Chelokee

Michael Matz, the trainer of last year's Kentucky Derby winner, Barbaro, believes he has a 3-year-old capable of contending in this year's Derby. The problem: Matz doesn't believe his horse, Chelokee, will be able to get in the Derby. Matz said that Chelokee will be shipped from his winter headquarters in Florida to Keeneland in the next week or so. Matz plans to be ready to run him in the Kentucky Derby if he gets in the field. Chelokee's third-place finish in Saturday's Florida Derby, after a really tough trip, earned him $100,000, but this was the horse's first graded stake, and $100,000 typically isn't enough to crack the 20-horse Derby field.

Trainer Michael Matz, winner of last year's Kentucky Derby with Barbaro, said yesterday that the stars weren't aligning to send his 3-year-old Chelokee to Churchill Downs for next week's Derby, so he was taking the horse out of consideration. Tomorrow, Matz plans to ship the colt back to his barn at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md. He will look to run Chelokee in the Preakness. "I think we've basically kind of given up running in the Derby," Matz told the Churchill Downs press office.

An equine ambulance moved on the track yesterday afternoon at Churchill Downs, and a curtain went up. On the other side of the curtain, a horse with a broken right front leg was led hobbling into the ambulance. The horse was Chelokee, trained by Michael Matz, who was quickly on his way to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, about an hour away in Lexington, Ky. "He appears, on first exam, to have a condylar fracture that then affected the stability in his ankle," veterinarian Larry Bramlage said.

ELKTON, Md. - There is a very good chance that Michael Matz will take his top 3-year-old, Chelokee, to Pimlico Race Course on Preakness Day. But Chelokee may not be running in the Preakness on May 19. This would be just about as eventful: The trainer of Barbaro may have the favorite in the first-ever Barbaro Stakes, formerly the Sir Barton (after the first Triple Crown winner in 1919) until it was renamed earlier this year. Barbaro's owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, are planning to be there to present the trophy.

While it first appeared that trainer Michael Matz's potential return to the Kentucky Derby got one step closer yesterday when Lexington Stakes winner Slew's Tizzy's trainer said they were leaning toward not running in the May 5 Derby, another glitch may have developed. The Derby field will be limited to the top 20 entrants based on graded earnings, and the Matz-trained Chelokee, with $100,000, was tied for 22d on a list of expected Derby entrants. But according to a report on bloodhorse.

Two hours before the first plane took off down the road at Bluegrass Airport, Michael Matz already was at full throttle, speed-walking the shed row in his barn at Keeneland Race Course, quickly ducking into the stall of his Kentucky Derby prospect, Chelokee, but not lingering. In another stall, he told a groom to tighten a massage blanket that had just been placed on a filly. The predawn hours were filled this way. One horse needed a ring bit. Another got a tongue-tie. On and on, down the row. As Matz went about his morning business Thursday, he didn't have time to stop and think about all the events of the last year.

The June 9 Belmont Stakes will not feature a rubber match between Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense and Preakness Stakes winner Curlin. Carl Nafzger, trainer of Street Sense, said yesterday that his horse would pass on the Belmont and take aim for some of the big races later in the year, such as the Travers Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Classic. "The competitive side said go," Nafzger said. "The logical side said no, no, no. " Curlin's trainer, Steve Asmussen, said yesterday that he could live without the rematch for now. "My position might be, be careful what I wish for," said Asmussen, touting the competition with Hard Spun, the Pennsylvania-bred colt who finished second in the Derby and third in the Preakness.

I LOST COUNT QUITE a while ago of how many times I have been asked in the last few months: "Is there a Philly horse for the Derby?" My answer has been and continues to be, not really. But if you want to adopt Great Hunter, Hard Spun or Chelokee (if the horse actually makes the race), be my guest. There is a connection, just not the incredible connection we have had the last three springs. Smarty Jones was the ultimate Philly horse - born in Chester County, stabled at Philadelphia Park (where he won his first two races)

Jayne Vaders, the leading trainer at Philadelphia Park last year, has been granted a stay by the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission of the revocation of her license, which would have started today. After a horse she trains, Fourteentwentyone, tested positive for the tranquilizer acepromazine after winning on Feb. 4, the track stewards decided on April 28 to revoke her license. A hearing to determine the outcome of the stewards' ruling had not yet been scheduled. According to a commission spokesman, the stewards are citing a rule in which multiple drug infractions can result in the revocation of a license.

