Chelokee could be an early favorite for the Kentucky Derby -- assuming he has the stakes grades to qualify for the May 5 race. AP

"What happened last year is something that happened,'' says Matz. "It's like the plane crash. It's with you for the rest of your life. What you do with it is up to you. What I'm trying to do with Barbaro is think of the good that came with it, the way he inspired people, the way people cared about him.'' (Fate managed to find Matz at every turn in 2006 and include him in the script; Matz-trained Round Pond won the Breeders Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs, but only after two other horses broke down).

On another level, Matz's attachment to Barbaro's memory is more fundamental. He is a trainer. Barbaro was a great horse. That memory is endlessly long, as well. "What can I do?'' asked Matz. "I can't just give up and say I'll never have another good horse again. I will probably never have another one like him, but then again, not many people do.''

Yet he works most viscerally in an industry of hope. "Every year, the two-year-olds come in, and you say to yourself, 'Is this the one?''' says Matz. "You do your best and you hope one of them develops.''

Chelokee has developed, albeit late. An offspring of the swift Cherokee Run, Chelokee didn't break his maiden until last October and didn't win again until taking a seven-furlong allowance race on the undercard of the March 3 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Four weeks later, he might have been the best horse on the track in the Florida Derby, if not for traffic problems.

His bubble status underscores a weakness in the Derby's graded-stakes tiebreaker. Money earnings are not always analogous to the quality of a horse's performances. Others have suggested that a point system would be more equitable and such a system would also have its flaws; but it is worth exploring. If Chelokee wants in, he should be in.

Of course for Matz, the present and past are seldom far apart. This week, Barbaro's owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, came to Kentucky and watched their four-year-old, Showing Up, finish second in the Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland. They also went with Matz to Mill Ridge Farm to see Barbaro's full brother, the recently named yearling, Nicanor (from the same fouxhouns painting that gave Barbaro his name), and Barbaro's dam, in foal with another full brother.

"The brother looks very nice,'' says Matz. And here came the slight smile again, this time with the scent of hope in the air.