Louisville, Ky. ? Jerry Bailey is close to crossing the finish line for the final time in his Hall of Fame career. The 47-year-old jockey will ride Saturday in his 17th, and possibly last, Kentucky Derby.

“It’s somewhat likely,” he said Tuesday at Churchill Downs. “I was hopeful during the spring that a live horse would come my way so I would be competitive. These are the kind of races that really get me pumped up, the Triple Crown, the Breeders’ Cup. This is the highlight of my year.”

Bailey will be aboard Florida Derby winner High Fly, one of trainer Nick Zito’s five Kentucky Derby entrants. Bailey last rode in the Derby two years ago, finishing second aboard Empire Maker.

He won the race in 1996 with Grindstone and in 1993 with Sea Hero. He made his Derby debut at 24 in 1982 on the aptly named New Discovery, who finished 18th.

“I was overwhelmed by the experience,” Bailey said. “The fact that he was an also-ran was probably the best way I could experience my first Derby.”

He came close to retiring in November, feeling exhausted from a long season in the saddle and weekly trips between his riding base in New York and visiting his wife and son in Florida.

But after a month’s rest, he decided to return. He’ll worry about next year after the Breeders’ Cup in late October.

For now, Bailey’s mind is on the Derby.

With a full field of 20 horses expected, he knows even his best-laid plans can be derailed by a bad trip over 11/4 miles.

“I compare it to walking midtown Manhattan with a backpack on,” he said. “The less amount of times you have to bump people and stop and start, the easier it is on you to get through the crowd.”

“It’s the same with the horses. The smoother and friendlier trip that you provide them with, the more energy they’ll have to finish the race. It’s more important to have a trouble-free trip, at least the first half-mile.”

Bellamy Road, owned by New York Yankees boss George Steinbrenner, is the Zito horse getting most of the pre-Derby hype. The colt won the Wood Memorial by 171/2 lengths in what Bailey described as a “Secretariat-like performance.”

“If Bellamy Road plans on being on the lead, he better be Secretariat because there’s a lot of speed in here,” he said. “If he’s out there (in front), there’s going to be people taking shots at him every eighth of a mile.”

And Bailey figures High Fly will be one of those challengers. The colt has just one loss in six career starts, and Bailey didn’t ride that time.

“He’s shown me he’s got multiple gears so that I can move him and place him at different points as the race unfolds,” he said. “The question mark is the distance, but he’s got quite a few pluses. Chief among them is he wins a lot, and there’s a lot to be said for a horse that has a desire to win and finds a way to get it done all the time.”