Nicanor giving Barbaro fans a reason to shout

July 15, 7:36 AMHorse Racing ExaminerRobin Bush

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(Note: Nicanor was scratched from the Virginia Derby on Friday due to a leg injury.  The exact injury was not known at the time, but is in no way life-threatening.)

From the time he was named, the moniker of “Nicanor” has been on the lips of many a Thoroughbred racing fan. The full brother to the heroic Barbaro was born in the year that was both fantastic and tragic for his brilliant sibling. In the spring of 2006, shortly after Nicanor’s birth, Barbaro blew the doors off what appeared to be a wide-open Kentucky Derby. His commanding stride carried him 6 ½ lengths clear of his nearest challenger that day, and that jaw-dropping tour-de-force sent the racing world into agonizing anticipation of the Preakness Stakes, where it seemed so likely that Barbaro would again smash his foes and be on the verge of an undefeated Triple Crown sweep.

 But the euphoria of just two weeks prior was obliterated on Preakness day, as in the first furlong the gallant horse suffered a catastrophic right hind leg injury. Though most horses would have been euthanized with such devastating damage, his owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson were determined to do everything possible to try to save their beloved colt. For the next eight months, Barbaro was as great an inspiration for courage and perseverance in the face of tremendous odds as any human. Fans who had been awed by his prowess in his short time on the track were overwhelmed by his fortitude and upbeat outlook. People that had no interest in horse racing were also drawn to the colt’s determination and huge personality. Barbaro’s story received nonstop media coverage, as everyone seemed to be hungry for every piece of news on the horse’s condition over the eight months he stayed at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center.

But finally, after developing laminitis too severe to overcome in multiple hooves, the Michael Matz trainee had to be humanely euthanized on January 29, 2007. He was four years old. Racing was devastated by his loss, but what has stuck in the minds of most fans has been his unconquerable spirit.

And so, as much as Barbaro has meant to both racing fans and many outside the sport, it’s no wonder that a craze of sorts has developed over his full siblings that seem to have inherited so many of their brother’s best traits. Nicanor, now a three-year-old that has made five starts, has become to many fans a very tangible piece of Barbaro’s legacy. Aside from sharing the same sire and dam (Dynaformer and La Ville Rouge), he is fairly similar in physical appearance, is the same color, and sports a comparable star and snip. He has the same intelligent, curious look. And now that he is maturing and really figuring out this game of racing, he’s showing the potential for possessing the fans’ most hoped-for quality of Barbaro’s: his tremendous ability.

After an tenth-place finish in his first start, on the dirt at Gulfstream Park in January, Nicanor began to display more courage and talent in his subsequent races. He was beaten a length in his second start, but in a gritty performance came back on the winner in the final sixteenth. Next time out, he showed even more ferocity, falling just a half-length short.

Nicanor had already displayed great determination and good ability on dirt. But when Michael Matz switched him to the Delaware Park turf in his fourth start, the colt was a new horse. Like his brother, who won his first race on turf at Delaware, Nicanor relished the surface. He carried jockey Rosie Napravnik to a sensational 15 ¼-length victory, leading nearly gate to wire. He then handily won a 1 1/8-mile allowance race, on the same turf course, by a comfortable length and three-quarters.

 In just a few short months, Nicanor has proven he could be capable of living up to the grand hopes and expectations some die-hard Barbaro fans have harbored. He’s already accomplished more than a great percentage of more experienced Thoroughbreds. Now, this Saturday, he takes a gigantic step in showing just how much of Barbaro is in him. He will go postward in the Grade 2 Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs against a talented field. The colt is the slight morning-line favorite, but will have to tackle established graded stakes winners and stakes-placed runners. It seems he will be up against it, but Matz wouldn’t enter him if he didn’t feel Nicanor were ready for the challenge. And one could argue that a certain Kentucky Derby winner will be cheering him on the whole way.

Nicanor is affording people who were so touched by Barbaro an extension of their hero. Fans are well aware that he is not his brother, but the more-than-you-could-hope-for similarities make them feel that a great part of their champion is still here. Though it seems unlikely that this colt could ever be as sensational as Barbaro, he has already taken his fans on an exciting journey that has helped them to keep in mind more of Barbaro’s triumph and less of his tragedy. Hopefully, he is developing into much more than a shade of his remarkable brother.

Whether Nicanor becomes a top-notch horse or fizzles, Barbaro’s story will continue to some degree through his siblings, who all have or will have the same owners and trainer, for years to come. Lentenor, a two-year-old, is already showing a lot of promise. A 2009 colt is by La Ville Rouge’s side. And now, she is in foal with Barbaro’s first full sister. It seems Barbaro fans have an awful lot to anticipate in the next few years.

For more info:

Alex Brown Racing (Nicanor page)

Siblings carry Barbaro's legacy, capture imagination of fans (USA Today)

Tracking Barbaro's brothers (Blood-Horse)