ARCADIA, Calif. - Neither rain, nor mud, nor a patched-up quarter crack will prevent Tiznow from facing 11 others Saturday in the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap.

One day after he tore off a shoe from the same foot that already has two quarter cracks, Tiznow galloped nearly two miles Tuesday, wearing a brand-new epoxy patch over his afflicted foot and showing no ill effects. "He looked good," trainer Jay Robbins said. "And better yet, the shoe stayed on today."

Tiznow's right front foot has been the subject of concern this week, as the colt tries to prepare for the Big Cap and rebound from a disappointing second-place finish in the Strub Stakes. A second crack in Tiznow's hoof compromised his training late last week, and the problem might have been exacerbated Monday when he tore off the shoe. Fortunately, there was no harm done, according to veterinarian Dr. Rick Arthur.

"I'm thrilled to death" about the way the foot looks, Arthur said early Tuesday. "Our biggest concern was if the twisted shoe bruised his foot. There's no indication of that. The foot was cool, and there is no pulse. Everything looks good."

Arthur got his last look at the hoof crack Tuesday morning, shortly before farrier Buzz Fermin applied an epoxy patch over the crack, which had been laced together Sunday with wire and screws. The wire and screws stayed in, under the patch that Tiznow will wear through race day. "It's all filled in, and it's filled out the part of the foot that's gone," Fermin said.

Fermin applied the patch at 7:30 a.m., and soon after 9 a.m., Tiznow was galloping on a muddy track under a light drizzle. Regular exercise rider Ramon Arciga was up, and Tiznow traveled sound. "I just hope he continues to travel well and the patch stays on," Robbins said. "As long as the foot doesn't heat up, I think it'll be fine.

The status of Tiznow has caused some to consider him vulnerable going into the 1 1/4-mile Big Cap. Robbins recognizes and concurs with the notion. "But I think he's pretty fit," the trainer said, noting that Tiznow had "really only lost one or two days," of training, as he had in the past and won his next race.

Tiznow has won six races, including the Breeders' Cup Classic, and earned $3.6 million from 11 starts. While he enters the Big Cap with questions regarding his feet, he is not alone. In fact, many Big Cap starters enter the race under varying degrees of compromise. Wooden Phone and Tribunal worked on a muddy training track Tuesday; Beat All has never so much as breezed in mud; Bienamado will be racing for the first time on the main track; and Lethal Instrument abhors a wet track.

Wooden Phone and Tribunal each braved the elements to work five furlongs under Dana Barnes. Wooden Phone went first, working at 9 a.m. Upset winner of the Strub, Wooden Phone was timed in 1:00.80 and was difficult to pull up after the work. It was his second workout since he got sick following his Strub win. "He missed a week," trainer Bob Baffert said. Asked how much the lost time may affect Wooden Phone, Baffert said, "We'll know when they turn for home. It wasn't ideal, but what are you going to do?"

Tribunal worked at 9:10, and was timed in 1:02.40. Notwithstanding the slower clocking, Tribunal looked super hugging the tight turns on the six-furlong training track. If he is not up to the Santa Anita Handicap, he might do later this year in the Pomona Handicap, run on the five-eighths-mile track at Fairplex Park. Baffert said he is may take blinkers off Tribunal for the Big Cap "to get him to relax a little bit."

The status of San Antonio winner Guided Tour will be determined following a workout planned for Wednesday. A 5-year-old gelding, he is an outstanding mud horse, but trainer Niall O'Callagahn has not committed to run him again at Santa Anita, keeping the The $500,000 New Orleans Handicap on Sunday at Fair Grounds under consideration.

Here are the projected Big Cap runners, with jockeys and weight assignments:

Tiznow, Chris McCarron, 122; Bienamado, Alex Solis, 119; Wooden Phone, Corey Nakatani, 117; Guided Tour, Larry Melacon, 116; Lethal Instrument, Laffit Pincay, Jr., 115; Beat All, Gary Stevens, 113; Jorrocks, Garrett Gomez, 113; Irisheyesareflying, Kent Desormeaux, 112; Tribunal, David Flores, 112; Jimmy Z, Victor Espinoza, 111; Moonlight Charger, Tyler Baze, 111; and Perssonet, Brice Blanc, 110.