Step aside, Curlin. No matter the names atop the tote board Saturday morning at Churchill Downs, Barbaro is still the favorite at the Kentucky Derby. A year after his stunning 6 1/2-length victory, and nearly four months after he was euthanized, the colt’s legacy lingers in every corner of this grand ol’ track. Barbaro may be gone, but he hasn’t been forgotten.

Not by a public that still grieves his loss. Or by a racing community raising buckets of cash for equine-related charities. Or even by a media corps that asked so many questions about Barbaro’s roaring run, gruesome breakdown and his lasting impact that the 20 thoroughbreds running in this Kentucky Derby occasionally seemed like an afterthought.

But that could change by nightfall, once a new horse is wearing the roses.

“I would hope that whoever wins the Kentucky Derby here,” said Roy Jackson, Barbaro’s co-owner, “the story would be about them