An equine ambulance moved on the track yesterday afternoon at Churchill Downs, and a curtain went up. On the other side of the curtain, a horse with a broken right front leg was led hobbling into the ambulance. The horse was Chelokee, trained by Michael Matz, who was quickly on his way to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, about an hour away in Lexington, Ky. "He appears, on first exam, to have a condylar fracture that then affected the stability in his ankle," veterinarian Larry Bramlage said.

The June 9 Belmont Stakes will not feature a rubber match between Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense and Preakness Stakes winner Curlin. Carl Nafzger, trainer of Street Sense, said yesterday that his horse would pass on the Belmont and take aim for some of the big races later in the year, such as the Travers Stakes and the Breeders' Cup Classic. "The competitive side said go," Nafzger said. "The logical side said no, no, no. " Curlin's trainer, Steve Asmussen, said yesterday that he could live without the rematch for now. "My position might be, be careful what I wish for," said Asmussen, touting the competition with Hard Spun, the Pennsylvania-bred colt who finished second in the Derby and third in the Preakness.

Standing in the back of the Pimlico Race Course winner's circle, Roy Jackson gave a thumb's-up as soon as Chelokee passed by the finish line. Jackson's first words: That couldn't have worked out better. "Ironic, isn't it?" Jackson said after a horse trained by Barbaro's trainer won the inaugural Barbaro Stakes by 4 3/4 lengths. Roy and Gretchen Jackson don't own Chelokee, but it was hard to tell that yesterday, as the owners of the late 2006 Kentucky Derby winner presented the Barbaro Stakes trophy to Michael Matz, who walked in the winner's circle, then stopped as soon as he saw Gretchen Jackson.

Jayne Vaders, the leading trainer at Philadelphia Park last year, has been granted a stay by the Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission of the revocation of her license, which would have started today. After a horse she trains, Fourteentwentyone, tested positive for the tranquilizer acepromazine after winning on Feb. 4, the track stewards decided on April 28 to revoke her license. A hearing to determine the outcome of the stewards' ruling had not yet been scheduled. According to a commission spokesman, the stewards are citing a rule in which multiple drug infractions can result in the revocation of a license.

Trainer Michael Matz, winner of last year's Kentucky Derby with Barbaro, said yesterday that the stars weren't aligning to send his 3-year-old Chelokee to Churchill Downs for next week's Derby, so he was taking the horse out of consideration. Tomorrow, Matz plans to ship the colt back to his barn at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md. He will look to run Chelokee in the Preakness. "I think we've basically kind of given up running in the Derby," Matz told the Churchill Downs press office.

While it first appeared that trainer Michael Matz's potential return to the Kentucky Derby got one step closer yesterday when Lexington Stakes winner Slew's Tizzy's trainer said they were leaning toward not running in the May 5 Derby, another glitch may have developed. The Derby field will be limited to the top 20 entrants based on graded earnings, and the Matz-trained Chelokee, with $100,000, was tied for 22d on a list of expected Derby entrants. But according to a report on bloodhorse.

I LOST COUNT QUITE a while ago of how many times I have been asked in the last few months: "Is there a Philly horse for the Derby?" My answer has been and continues to be, not really. But if you want to adopt Great Hunter, Hard Spun or Chelokee (if the horse actually makes the race), be my guest. There is a connection, just not the incredible connection we have had the last three springs. Smarty Jones was the ultimate Philly horse - born in Chester County, stabled at Philadelphia Park (where he won his first two races)

Two hours before the first plane took off down the road at Bluegrass Airport, Michael Matz already was at full throttle, speed-walking the shed row in his barn at Keeneland Race Course, quickly ducking into the stall of his Kentucky Derby prospect, Chelokee, but not lingering. In another stall, he told a groom to tighten a massage blanket that had just been placed on a filly. The predawn hours were filled this way. One horse needed a ring bit. Another got a tongue-tie. On and on, down the row. As Matz went about his morning business Thursday, he didn't have time to stop and think about all the events of the last year.

Michael Matz, the trainer of last year's Kentucky Derby winner, Barbaro, believes he has a 3-year-old capable of contending in this year's Derby. The problem: Matz doesn't believe his horse, Chelokee, will be able to get in the Derby. Matz said that Chelokee will be shipped from his winter headquarters in Florida to Keeneland in the next week or so. Matz plans to be ready to run him in the Kentucky Derby if he gets in the field. Chelokee's third-place finish in Saturday's Florida Derby, after a really tough trip, earned him $100,000, but this was the horse's first graded stake, and $100,000 typically isn't enough to crack the 20-horse Derby field.