Trainer has had full, storied life

Michael Matz will send out undefeated Barbaro Saturday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- It all started with a fib.
Had a teenage Michael Matz admitted he'd never been on a horse, the extraordinary circumstances that have brought him to the cusp of racing's greatest achievement -- training a Kentucky Derby winner -- might never have been set in motion.
Saturday the 55-year-old Matz will send out undefeated Barbaro as one of the favorites to win the 132nd Derby, culminating a circuitous journey that began four decades earlier and launched his career.
Between his first Olympics in 1976 and his third in 1996, in which he was the U.S. flag bearer at the closing ceremony, another twist of fate put him aboard crippled United Airlines flight 232. He and his fiancee, King Ranch heiress D.D. Alexander, were among the survivors when the plane crashed in an Iowa cornfield 17 years ago and made Matz a national hero.
"It's a very exciting time right now," he said. "I've been lucky with the Olympics, lucky with a lot of things. So far, I've lived a pretty full life."
Couldn't ride
His quest began in the small town of Shillington, Pa., near Reading, where Matz was working for a neighbor, mowing lawns and helping around the place. Eventually, the owner, George Kohl, bought a couple of horses and was looking for someone to ride with.
"When the man asked if I knew how to ride, I said 'Oh, sure,' " Matz lied. "I just wanted to keep my job and earn some money."
The jaunts around the farm quickly turned into something more. He joined a pony club and began competing in local shows. Soon, Matz figured out he could ride with the best of the bunch.
After high school, Matz took a job as a groom at another farm, and tried college -- Albright College in Reading -- but found himself staring out the window wishing he was riding. So he hit the road with a job and a dream.
"I left home with a sleeping bag," he said. "I asked where I'd stay, and they pointed to a bale of hay. ... I loved the horses, so I didn't mind. That's the way you were taught. I was getting experience, traveling to horse shows and still making money."
By 1973, he was competing in Europe; three years later he was on the Olympic team headed to Montreal. Matz figured there was no stopping him.
"I didn't even go to the opening ceremony because I said 'I'll do this every four years,' " he said.
"Well, it took me 16 years to get back -- and when I did, I was the first one on the bus. You learn about things, not to take them as obvious."
Picked the wrong plane
Fate stepped in again on July 19, 1989. Traveling from Hawaii after judging a horse show, Matz and Alexander missed their connection from Denver to Philadelphia. There were two flights to Philadelphia 20 minutes apart. "We picked the wrong one," Matz said.
Before and after the crash, Matz was an international show jumper, recently inducted into the show jumping Hall of Fame. He competed in three Olympics, winning a silver medal in the team event at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
He was chosen to carry the flag at the closing ceremony not only for his Olympic accomplishments, but for his heroism. Matz led three children to safety after the fiery crash and then went back into the inferno and pulled out an 11-month old girl from the wreckage.
When he failed to make the 2000 Olympic team, Matz turned to thoroughbreds full time. He had begun the transition two years earlier and started with three horses in his stable.
Before Barbaro, Matz's biggest racing claim to fame was Kicken Kris, who won the 2004 Arlington Million.
With Edgar Prado aboard Saturday, Barbaro will attempt to match the likes of Seattle Slew (1977) and Smarty Jones (2004) as unbeaten Derby winners. Much has been made of the fact that Needles in 1956 was the last Derby winner to run more than four weeks before the race.
"I don't see why that's a big deal," he said. "Before last year, there just weren't any preps run five weeks out from the Derby.
"If it was good enough for Needles, it's good enough for Barbaro."
In that, there may be some truth.
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