Prepping for an expected start in the April 1 Florida Derby (G1), undefeated
Holy Bull S. (G3) winner BARBARO (Dynaformer) worked five furlongs in 1:00 2/5
over a fast track at Palm Meadows Training Center on Monday. The Kentucky Derby
(G1) contender posted the second-fastest of 30 moves at the distance.
“We just let him stretch his legs,” trainer Michael Matz said. “Everything
continues to go well for us. I don’t know how his time compares to some of the
other horses (on the worktab), but we were very happy with what he did. He went
good, he came back fine, he scoped clean and he’s got his head in the feed tub
right now.”
A homebred racing for Lael Stables, Barbaro captured his first three starts
on the turf, including impressive scores in the Laurel Futurity and Tropical
Park Derby (G3), before attempting dirt for the first time in the Holy Bull. On
a sloppy main track in that race, he held on by three-quarters of a length to
advance his career mark to a perfect four-for-four.
Monday’s work was his third since the Holy Bull. The dark bay colt took a
half-mile spin in :50 2/5 on February 22 and drilled five-eighths in 1:01 3/5 on
March 4, both at Palm Meadows.