They’ll be serving falafel with the mint juleps at Churchill Downs this Kentucky Derby as Godolphin Stable, owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum of Dubai, has nominated eight horses to the 1999 Triple Crown.

A total of 396 3-year-olds, the third-highest total ever, have been made eligible for this year’s spring classics: the Derby, run May 1, the May 15 Preakness and the June 5 Belmont Stakes.

The Sheikh’s contingent includes a pair of American stakes winners Godolphin bought privately for millions of petro-dollars each: Del Mar Futurity winner Worldly Manner and Comeonmom, who upset the Remsen at Aqueduct. Both are expected to train up to the Derby in Dubai.

Some familiar names among trainers are also found among the nominees. Bob Baffert, who saddled the last two Derby winners and would be going for four in a row if Cavonnier hadn’t lost in 1996 by a nose, has 16 named, including a pair of fillies, Silverbulletday and Excellent Meeting.

D. Wayne Lukas, who has run a horse in every Derby since 1981, leads all trainers with 21 horses nominated. Lukas has won the Derby three times and holds the record for saddling the winners of six Triple Crown races in a row.

Nick Zito, who has won two Derbys in the 1990s, has seven nominated. Other prominent names are long-time Lukas assistant Todd Pletcher with 12 and Elliot Walden, who missed winning the Derby by a neck last year with Victory Gallop, then won the Belmont with him to rob Real Quiet of the Triple Crown, with 10.