Ultimately, it all boils down to the Greatest Two Minutes in Sport (in
America, everything has a label!). The 2006 running of the Kentucky
Derby at Churchill Downs saw a full field of 20 lining up and the second
highest crowd of all time gracing the occasion, with 157,536 in
attendance. Gross wagering (on-track plus simulcasting) on the 12-event
Derby Day card reached $175,129,090 (Rs.788 crores) of which
$118,426,874 (Rs.533 crores) was bet on the feature itself.
The race bore an open aspect prior to the event, as was evident from the
wagering, with the shortest priced runner at 5 to 1. Would it be
Sweetnorthernsaint, a wide-margin winner of the Illinois Derby? Or
Sinister Minister, an even more emphatic victor of the Blue Grass Stakes
at Keeneland? Could Brother Derek from California, hero of the Santa
Anita Derby, make it against tougher company? Would front running Lawyer
Ron, triumphant in the Arkansas Derby, manage to hang on? Or might
unbeaten Barbaro, fresh from a successful Florida campaign culminating
in a Florida Derby win, defy the belief that a recent race was a "must"
for victory?
As they lined up at 6:04 p.m. on a perfect spring afternoon, the only
one of the 20 finely-tuned equine athletes that seemed to be on edge was
Barbaro - he had been a shade rank in the saddling enclosure, then
nibbled at his lead pony on the way to the start. Unbeaten he may have
been - but what about the fitness aspect?
In the race itself, Barbaro was all business. Stumbling slightly as they
bobbed out, he soon moved into the box seat under the expert guidance of
Edgar Prado. Keyed Entry led the cavalry charge as Barbaro sat fourth,
moving sweetly. The leader capitulated with less than four furlongs to
go (he eventually finished last!), and Barbaro took the lead even before
they had straightened up. The identity of the winner was already evident
and the dark bay or brown son of Dynaformer stretched out with only a
couple of taps to trounce his compatriots by 6-1/2 lengths. It was the
largest victory margin since Assault in 1946 - and it must be remembered
that Assault went on to annex the Triple Crown, an elusive target that
is well within Barbaro's grasp, such is his apparent superiority.
The 99th Kentucky-bred to win (in 132 runnings), the winner joined
Regret (1915), Morvich (1922), Majestic Prince (1969), Seattle Slew
(1977) and Smarty Jones (2004) as undefeated winners of the Kentucky
Derby. Ten earlier winners had scored previously in the Florida Derby,
but none since Needles (back in 1956) had gained the day off a 5-week
layoff.
Trainer Michael Matz, an unassuming Olympic silver medalist in
equestrian sports, had been on board a commercial aircraft that had
crashed in 1989, killing almost half of its 289 passengers. He himself
had dragged several children to safety - those children, now grown up,
were on hand to cheer his greatest moment since. Like the schooler,
rider Edgar Prado, a native of Peru, was scoring for the first time in
the event. Owners/breeders Roy and Gretchen Jackson had a memorable
Sixth of May, what with one of their other products, George Washington,
sauntering home in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, England, earlier the
same day! Incidentally, despite being owners for 30 years, the couple
had never won a Grade 1 race till 2006.
Named after a foxhound (who in turn was named after the Italian
Renaissance painter and mathematician Daniele Barbaro) in a family
heirloom painting hanging in the owners' home in West Grove,
Pennsylvania, the equine Barbaro was foaled on April 29, 2003, at
Sanborn Chase Farm in Nicholasville, Kentucky. Thus he was only a week
older than three actual years, and despite his youth is quite mature.
By Roberto's versatile son Dynaformer, Barbaro is out of the Carson City
mare La Ville Rouge whose line was brought into North America through
the British-bred Tuscan Red (1912), who visited the court of the
immortal Man O'War and produced War Feathers in 1924. The last-named
went through a purple patch in 1934-36 when coming up with 3 consecutive
stakes winners in War Minstrel, War Magic and War Plumage.
The last-named, successful in the Coaching Club American Oaks of 1939,
bred only one stakes winner in the 1944-foaled Cutty Hunk (by English
Triple Crown winner Bahram) whose sole claim to fame was his victory in
the Golden Gate Derby. Even while he was a foal at foot, his dam
conceived to King Cole, and bred Gold Crest, a modest winner of a
maiden. Descending further, Gold Crest was mated with the obscure
Burg-El-Arab and duly produced Goldarette, who never raced,French import
Djeddah was Goldarette's mate in 1957 and the resultant filly, Silver
Abbey, scored twice in modest races. Not many breeders would have
pursued the line at this stage, and in her first seven years at stud,
Silver Abbey did nothing to suggest otherwise. However, a spark was
ignited with her 1970 son Silver Doctor (by Restless Native), whose 75
essays to the track resulted in 19 victories worth over $ 200,000. Her
next, and last, foal, Silver Betsy (by Nearctic) was quite useful,
recording 7 wins from her 34 starts.
As a daughter of a top stallion (whose other get included a colt named
Northern Dancer!) and as a half-sister to a decent horse, Silver Betsy
earned her right to better class mates and duly visited the likes of
Tentam and King's Bishop (four times). The first of the quartet by the
latter was La Reine Rouge, who raced only at 2, started twice, yet
managed to annex the Toddler Stakes.
At stud the latter was a regular breeder and her seventh foal, Green
Alligator, won the California Derby while her tenth, Lucky Lavender Gal
annexed the $100,000 Azalea Stakes. It was thirteenth time lucky for the
mare when her Carson City filly, named La Ville Rouge, arrived. Sold as
a yearling for $40,000, she must have shown speed early at 2, for she
fetched $130,000 just six months later at the Ocala Breeze Up Sale in
March 1998.
Purely as a racehorse, La Ville Rouge turned out to be well worth the
money, chalking up more than twice her purchase price in earnings, as
also a pair apiece of Grade 2 and Grade 3 placings on her career record.
The rest, as they say, is history, and La Ville Rouge has hit paydirt
with her second foal, Barbaro.
Resident at Three Chimneys Farm, Dynaformer has been under-rated in his
earlier years, but continuous and regular performances by his progeny
have seen his fee climb to $100,000. The Jersey Derby winner is bred on
the same cross as Brian's Time, a leading sire in Japan; his half-sister
bred Grade 1 winner Offlee Wild, while his three-parts brother, Darby
Creek Road was placed in the Belmont Stakes before taking up stallion
duties. Other close relatives include Fool's Prayer, Memories Of Silver,
Ryafan, Sunshine Forever, and Sylvan Place, while in India, A B Stud's
new import Epicentre who shares his third dam with Dynaformer, is bred
on precisely the same lines, being by a son of Roberto.
Barbaro now goes for the 9-1/2 furlongs Preakness Stakes at Old Hilltop
(Pimlico) on May 20th - all being well thereafter, he should be in the
line-up for the 12 furlongs Belmont Stakes three weeks later over a
distance which will suit him perfectly.
