By ED GOLDEN

The journey to the Kentucky Derby has begun. And it’s never too early for Derby Fever, even though the Run for the Roses is 13 weeks away.

California’s Top Ten 3-year-olds and then some include the following:

Bob Baffert has Souvenir Copy, Real Quiet, Commitisize and Indian Charlie. Wally Dollase offers Prosperous Bid, Orville N Wilbur’s and Moonlight Meeting, while Futuristic is trained in the name of his son, Craig, because Wally’s deal with The Thoroughbred Corp. allows him only 10 outside horses.

Perennial Triple Crown player Wayne Lukas has Grand Slam and Skeaping, among others.

And then there’s Paraneck Stable’s Artax, an over-sized colt trained by Lukas protege Randy Bradshaw. Artax, a Kentucky-bred son of Marquetry, is set to face Souvenir Copy, Commitisize, Real Quiet, Futurisitic and Skeaping in Sunday’s Santa Catalina Stakes at 1 1/16 miles.

"He worked three-quarters on Wednesday in 1:10 2/5 and it was so easy, Chris (McCarron) thought he went in 1:11 and change or 1:12," Bradshaw said. "When he was told he went in 10 and change, Chris said, ‘That’s scary.’ But that’s how easy this horse does things.

"I’ve tried to slow him down because he is so fast, and I think what’s happened is that I’ve not had him as fit as he needs to be, so I don’t think that work will hurt him. In all his works, he’s gone well in hand."

Bradshaw admits that attempting to harness Artax’s speed may have cost him victory as the odds-on choice against Futuristic in a Jan. 2 allowance race.

"Absolutely," Bradshaw said. "But because we plan to run a mile-and-an-eighth, a mile-and-a-quarter later on, I’d rather teach him now (to ration his natural speed). I don’t want the speed in him. He’s a very fast horse anyway, and I’ve always tried to keep him back off the pace.

"In that allowance race, I told Alex (Solis) there was only one horse with speed, to let Artax break, and he’d be sitting in the garden spot second or third. But when he broke, he hopped in the air and went to the outside, and Alex kind of nudged him a little bit to get him going, and just took off. He went :22 3/5 and that probably was enough to take a little sting out of him at the end and get beat a half-length. But he’s a big horse, and he’s getting better and stronger every race."

Bradshaw realizes there is a ton of opposition at this early stage, but he’s hesitant to concede the Kentucky Derby to the current buzz horses, especially with their suspect distance breeding.

"Prosperous Bid (a half-brother to Best Pal who won his maiden race by 7 1/2 lengths) looked good, and he’ll probably get two turns, but I don’t know if he’ll get a mile-and-a-quarter," Bradshaw said. "How many Mr. Prospector’s get a mile-and-a-quarter? He’ll probably be very tough in a mile-and-a-sixteenth race, and maybe up to a mile-and-an-eighth, but I think he’s questionable beyond that, like most Prospector’s are.

"I can’t remember one in recent history that went a mile-and-a-quarter. So I guess I’d be more inclined to worry about horses who are bred to get that much distance. Orville N Wilbur’s is a pretty good horse, too, but he hasn’t tried two turns. I don’t know how well he’s been finishing his works in the morning, going a mile, but I don’t want to bother about any but my horse. He’s doing awfully good and I’m not too worried about anybody else."

GOLDEN PICKS

BEAT THE DEVIL -- Ran like short horse from inside post in first out since last June. Ready to roll for longshot specialist Mel Stute.

GUTHRIE -- Showed good speed at 60-1 before fading late in turf mile. Should be tighter for next outing.

KITTYS LINK -- Traffic problems hindered Washington-bred in high-priced turf mile. Deserves another chance.

OSO CHICO -- Ran into odds-on Baffert buzzsaw in debut, finished second in game effort for red-hot Cliff Sise Jr. But don’t expect 11-1 next time.

TREASURED REALITY -- First-timer from Craig Lewis barn lost all chance with slow start, but closed with interest despite being well-beaten. Tab at $32,000 level.

THE HOMESTRETCH:Baffert says bullet baby Indian Charlie came down with a minor temperature after his latest work, but it shouldn’t cost the Cal-bred much time. Baffert hopes to run the 3-year-old in a distance allowance race, if he can get one to go. Baffert has thrown out Real Quiet’s last-place finish in the sloppy Golden Gate Derby. "He was like a fish out of water," Baffert said. "He sneezed after the race, and mud came out of his nose." Baffert still feels the colt can win the Santa Anita Derby . . . We hear: Jockey Patrick Valenzuela, serving an indefinite suspension, is earning his keep working horses for owner/trainer Sam Aldabbagh at his ranch in Hemet . . . Racing secretary Tom Knust is not worried about attracting outside horses for the April 4 Santa Anita Derby. "Our main concern is not so much getting horses from the east," Knust said, "but keeping our 3-year-olds from shipping out of town. We won’t get anybody from back east because there’s too many opportunities for them." . . . Liquid Gold, a 9-length maiden winner and one of Dollase’s promising 3-year-olds, has a quarter crack in his left front hoof and is undergoing a 30-day recovery at Bradbury ranch . . . Corey Nakatani was fined $500 for misuse of the stick on Coyote Lakes, 8-length winner of the fifth race on Jan. 19. It was Nakatani’s second offense this meet . . . Lit de Justice, champion sprinter of 1996, sired his first foal, a bay filly out of Hickory Guest, at Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, on Jan. 13 . . . Games agents play: Scott McClellan, who handles business for McCarron and Solis, once had stakes mounts booked for his riders in a New York race, but knew of an open horse and, nice guy that he is, tried to contact fellow agent Jim Pegram, who had Valenzuela at the time. The corpulent Pegram was then and still is no lightweight. "I asked everyone where Pegram was," recalled McClellan, "and somebody told me he was at the gym. Believe me, that’s the last place I would have looked." . . .When Eddie Delahoussaye came from out of the clouds to win a six-furlong maiden race in the very last jump on Kendra Faye, Mandella was asked if he gave Eddie D. any pre-race instructions. "Yeah. I told him to stalk. But maybe he’s near-sighted."