Michael Matz, Barbaro's Trainer, Hoping for a Second Derby Win LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Michael Matz stood in the same barn he inhabited with Barbaro six years ago and looked down the shedrow on a gray Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs. "I've had one great horse," he said. To think I might have a second one is an unbelievable feeling. At 61, Matz is shooting for another Kentucky Derby victory with a new contender, Union Rags. But scarcely a day goes by without mention of another colt, who galloped to victory beneath the Twin Spires in 2006, then fractured an ankle in the Preakness and died of laminitis eight months later. Their lives are fused, their stories entwined. "Barbaro captured a lot of people's hearts, that's for sure," Matz said. He didn't do much wrong. He was undefeated, and every time we ran him, he won except the time he got hurt. He did a lot of things for the sport, whether he brought people together to think about safety, laminitis, whatever it could be. I don't want to say he was a once-in-a-lifetime horse, but maybe he was. Matz made it back to the Derby in 2008 with Visionaire, and finished 12th. Asked how life has changed for him since then, the trainer laughed. "I've gotten older," he joked, crow's-feet crinkling deep at the corners of his eyes. Then he turned serious. "It's the same thing every day," he said. We get up in the morning, we go to work. There will be good days and bad days, but a race like this is what we work for. A former Olympic equestrian, Matz rode to six United States national championships and won at least one major show jumping event in 20 consecutive years. He has been training thoroughbreds full time since 2000 and rides out with each set aboard his stalwart stable pony to supervise his runners. He is quiet and unpretentious, although in 1989 he saved three children in a plane crash, an incident that was heavily publicized during Barbaro's Derby campaign. He does not like to attract attention. His horses do that for him. "He gives his runners a chance to show up and show what they can do," said Edgar Prado, the jockey who rode Barbaro to his Derby victory. Matz's assistant, Peter Brette, said: "He's very, very hard working. Everything gets done the correct way. There are no shortcuts taken. He's a complete horseman. Matz keeps about 68 horses between Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., and Delaware Park (he also stables at Palm Meadows in Florida every winter). He trains for around 15 owners; Roy and Gretchen Jackson, who raced Barbaro, are no longer among them. The Jacksons parted ways with Matz in late 2011 and declined to comment on the decision other than calling it "strictly business." Although the change gutted Matz - at the time, they had more horses with him than any of his other clients - he says he has moved on. "It was horrible, but anyway, what are you going to do?" he said. These things happen. Phyllis Wyeth, the owner of Union Rags, supported Matz through the ups and downs. The two had collaborated with other horses, but had not had much success. Union Rags is their greatest runner by far, the winner of the Fountain of Youth Stakes and the runner-up in last year's Breeders" Cup Juvenile off a victory in the Champagne at Belmont. Union Rags most recently ran third in the Florida Derby behind a 7-1 shot, Take Charge Indy, and 30-1 Reveron. He encountered traffic trouble and found his best stride too late. "He hasn't been unbeaten; we can keep making excuses all day long for him, but at the end of the day, he did get beat," Brette said. Hopefully, Saturday, he's going to right that wrong. Post positions will be drawn for the Derby on Wednesday night, and before long, Union Rags will be standing somewhere in that gate, ears pricked, looking down the long Churchill stretch. The horse of a lifetime may have come and gone, but this one could be something special, too.