On the other hand, Barbaro, a turf-loving son of Dynaformer, had company in capturing the Holy Bull.  He might have held on to a comfortable one and three-quarters length margin, but Great Point, an expensive son of Point Given trained by Nick Zito, exhibited the kind of kick that would make the Rockettes envious.

Prior to the Holy Bull, Great Point had failed in two Graded stakes tries and had won only a maiden race at Belmont on an off track. Yet at odds of 25-1, he broke from the foreboding far outside, ran last for most of the contes, and beat all but Barbaro when the two-turn adventure finally ended with the finish line.

Trainer Zito won’t give up on Great Point, if only to please his owner Robert LaPenta. With two Kentucky Derby winners to his credit, Zito knows from experience that the only time that winning really counts is when the gate fills on Derby day.

With this is mind, Zito must have been pleased also with Protagonus, a Kinsman Stable-owned son of Salt Lake whom he saddled to victory over a couple of millionaires in one of the supporting races on the card, thus rendering the dreams of these Derby hopefuls doubtful.  The bettors didn’t believe Protagonus could compete with Tawfeer, a $1.25 million son of Storm Cat, or Zinzan, a $1.3 million son of Grand Slam, but he did.

Protagonus was one of two sprinters that found the sloppy track suited to his style.  The other was Go Bucky Go, a son of Elusive Quality, the sire of Funny Cide. 

In the other 3-year-old race on the card, Go Buck Go beat the Zito-trained Superfly, who looks headed for mediocrity after being heralded for his close second to Discreet Cat at Saratoga, a stakes win at Delaware Park, and his fifth place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Go Buck Go is trained by Vickie Foley and perhaps there is upside to his future because of his breeding and her know-how.  Nevertheless, one can’t help but to think that he was blessed by the storm, which was certainly not the main reason for the successes of Keyed Entry and Barbaro.

Trainer Michael Matz, a former U.S. Olympic team equestrian, indicated that the Fountain of Youth Stakes on March 4, or the Florida Derby on April Fool’s Day, will be next on Barbaro’s agenda, the same course Pletcher is plotting for Keyed Entry.

By then, other Kentucky Derby horses stabled in South Florida such as Private Vow, Doc Cheney, Dr. Pleasure, Sorcerer’s Stone, Little Cliff and Barbican might come out of hibernation to challenge them.

Two days before Spectacular Saturday, on Groundhog Day, Corinthian beat a good field of three-year-olds including the highly regarded Throng.

“Write about my horse,” owner Barry Schwartz said about Half Ours, a horse that won a two-year-old stakes at Churchill Downs last Derby Day and has since been idled with injury. 

Like a lot of trainers in South Florida, Schwartz warned, “We’re back on the Derby trail.”

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