Fall Racing Season Could Feature Lentenor's Debut

With the 2009 Travers officially in the books, summer is truly coming to an end. The leaves around here are starting to turn and and all eyes are beginning to focus on a certain young colt in the Fair Hill barn of Michael Matz.

I am speaking, of course, of Lentenor and a recent interview with Peter Brette, Michael's assistant, got me thinking about when and where he might make his racing debut. It was on October 4, 2005 that Barbaro broke his maiden at Delaware Park--on the turf--and I think it is fair to say that Lentenor will be following a similar trajectory.

Brette had the following to say about Barbaro's younger brother, affectionately known as Len: "The way he's going he will definitely start this year--he's a lot stronger than Nicanor was, both mentally and physically."

Brette's comments pertain to the typical offspring of Dynaformer. They are known to be late bloomers. Brette described Nicanor this way: "When he first came to us he was big and he was backward and very immature. . . He was a beautiful horse to sit on, but when he started to jog, he didn't fit together."

Time, patience and the right surface, turf, seemed to make all the difference for Nick. He won his third start, his turf debut, by fifteen lengths. Len, by contrast, seems to resemble his oldest brother in his physical as well as mental maturity--he should be ready to run in the near future and the question will be how Matz paces him. There is, of course, something to be said for doing what worked the first time, but it is also important for Len to establish his own identity.

Rumor has it, however, that Lentenor is more like Barbaro than Nick so stay tuned. We could be in for a very exciting fall racing season. . .