Vic Zast

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A second after Barbaro crossed the finish line in last year’s Kentucky Derby, an almost unanimous feeling that thoroughbred racing had just unveiled its first Triple Crown champion since 1978 could be felt throughout the grandstand at Churchill Downs.

Now, given the outpouring of emotion for Barbaro after the tragedy which befell him in his Preakness Stakes, it seems heretical to say that Street Sense has earned every bit the same overwhelming respect.

But the optimism is justified. On a humid spring afternoon in Louisville, Street Sense, a cleverly-bred dark brown son of the new sire Street Cry, ran the kind of race that causes horsemen to fear running against him. It was the kind of race — dare it be said — that may reduce Barbaro’s legacy to fundraiser.

Since the Preakness is often a contest of leftovers and newcomers, Street Sense may face only eight or nine challengers in the Triple Crown’s second jewel, and none of them will really pose a challenge. The Belmont, then, will provide his only test, and that test he can pass with honors.

Street Sense, wearing four leg bandages, won the 133rd Kentucky Derby by 2¼ lengths over Hard Spun, but his slim margin of victory only tempted the idea that he could have been threatened. Only a brave ride by jockey Calvin Borel, saving ground from the start through the finishing furlong by hugging the rail, made you think for a moment that, with a less efficient trip, the end could have been closer.

Slide show Derby daze Images of racehorses, their handlers, the Queen and spectators and their creative hats. more photos

Hard Spun put forth a superb effort, free on the lead and looking like a horse who would steal the thunder that missed Louisville even though it was forecast. But don’t read anything important into a pace-setter’s brilliance, when his fractions, while respectable, weren’t. The rest of the field, including the heralded quintet sent out by Todd Pletcher, was as dull as the air over the racetrack.

Moreover, the Kentucky Derby winner will run back in two weeks as fresh as any Derby-winning horse has in two dozen years. By racing only twice this spring, Smart Sense did what no horse has done since Sunny’s Halo in 1983. Critics said that trainer Carl Nafzger’s un-punishing approach to the preps was a negative. But after he proved them wrong in the Derby with the training regimen, Nafzger, in looking forward to the Preakness, said, “I think it will work to my advantage.”

Borel also supported the notion that the horse has the proper seasoning. “Two preps were perfect for him,” the jockey, a fan favorite for his gentle demeanor and reputation for risk-taking, said. Borel noted that Street Sense ran a green race in the Blue Grass, racing on the wrong lead in several instances, and not taking to the Polytrack at all. After the Derby, with three races under his belt, and a traditional dirt track in Baltimore to run on, he should push the definition of perfection to the limit.