"The Preakness is still a possibility," Matz said yesterday, talking outside his barn at the Fair Hill Training Center. "I'm probably leaning more toward the Barbaro right now."
Matz said he isn't considering this just to take some sentimental journey. Asked whether he wanted to be the winning trainer of the first Barbaro Stakes, which is on the undercard of the Preakness, Matz said, "Well, I haven't thought of that."
But just as noteworthy, Matz said he wouldn't avoid that race because so many eyes would be on him.
"I think it will fascinate people if I'm back at the Preakness," Matz said. "I think right now, I want to make sure that I go into a race that I have a chance. I don't want to just be in the Preakness because it's a good story. I want to find the best spot for my horse so he can still progress."
Of course, it was at last year's Preakness that Barbaro, the Kentucky Derby winner, was injured, ultimately resulting in his being euthanized.
Chelokee is owned by Centennial Farms, a syndicate out of Boston. Matz also mentioned a couple of other options, the Peter Pan Stakes on May 20 at Belmont Park or the Ohio Derby on June 2 at Thistledown.
"I've got to work him again," Matz said. "I think the first three horses" - Street Sense, Hard Spun and Curlin, the first three finishers in the Kentucky Derby, all expected at the Preakness - "are pretty nice horses. I'm a little bit behind them in catching up to them.
"I think Street Sense ran a real good race. I think Hard Spun ran a huge race. Whether they can duplicate that - I think if my horse is at the right time to go, I hope he can run with those horses. He has to prove that yet."
A workout this weekend should be the determining factor, Matz said. After a troubled-trip resulted in a third-place finish in the Florida Derby, Chelokee didn't have enough graded-stakes earnings to qualify for the 20-horse Derby field, ending up tied for 21st.
