Patti Reeves has a few new ringtones on her cellphone, which means she’s ready to disco at any time, morning, noon or night.

“Macho, macho man/I’ve got to be, a macho man,” go part of the lyrics to her recent download of the Village People’s 1970’s party-song classic “Macho Man.”

Reeves has good reason to dance these days — she co-owns Mucho Macho Man, a 3-year-old colt favored to win the $1 million Louisiana Derby in his final prep before the Kentucky Derby on May 7.

Mucho Macho Man moved up to No. 3 in The Associated Press’ latest Run to the Roses Top 10 list of Derby contenders. Undefeated Uncle Mo remains No. 1, with The Factor cruising to No. 2 following a wire-to-wire romp in the Rebel at Oaklawn Park over the weekend.

“At first, they hadn’t heard of us,” said Reeves, who also has downloads of several other Village People hits, including “Y.M.C.A.” and “In The Navy.” ”Now that they know, they have been very supportive.”

So much so that Reeves and trainer Kathy Ritvo have received “Macho Man” T-shirts and an autographed picture of the group that Reeves is considering hanging up outside Mucho Macho Man’s barn at Gulfstream Park.

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There’s also a message on the group’s website:

“What do Village People and the Kentucky Derby have in common? Well, one of the horses competing is named Mucho Macho Man and this horse has the only female trainer at the Derby!

“While VP doesn’t predict races, we wish Mucho Macho Man the best at the Derby and we’ll be watching.”

Reeves said the front of the T-shirts say Macho Man, and on the back, the ‘Man’ is crossed out and replaced by ‘Woman.’

“It’s pretty cool,” she said before adding that Mucho Macho Man gets his name from his sire, Macho Uno.

While Risen Star winner Mucho Macho Man gets ready to take on 12 rivals at the Fair Grounds this Saturday, The Factor made it three in a row start-to-finish victories, winning the Rebel by 6¼ lengths on Saturday.

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The Factor gives Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert a good chance at winning his fourth Derby. Baffert, who also trains No. 9 Jaycito, last won it in 2002 with War Emblem.

Co-owner George Bolton said The Factor would likely return to Oaklawn Park for the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn on April 16, but Baffert said he’s keeping his options open for his speed demon of a horse.

Coming up this weekend are several more Derby preps, including the Louisiana Derby, the Spiral Stakes and the Rushaway, both at Turfway Park, and the UAE Derby in Dubai on Saturday, and the Sunland Derby on Sunday.

Astrology, trained by Steve Asmussen, is expected to make his 3-year-old debut in the Sunland Derby.

Also, the purse for the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 9 — featuring Uncle Mo — has been raised to $1 million from $750,000.


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