days before the race. War Emblem sold for $900,000 less than four weeks before winning the 2002 Derby.

Ron Bamberger, the executor and the horse's namesake, said a partial interest in Lawyer Ron was sold to Our Legal Team LLC and Stonewall Stallions LLC based in Versailles. Both entities are owned by Audrey Haisfield.

Jim Hines Jr., the former owner, died nearly three months ago in Owensboro in what was ruled an accidental drowning.

Lawyer Ron, one of the favorites for the first leg of the Triple Crown, is the first Derby entry to come out of Hines Farm, which has about 70 horses in western Kentucky.

''It was a simple aspect of taking chips off the table,'' Bamberger said. ''I did not do what Jim Hines would have done. Jim Hines would never, ever have sold one small percentage of this horse.''

Lawyer Ron will continue to be trained by Bob Holthus and ridden by John McKee. When the colt retires, he will go to stud at Stonewall.

Long shots

Steve Asmussen, the most successful trainer in the nation the last two years, will be in an unfamiliar position Saturday at the Kentucky Derby.

Given Asmussen's track record, most of his horses are favored by bettors. But not this time.

Asmussen, who is winless in three Derby tries, sends out a pair of 50-1 shots - Private Vow and Storm Treasure.

Although his horses don't have impressive credentials, the 40-year-old Asmussen continues to chase the Derby dream.

He has built one of the most impressive stables in the sport with divisions in Texas, New York and Kentucky. He won a record-shattering 555 races in 2004, leaving Hall of Famer Jack Van Berg's mark of 452 in the dust. Asmussen was the leader last year with 474.

Battle of unbeatens

Roy Jackson, a former owner of two minor league baseball teams, has always enjoyed watching players develop before they hit the big time.

The same could be said for the horses he's run from the small farm he owns with his wife, Gretchen, in West Grove, Pa. Lael Stables has only 25 horses, but two of them - undefeated colts Barbaro and Showing Up - will be in the running for the Kentucky Derby.

Lael Stable will set a record as the only owner to run two unbeaten horses in one Derby.

If either horse wins, it will be only the second horse since Seattle Slew in 1977 to be an undefeated winner of the Derby, joining Smarty Jones in 2004.