LOUISVILLE, Ky. — With the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby behind us and the eyes of the horse racing industry now focused on the Preakness in less than two weeks, the most important questions that need to be answered have as much to do with the mud as they do with a horse.

Is Super Saver a great 3-year-old, capable of winning the Triple Crown? Or is he simply a great mudder who, thanks to jockey Calvin Borel, took advantage of the rain-soaked track at Churchill Downs?

We likely won't know the answer until the Preakness on May 15. But Super Saver's trainer, Todd Pletcher, and his owners at WinStar Farm are confident the colt can hold up to scrutiny. He is, after all, a distant relative of both Seattle Slew and Secretariat. Pletcher thought Super Saver's victory had more to do with his maneuverability than it did the mud.

"I think his running style suits Pimlico well," said Pletcher, who won his first Kentucky Derby. "I think the one of the reasons he was able to get a good trip is because he's a very nifty, handy horse."

But there is no denying the conditions favored Super Saver, as the public suspected. As a 2-year-old, he earned his first career victory in the slop, dominating a race at Belmont Park and winning by seven lengths. And he definitely benefited from some bad luck suffered by the runner-up, Ice Box, who was probably the fastest horse Saturday.

The Nick Zito-trained colt was checked — meaning jockey Jose Lezcano had to pull him up because he was blocked — three times during the race, and he still lost by only 2 1/2 lengths.

"I don't like to make excuses," Zito said. "I hate that. You always salute the winner. But (Ice Box) was checked three times. Not once, three times. That's a winning race. A lot of people don't realize that means he's running even harder than the winner."

But Super Saver has been on people's radar, since November, when he won the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs with Borel riding him. That was a tactical decision by Pletcher to have Borel get experience on Super Saver in preparation for the Derby, which wasn't for another six months.

"The winner is a good horse. I always liked that horse," trainer Bob Baffert said. "When I was watching Derby horses, I thought he was their best horse in the fall, back when he won at Churchill."

The TV ratings for the Derby were the highest in 18 years. NBC said the coverage drew a 10.3 overnight rating and a 23 share.