In Barbaro's shadow
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Step aside, Curlin.
No matter the names atop the tote board Saturday morning at Churchill Downs, Barbaro is still the favorite at the Kentucky Derby. A year after his stunning 6Z\x-length victory, and nearly four months after he was euthanized, the colt's legacy lingers in every corner of this grand ol' track.
Barbaro may be gone, but he hasn't been forgotten.
Not by a public that still grieves his loss. Or by a racing community raising buckets of cash for equine-related charities. Or even by a media corps that asked so many questions about Barbaro's roaring run, gruesome breakdown and his lasting impact that the 20 thoroughbreds running in this Kentucky Derby occasionally seemed like an afterthought.
But that could change by nightfall, once a new horse is wearing the roses.
"I would hope that whoever wins the Kentucky Derby here," said Roy Jackson, Barbaro's co-owner, "the story would be about them."
The leading candidate for the role is undefeated and unchallenged Curlin, the morning-line favorite. But not far behind is second-choice Street Sense, trained by Carl Nafzger and leaving from the same No. 7 post that Unbridled did in 1990 when Nafzger notched his only Derby win. The next 3-year-old star could also come from a record-tying five that trainer Todd Pletcher will send to the post in a bid to break his 0-for-14 Derby streak.
Curlin is relatively inexperienced, with only three career races, and didn't compete as a 2-year-old. And it's been 125 years since a horse named Apollo claimed victory after sitting out his 2-year-old season.
Then again, history might not be all that accurate a measuring stick in a year when there's no super horse and superstar trainers Bob Baffert, D. Wayne Lukas and Nick Zito are all absent for the first time since 1980.
Threatened thunderstorms could turn the dirt racing strip into a quagmire. Highs in the upper-70s are expected, along with a 60 percent chance of rain, possibly as much as a quarter-inch.
If it does rain, at least Queen Elizabeth II will feel right at home. She is scheduled to stop off to watch her first Derby after a trip to Jamestown, Va., to celebrate the 400th anniversary of America's first permanent English settlement and just before a visit to the White House.
The last wet Derby was 2004, when Smarty Jones won. Only seven of the 20 horses here have raced in sloppy conditions — with Hard Spun, Scat Daddy and Teuflesberg notching wins. Storm in May finished second, Street Sense third, Dominican fourth and Imawildandcrazyguy fifth on muddy tracks.
Baffert, Lukas and Zito have won a combined nine Derbies, but none of their current crop of 3-year-olds proved good enough to run 1Z\v miles on the first Saturday in May.
Pletcher, on the other hand, came up with five: Any Given Saturday, Circular Quay, Cowtown Cat, Sam P. and Scat Daddy.
But the odds are slim any of them will broaden the thoroughbred fan base the way Barbaro did.
"Through the media coverage and all that, we got the little 13-year-old girls that identify with racing and come into the fold a little bit," Lukas said. "Maybe, there'll be some carry-over."
