2011 Kentucky Derby: Mucho Macho Man the Emotional Favorite

It's 5:30 in the morning at Churchill Downs the day before the 137th Kentucky Derby. It's not yet light out, but the day's activities started hours ago.

Past Millionaire's Row, past the infield , past the long rows of Ram trucks parked around the back are the stables, already busy with action. In the middle of that action is Mucho Macho Man, at 12:1 considered one of the top five favorites in the Kentucky Derby, now even more so with Uncle Mo scratched for the race.

Standing near him is his trainer, Kathy Ritvo. And she's smiling.

Ritvo has plenty of reasons to smile, but for starters she woke up today. She doesn't take that for granted any more after a heart transplant saved her life two-and-a-half years ago.

Besides, she's at Churchill Downs in the cool, brisk morning air ready to watch the horse she affectionately calls Macho take to the track.

He won't run hard today, Ritvo makes sure of that, and it very well may be the last time he runs before the big race depending on how well he's feeling. But to watch him, it certainly looks like he's good to go.

Almost all of Macho's 12 owners are out this morning to see him. They each look like a proud father every time the horse walks near them, marveling at how strong he looks and the graceful way he moves.

Aside from the owners, a crowd starts to gather around his Mucho Macho Man's stable. In a field that is relatively even with no prohibitive favorite, he has become the story of the Kentucky Derby.

I know "Mucho Macho Man" doesn't really sound like the name of a great movie (actually, just "Macho" rolls off the tongue nicely), but the story around this horse is a filmmaker's dream.

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Mucho Macho Man was born out in the field, not in the barn. When the farm workers found him, he seemed lifeless, so they called for the breeder. The breeder came, rubbed on him a bit, but he still appeared lifeless. They gathered around him and prayed. The next thing they knew, he jumped up and began running through the field. After that, they nicknamed him Lazarus. (Louisville.com)

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Ritvo started training him a year and a half ago, taking over for her husband Tim, who had just moved on to another job. Macho and her were a perfect fit: a horse seemingly brought back from the dead and a trainer given a second chance at life.

If the owners watch Macho as a proud father, Ritvo is the vigilant mother—always keeping an eye on him, whether he's warming up around the track or getting a bath. She spends much of her time with him, sometimes playing music, which she says he enjoys.

His favorite? "Macho Macho Man," she laughs. "He likes to listen to the Village People." No word yet on how he feels about "YMCA."

Things get a little more serious when I ask her how it feels to be here, in the Kentucky Derby, after all that she's been through. You can tell it's an emotional subject.

"I feel lucky to be here. I feel lucky to just wake up."

And if Mucho Macho Man wins and she becomes the first woman trainer ever to win the Kentucky Derby? "I'm just a trainer," says Ritvo. "I'm just like everybody else."

But she's not, and neither is the horse that she came with. Even after his miraculous birth, Macho still manages to beat the odds. At his last race, the Louisiana Derby, he threw a shoe at the very beginning of the race and still managed to come in third to two other Kentucky Derby contenders, Pants On Fire and Nehro.

Just imagine what he can do with four good feet.