ARCADIA, Calif. -- Vindication, the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby, will have his next workout delayed after the colt put in a blazing move on Jan. 25, trainer Bob Baffert said Friday at Santa Anita.

Vindication worked a bullet five furlongs in 58.40 seconds, his fifth workout since he resumed serious training in late December. "He breezed so fast the other day, I might give him nine or 10 days," Baffert said. "He's done that before; we've given him a lot of time between works."

Since winning his debut last July 27, Vindication has never gone more than seven days between workouts.

Baffert also changed the daily gallop schedule for Vindication, who typically trains after the 9 a.m. track renovation. Baffert said Vindication galloped at 6:30 a.m. Friday because of the unseasonably warm weather. The high temperature here Friday was 85 degrees.

Baffert said Vindication's gallop schedule changed because "it's getting too hot out here. The track is better [early], and I had a bunch of workers. He's been out early before."

Baffert said the colt had no problems. "What's the deal?" Baffert snapped. "Who cares? I change around a lot. I gave Kafwain nine days [between works, from Jan. 17 to Jan. 27] and nobody said anything about him. Nobody even talks about him."

Kafwain, of course, is not the champion 2-year-old colt of 2002, and Baffert is already starting to feel the heat surrounding Vindication, a Seattle Slew colt owned by Padua Stables.

"You know how many horses I have to worry about?" he said. "You guys [reporters] can worry about that. I hate talking about Vindication. I don't want to go to the Derby with high expectations like Point Given."

Point Given finished fifth in the 2001 Kentucky Derby after being sent off as the 9-5 favorite. None of Baffert's three Derby winners - Silver Charm in 1997, Real Quiet in 1998, or War Emblem in 2002 - was favored.

How Baffert gets to the 2003 Derby with his three leading colts remains undetermined. He said Domestic Dispute, the Santa Catalina winner, and Vindication would run only two more times before the Derby. "Domestic is a light horse," he said. "Vindication is a light horse, and he gets wound up. I don't want to wind him up too early. I can train one up to a race. I don't have to run him into shape. Believe me, I know what I'm doing."

Kafwain, who was to have run in the seven-furlong San Vicente on Saturday, is a "big, heavy horse built totally different" than Domestic Dispute and Vindication. Baffert said it is too early in the season to consider the Derby. "These 3-year-olds, I just don't get into it until March. You just have to take care of them right now."