Louisville, Ky. – Olympic medalist, plane crash hero, Kentucky Derby winner. Not a bad trifecta.
The charmed life of Michael Matz continued Saturday when unbeaten Barbaro rolled home to a 6 1/2-length victory at Churchill Downs, the biggest winning margin since 1946. Matz is obviously not an easy man to unnerve, and he was as calm in the paddock before and in the winner’s circle after capturing America’s most revered horse race in his rookie attempt as he was in his show-jumping career.
He also was determined in the months leading up to the Kentucky Derby, plotting a deliberate course that flew in the face of tradition, racing Barbaro only once since Feb. 4. That race was the Florida Derby, which gave Barbaro a five-week layoff, a gap no horse had overcome since Needles 50 years ago.
Matz resisted the urge to say, “I told you so,” but you couldn’t blame him for indulging in a case of the smugs after his route to the Kentucky Derby was questioned. Now not only does he have a Derby winner, he’s also one who didn’t have to go through the grinder to get here, and his success could influence future trainers trying to get their horses to the winner’s circle.
“I was just trying to make it the easiest route for my horse,” said Matz, 55, who began training race horses eight years ago because “it was either that or give riding lessons.”
“I told (jockey) Edgar (Prado) in the paddock, ‘Let’s win our first Kentucky Derby.”‘
All week, Matz patiently answered questions about the crash of the DC-10 in Sioux City, Iowa, that killed 111 of the 296 passengers and crew members in 1989.
He led two Laramie siblings, Travis and Melissa Roth, who were traveling without their parents, away from the burning wreckage. He also helped care for their brother, Jody Roth, who also survived the crash.
Matz was an equestrian show jumping superstar for years before turning to training, competing in three Olympics between 1976 and 1996 and carrying the U.S. flag at the closing ceremony in Atlanta.
Not only has Barbaro revived dreams of being the first Triple Crown winner since 1978, he has the chance to echo the historic hoofbeats of Seattle Slew, an undefeated Triple Crown champion in 1977.
Accustomed to well-spaced races, Barbaro now will have to come back in two weeks for the Preakness (a sixteenth of a mile shorter than the Kentucky Derby) and then stretch out three weeks after that for the 1 1/2-mile Belmont. The way he accelerated coming out of the turn and drew off confidently gave little doubt he is a legitimate threat to make even more history.
“It was very impressive,” said trainer Todd Pletcher, whose Bluegrass Cat was the runner-up at 30-1. “He looked great through the stretch and actually galloped out. The Belmont doesn’t look like it will be a problem.”
Prado, who won his first Derby in his seventh attempt, was far more demonstrative than the chilly-on-the-outside Matz.
As an outrider guided Barbaro to the winner’s circle, leading him close to some of the 157,356 fans (the second-largest crowd in Kentucky Derby history) who jammed the rails, Prado encouraged their cheers by waving his hands and pointing to his horse, in a gesture that read, “Give it up for Barbaro.”
“People who know me know I don’t get too excited when I win,” said Prado, 39, who came from Peru to the U.S. in 1986.
Prado notably won the 2004 Belmont with Birdstone, ruining the Triple Crown bid of Smarty Jones.
“Today I was thankful and excited because I was riding a great horse, it was a beautiful day and there were a lot of people involved,” he said.
Prado dedicated the win to his mother, Cenaida, who died in January.
Barbaro was the betting favorite from the time advance wagering ended Friday night up until nearly the last blink of the tote board, when a sudden influx of cash on Sweetnorthernsaint (who would finish seventh in the 20-horse field) inherited the role of public choice at 5-1 odds. Barbaro became the sixth horse of the modern era (since 1915) to win the Kentucky Derby with an unblemished record and paid $14.20 to win.
Barbaro earned $1,453,200 to boost his career earnings to $2,302,200.
“He’s a very nice horse,” Prado said.
Steppenwolfer, at 16-1, finished third, with Brother Derek and Jazil dead-heating for fourth. The winner’s time for a mile and a quarter was 2:01.36.
Barbaro joins Smarty Jones, winner of the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness, and Afleet Alex, last year’s winner of the Preakness and Belmont, as horses bred or developed in the Pennsylvania-Delaware-Maryland region.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
