ANY INFO ON MICHEAL MATZ THE TRAINER IS HE WORTH FOLLOWING?

Yes- and I am speaking as someone who's been watching Matz and following his career since LONG BEFORE he ever entered the racing business or became famous in it. Matz caught my eye over 30 years ago now, when I was just 12 years old The year was 1976, and it was also the year which saw him make his first appearance in the Olympic Games. He was 25 years old then- and outside of a few people in the sport of show jumping, no one at that time knew anything about him. He didn't win anything that first time- in fact, as he later admitted, that trip was a disaster- but I nonetheless understood that he had talent and a huge amount of potential. Over the course of the next decades, I watched him go from a relative unknown to attaining superstar status in the world of show jumping- he would make two more trips to the Olympics, in '92 and '96, as well as several trips to the Pan American Games- and would win a ton of medals, both silver and gold. He also went on to become one of the best known riders and competitors on the Grand Prix circuit- and he rode a lot of top horses to fame, including such notables as Judgement, Rhum IV, Heisman, Jet Run, The Governor, and several more. He retired from show jumping a decade ago, to pursue a career as a race trainer- his wife's family had always been active in racing, and he was drawn to it too. When this happened, I knew it was just a matter of time before he would eventually train a horse that was capable of winning a Triple Crown race- because he's THAT GOOD. It was never a question of if, but rather WHEN would it happen. When Barbaro won the Derby 3 years ago, I was proven correct.

But for all his competitive achievements, Matz's greatest triumph didn't come in either a show jumping arena, or on the racetrack. It came instead in a cornfield near the town of Sioux City, Iowa, twenty years ago this month. Matz was one of the survivors of the crash of UAL Flight 232- he walked away from it without so much as a scratch. But before he did this, he freed himself, and then freed 3 children who were trapped in the same section of the burning plane that he was. He led them and his then fiance ( she's now his wife) to safety outside, and THEN turned around and went back inside the burning wreckage a second time. When he came back out, he was carrying another child- this time, an 11 month old baby girl. There over 200 people on that plane when it went down- and a hundred and thirteen of them DIED on that day 20 years ago. But for Matz,these 4 children ( who are now adults) would have been among the dead. When the smoke cleared and it was all over, Matz was a hero. He's been honored numerous times since that day, by everyone from the governor of his home state ( he's a Pennsylvania native) to the US Senate. The kids he saved have publically thanked him more than once- and three of them were in the audience at Churchill Downs when Barbaro won the Derby in 2006.Matz was elected to be the flag bearer for the closing ceremonies of the Atlanta Olympics in 1996- and I will NEVER forget the sight of him walking into that stadium carrying the Stars and Stripes. That honor is normally reserved for people who win multiple medals during the games- but because of his exploits and reputation as a lifesaver, Matz was chosen to do it. What's even more remarkable are the events which followed right after the plane crash. A week after returning home, Matz broke his right leg in a training accident- but he didn't even let this stop him. Four days later, and eleven days after the crash, he won the Hampton Classic- the most prestigious Grand Prix event on the entire East Coast. I have many memories from that time, too.

Matz's background is even more interesting in some ways than his story is. He's an only child, and he came to the sport of riding rather late- he was eleven before he started. His parents were blue collar-his dad was a plumber, and his mother is a retired grammar school teacher. They weren't horse people- the only reason Matz learned to ride when he did is because they apparently lived down the road from someone who had a farm and was willing to give him a job mucking stalls one summer. This is hardly the background of a celebrity, much less a superstar athlete. Because of this, and because of the fact that he spent 30 years as a show jumper, Matz will ALWAYS BE in a different league than people like Zito, Baffert, Asmussen, Lukas, Dutrow,and even Jones. He's a great example of an "everyman" athlete-someone who came from humble beginnings and rose to the top of his profession through his own hard work and perseverence. So yes, he IS worth watching. He was hurt by what happened to Barbaro- but then again, everyone in the sport was to one degree or another. My thinking is that it's just a matter of time before he and the Jacksons will make another attempt at the Triple Crown. No, it won't be this year or next year, but at some point, it will happen. We haven't heard the last from either Matz or the Jacksons-you can be certain of that.

I'll just go and take a look. Well he had a double on the 13th of this month and looks like he might strike again.