Bob Baffert was the only trainer who truly got in the spirit of the Alibi, an event which originated as an occasion for trainers to gripe and come up with excuses for not winning the Derby.

It wasn’t the horse’s fault, Baffert said tongue-in-cheek, nor was it the trainer.

Instead, blame his wife, Jill and owner Ahmed Zayat for Pioneerof the Nile’s runner-up showing.

“There’s an old saying that if a bird craps on you, it’s supposed to be good luck," Baffert said. " Mr. Zayat, two days before a bird crapped on his glasses. He was so happy. but little did he know that two birds were going to crap on him that week.” The second, of course, was Derby winner Mine That Bird.

Jill Baffert’s mistake was for repeating a fashion faux pas.

“She wore Chanel and she wore Chanel for Point Given (the beaten favorite in the 2001) Derby,” Baffert said. “She will never where Chanel again.”

* Trainer Larry Jones managed to maintain a light-hearted look at Friesen Fire’s 18th place finish in the Derby, a race he was made the betting favorite. Jones is planning to retire after this season, though he has yet to set a date.

“If this horse runs like he did in the Kentucky Derby, it might be on Sunday,” Jones quipped.

* Chip Woolley, the soft-spoken trainer of Derby winner Mine That Bird, had a hilarious take on the police escort he received into Pimlico when he arrived earlier in the week.

“The last time the police were after me, I went to jail,” Woolley said.

* Trainer D. Wayne Lukas knows what it’s like to have a popular filly at the Preakness. In 1988, his Derby champ, Winning Colors, came to Old Hilltop as the belle of the ball only to finish third in the Preakness.

And Lukas said Rachel Alexandra, the morning line favorite, will attract similar support on Saturday.

“Half the population is going to be pulling for her,” Lukas said. “And we’re just going to have to deal with it.”