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Barbaro Breaks Away
Edgar Prado guides Barbaro, the sixth undefeated horse in 132 years to win the Derby. The margin was the largest since Assault's in 1946. "I looked back a couple times and saw nobody," Prado said.
(By Al Behrman -- Associated Press)
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Much was made in the weeks leading up to the Kentucky Derby of Matz's decision to train Barbaro up to the race off a five-week layoff. No horse had won the Derby off such a long rest since Needles in 1956.
"What can I say?" said a vindicated Matz, the fourth consecutive trainer to win the Derby in his first attempt. "Everybody saw it. They know what he did. We never missed anything in his training. We never wavered on our plan. [Assistant trainer] Peter [Brett] assured me five weeks would not be a problem. There were a lot of good horses today, but it was his race today."
The good horses had trouble keeping up. Keyed Entry, who finished last, broke quickly from the inside and seized the lead from Sinister Minister, the fastest of three runners from the barn of Bob Baffert, and ran through the first half-mile in a sizzling 46.07 seconds.
As the exhausted front-runners fell away on the turn and Barbaro attacked, only Sweetnorthernsaint and Bluegrass Cat made significant challenges to win. Lawyer Ron, who had won six straight races, faded to 12th. The other two Baffert runners, Point Determined and Bob and John, finished ninth and 17th, respectively. Brother Derek, the early consensus favorite, raced wide on both turns and wound up in a dead heat with Jazil for fourth place.
Bluegrass Cat, a forgotten colt who once had been considered among the top 3-year-olds in the country, rebounded from his dismal 21 1/4 -length loss in the Blue Grass Stakes, his final prep for the Derby.
Barbaro is raced by his breeders, Roy and Gretchen Jackson of West Grove, Pa., and the couple had a tremendous day. Besides winning the Derby with Barbaro and finishing sixth with their other entrant, Showing Up, the couple bred the European champion colt George Washington, who earlier in the day won the historic Two Thousand Guineas Stakes at Newmarket in England.
Gretchen Jackson said she had wanted to win the Kentucky Derby since she was a little girl.
"I've personally thought about the Kentucky Derby since Whirlaway [won in 1941]," she said. "As a little girl, I had a picture book about Whirlaway that I just loved, so this is a dream come true."
