The word is out. Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus is the Second Coming, a four-footed phenom who’ll dominate Saturday’s Preakness Stakes en route to the Triple Crown.

Not since Easy Goer in 1989 has a horse been so hyped to sweep the Crown even before he ran in the Derby. But Sunday Silence put a quick end to that dream.

Not since Spectacular Bid in 1979 has a Derby winner gone into the Preakness as a Triple Crown sure thing. But in the Belmont Stakes, the Bid came a safety-pin short of the sweep.

Not since Affirmed in 1978 has a colt worn the Crown. Since then, just seven Derby winners have won the Preakness: Spectacular Bid, Pleasant Colony, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Silver Charm, Real Quiet and Charismatic.

Of those, only the Bid was – as Fusaichi Pegasus will be – odds-on to win the Preakness. In fact, the last three Derby winners weren’t even favored; the Derby runners-up were.

If he wins Saturday, Fusaichi Pegasus will be compared to Spectacular Bid, to Affirmed, and to the Triple Crown winner the year before that, Seattle Slew.

But the colt Fusaichi Pegasus most recalls is Secretariat.

Unlike Spectacular Bid, Seattle Slew and Affirmed, all colts of modest bloodlines, Fusaichi Pegasus and Secretariat were born to be kings.

Secretariat’s dam, Somethingroyal, already had produced a top horse named Sir Gaylord. Fusaichi Pegasus’s dam, Angel Fever, is a sister to Preakness winner Pine Bluff.

The comparisons to their sires are even more striking.

Secretariat was a son of Bold Ruler, the top stallion of his era. But despite his success, no son of Bold Ruler had ever won the Derby, and many said his offspring couldn’t get a mile and a quarter.

Fusaichi Pegasus is by Mr. Prospector, the greatest sire since Bold Ruler. He, too, had never sired a Derby winner.

Bold Ruler and Mr. Prospector both stood stud at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky. Both died before their sons, Secretariat and Fusaichi Pegasus, became their first, long-awaited Derby winners.

The eeriest comparison is a pair of photographs.

A famous photo of Secretariat, taken before the first turn in the Preakness, shows Big Red on his hind legs, his body flung upward, front feet in the air as if he’s an airplane hurtling off a runway.

The image was so striking, so unusual, so evocative of raw power, it served as the model for the statue of Secretariat that stands in the paddock at Belmont Park.

In the current issue of Sports Illustrated, there is a photo of the field heading into the first turn of the Derby. There, toward the back of the pack, is Fusaichi Pegasus – on his hind legs, body flung upward, front feet in the air, as if he, too, is ready to take flight.

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Trainer Neil Drysdale, after visiting Pimlico yesterday, said he won’t keep Fusaichi Pegasus in the stall traditionally reserved for the Derby winner in the Preakness stakes barn. Instead, he’ll be stabled across the track on the backstretch in more serene surroundings.

High Yield is scheduled to work this morning at Pimlico. Captain Steve will work at Churchill Downs, and if trainer Bob Baffert is satisfied, he’ll ship to Pimlico on Wednesday.