Whether he wants it or not, he has a chance to prove he’s something special.Ernie Paragallo, the colt’s stubble chinned owner, Jim Ryerson, his all but anonymous trainer, and their team of advisors arrived at Churchill Downs two weeks ago with an unassailable favorite for the 122nd Kentucky Derby. Unbridled’s Song had matched the promise of his Breeders’ Cup Juvenile victory in the Florida Derby and the Wood Nike LeBron 11 Memorial in New York.But a heel injury, suffered in the Wood, forced a training session to be curtailed and Unbridled’s Song’s front shoes to be changed twice in 24 hours.You try wearing two pairs of new shoes in one day,” Ron McAnally, trainer of possible front runner Matty G, said in explaining the problem.That was followed by a most unfortunate post position draw. If Unbridled’s Song Air Jordan 4s wins anyway, he will have achieved more in 2 minutes than some recent Derby winners have achieved in their careers.Obviously this week has been pretty tough on him,” said Nick Zito, who chases his third Derby victory with Diligence and Louis Quatorze. If he wins, he certainly deserves every Air Jordan 3s bit of the roses.”If he doesn’t, he will be the 17th straight favorite to lose the Derby, and jockey Mike Smith will have his third beaten favorite in four years, following Prairie Bayou and Holy Bull.The task for Unbridled’s Song a gray colt like Holy Bull became ever so slightly easier Friday when City By Night, one of the long shots grouped in the parimutuel field, was scratched because of an abscess in his left forefoot.That moved Unbridled’s Song from post 20 to post 19 still on the outside of the field. No Derby has been won from the 19 hole.The field has a distinctly California flavor, with seven horses, seven jockeys and six of the 13 trainers coming from the Santa Anita Hollywood Park Del Mar circuit. The Santa Anita Derby contributed winner Cavonnier, Alyrob, Honour and Glory, Corker and Prince of Thieves, more than any other Derby prep race.The likely second favorite is Skip Away, whose Blue Grass Stakes victory on a wet fast” Keeneland track indicates he might be helped most by rain (a 40 percent chance) today.Cavonnier and Semoran trainer Bob Baffert, stabled next to Ryerson this week, refused to grant Unbridled’s Song Air Jordan 9s an excuse.There’s nothing wrong with that horse. That foot is OK,” Baffert said. He’s the fastest horse in the race. I’m just hoping that if he can’t go the mile and a quarter, he passes the baton to one of my horses.”McAnally, though, seems to think the heel problems will cause problems for Air Jordan 23s Unbridled’s Song, whether or not the horse’s handlers elect to race him in the bar shoes he wore in a sensational workout Wednesday.Not only is a steel bar shoe at least two times as heavy as an aluminum racing plate, but it is designed to hold a cracked hoof together, which keeps the hoof from expanding naturally on contact with the ground.And McAnally worries that if Unbridled’s Song favors the problematic left forefoot while racing, he could injure something else.If he does win, there will definitely show some ill effects,” the Hall of Fame trainer said.Kentucky state veterinarian George Mundy, one of two vets who will examine the Derby horses this morning, said Unbridled’s Song would get no extra scrutiny.Paragallo’s racing manager, Buzz Chace, said a shoe decision would be made today. Early rain might prompt a switch to open heeled racing shoes lowering the risk of suction and traction reducing balling up” of soil beneath the hoof.Chace, who has sounded remarkably optimistic in the face of adversity, said the obstacles don’t bother him.He overcomeTs a lot,” he said of Unbridled’s Song, a son of 1990 Derby winner Unbridled. He won the Breeders’ Cup in his third start and ran the fastest Breeders’ Cup of any juvenile. He just overcomes things. He’s an amazing horse.”A crowd of 130,000 is expected here to find out how amazing. Wagering records are likely to fall if Hollywood Park contributes its annual $3 million in Derby bets that will be commingled for the first time. In 1995 more than 60,000 fans watched the Derby at Hollywood Park and its satellites.