Barbaro's Win Fuels Talk of Triple Crown

By Robyn Norwood

May 8, 2006 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The garland of roses was still draped over a wall near Barbaro’s stall in Barn 42 at Churchill Downs on Sunday morning, and talk of a Triple Crown run already was blooming before the buds fully opened.

No horse has swept the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont since Affirmed in 1978. Six in the last eight years have failed even after winning the first two.

Yet, undefeated Barbaro’s 6 1/2 -length victory -- the largest since 1946 -- over what was considered an unusually strong Derby field is fueling the talk that the dark bay colt has a chance.

“No doubt about it,” said Bob Baffert, trainer of three horses -- Silver Charm, Real Quiet and War Emblem -- that fell a Belmont victory shy of the Triple Crown. “He’s a big, long-striding, high-cruising dude. War Emblem, he looked like that coming down the stretch. Just a true race horse.”

Any thought that Barbaro was meant for the turf, where he took the first three of his six victories, was scuttled by his performance in the 1 1/4 -mile contest on dirt Saturday.

“When I saw him in the paddock, my wife, Jill, said, ‘Oh my God, look at him. He looks good,’ ” Baffert said. “I go, ‘Yeah, I think he’s a turf horse, honey.’ She said, ‘You better hope so.’

“Coming down the lane, I watched the race with Bode Miller, and he looked at that horse and said, ‘Man, we need a bigger boat.’ ”

With Barbaro shipping home Sunday to Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., to prepare for the Preakness on May 20 in nearby Baltimore, some trainers already were shying away from running against him again.

But Brother Derek, the morning-line favorite who finished in a dead heat for fourth after starting from post position 18, is game.

Trainer Dan Hendricks said the colt will stay at Churchill until he ships to Pimlico.

“I’d love to have another run at him,” Hendricks said. “If we can’t beat him, I hope he wins the Triple Crown. But this is what we do, and I’ll try to beat him in two weeks.”

Jockey Alex Solis, who knelt by Hendricks’ wheelchair in the tunnel after the Derby and told him his horse never had much of a chance after starting so far outside, was eager for another chance as well.

A better draw and a smaller field of perhaps eight or nine horses -- and no more than 14 -- should help keep Brother Derek from getting hung out wide.

Hendricks also said his colt lost his right front shoe at some point.

“Alex didn’t know when. He could have done it during the post parade or during the race,” Hendricks said. “That’s not an excuse. It’s another something that happened.”

Bluegrass Cat, the second-place finisher, probably will not run in the Preakness, nor will last-place pace-setter Keyed Entry, said Todd Pletcher, trainer of both.

“I just don’t like to run back in two weeks when I don’t have to,” he said.

The other confirmed starters in addition to Brother Derek are Sweetnorthernsaint, seventh in the Derby after challenging late, and Lawyer Ron, one of the early favorites who finished 12th -- perhaps making Ron Bamberger, executor of the will of late owner James T. Hines, the biggest gambling winner of Derby day.

Bamberger, saying it was his duty to maximize the value of the estate, sold a chunk of the horse and his breeding rights to Audrey Haisfield of Stonewall Farm for a seven-figure sum two days before the race. He wouldn’t get as much today.

“It was a pretty opportune time,” trainer Bob Holthus said. “I think everybody got a good deal. Just because he lost one race is not the end of the world.”

Jazil, who finished in a fourth-place tie with Brother Derek, is listed as possible.

Probable new starters who didn’t run in the Derby include Like Now, winner of the Gotham Stakes; Bernardini, the Withers winner, and Simon Pure, who was fourth in the Arkansas Derby and is owned by the Robert and Beverly Lewis Trust.

Plans for Point Determined, the Lewis horse that was ninth in the Derby, will be made in about a week, said Baffert, the colt’s trainer. Baffert also trains Sinister Minister, a speedster who faded, and Bob And John, 17th after a poor trip.

“They’re nice horses. I don’t want to tear ‘em up. If they don’t have a chance to win, I don’t want to go to the Preakness,” Baffert said.

Barbaro’s presence might influence his decisions, he said.

“Huge,” he said, and laughed.

Michael Matz, Barbaro’s trainer, is on the path he planned long ago, but after layoffs of eight and five weeks, Barbaro will have to come back in two and then three as he pursues the Triple Crown.

“If I told you I didn’t think in the long haul we [have] a Triple Crown winner, I’d be lying to you,” Matz said. “I just have to try to keep him on this level the next two races, and hopefully he becomes a famous horse.”

Holthus, 71, cautioned everyone to hold their horses.

“A lot of strange things happen to Derby winners,” he said.