BARBARO LOOKS LIKE TRIPLE THREAT.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI HORSE RACING 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - There hasn't been a Triple Crown sweep since the 1970s, so few people in horse racing can say they've actually witnessed one.

But Michael Matz can say it.

He saw a pretty good one.

In 1973, Matz and his equestrian-world friend Billy Glass drove from New Jersey to New York on the spur of the moment and were among the 67,000 to watch Secreta-riat win the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths.

``We thought he might be a Triple Crown winner, and we thought we'd like to be part of it,'' Matz said Sunday morning as the trainer of Barbaro began the day after winning the Kentucky Derby. ``We had no seats, nothing. We got there early and walked in. There was an empty box. We asked someone in the next box, `Anybody using this?' He said, `No.' `Mind if we use it?' `No!'

``It was a great race. He just demolished the field.''

If few people in horse racing can say they've seen a Triple Crown completed, very few can say they've won one.

So begins the next challenge for Matz, 55, in a life that already includes his heroism in helping two children out of a crashed airliner in 1989, his Olympic silver medal in show jumping in 1996, and his Kentucky Derby romp with unbeaten Barbaro and jockey Edgar Prado in front of 157,536 fans at Churchill Downs on Saturday.

In what we're coming to understand is typical Matz understatement, he said Sunday of the 13/16-mile Preakness on May 20: ``It would be something we would definitely consider.''

Presumably, if he were to win the Preakness, he'd weigh the appeal of the 1 1/2-mile Belmont on June 10.

Six of the past nine winners of the Kentucky Derby went to Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore two weeks later and won the Preakness -- though in all of those cases, the horses lost the Belmont, usually undone by the distance, failing to become the 12th Triple Crown horse.

Barbaro looked at least as good Saturday as Silver Charm, Real Quiet, Charismatic, War Emblem, Funny Cide and Smarty Jones did in the Derby.

His 6 1/2-length winning margin was the most convincing since Whirlaway and Assault won by eight in the 1940s. Both went on to Triple Crowns.

The 24.34-second final quarter-mile was the fastest since Secretariat's.

Significance obvious.

``If he runs the same race he ran (Saturday), I don't see anybody beating him (in the Preakness),'' said Todd Pletcher, trainer of Derby runner-up Bluegrass Cat. ``And it doesn't look like (the Belmont's) 1 1/2 miles will be a problem.''

``If I can't (beat Barbaro in the Preakness), I hope he goes on and wins the Triple Crown,'' said Dan Hendricks, trainer of Brother Derek, the Santa Anita Derby winner who finished in a dead heat with Jazil for fourth Saturday. ``I don't mind getting beat by a great horseman like Matz.''

``Everybody jumps on the Triple Crown hype early, but he (Barbaro) is as good as we've seen in a while,'' said Michael Trombetta, trainer of Sweetnorthernsaint, who became the 11-2 Derby betting favorite in the final clicks of the tote board and finished seventh. ``Everybody takes him on now. I think he made himself even-money in the Preakness.''

A measure of the respect Barbaro earned with his sixth victory in six starts is that only seven horses are listed as candidates to challenge him in the Preakness: Brother Derek, Sweetnorthernsaint, Lawyer Ron (12th Saturday), and maybe Jazil out of the Derby; and Gotham winner Like Now, Withers winner Bernardini and Simon Pure.

Last year, Giacomo, the 50-1 Derby winner, had 13opponents at Pimlico as he finished third to Afleet Alex.

The wheels are in motion for Barbaro's shot at the Preakness. He was to leave at 4 p.m. EDT from Louisville and arrive at 5 a.m. today at Fair Hill, the Maryland training center where Matz keeps his horses who aren't at Delaware Park. Matz said he might ship in late to Pimlico.

In fact, the wheels have been in motion for some time. When Matz defied convention by bringing Barbaro to the Derby with only one race in 91 days (his Florida Derby victory), the idea was to save his energy for the five-week Triple Crown grind.

``It's very difficult. That's why so few horses have done it,'' Matz said outside Churchill's barn 42, where the Derby winner's rose garland was draped over a brick wall. ``That's why we made a plan that covered not just one race but the rest of his season.''

A few Derby horses' handlers claimed excuses but none suggested they could have beaten Barbaro on Saturday. Hendricks said Brother Derek, in addition to his rough trip, lost his right front shoe at some time before or during the race. But Hendricks thinks the best Brother Derek could have done was second.

Barbaro, having won on turf, slop and fast dirt, from close to the pace and now from four lengths out -- and at 1 1/4 miles while finishing as if he wanted more -- seems cut out to handle whatever Pimlico and Belmont throw at him.

Still, one race at a time. There aren't many Secretariats. Matz has seen that better than most.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

Kentucy Derby winner Barbaro stops to smell his blanket of roses Sunday.

Garry Jones/Associated Press

Box:

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