Racing's New Hope -- Barbaro's Brother

"I don't expect him to be another Barbaro," she told ESPN. "There will never be another Barbaro for me. But it would be marvelous if he [Nicanor] had talent."

So far the signs are positive.

"He has the physical attributes. He's a leader among the group in the field. And that's what you want," Belker said.

Nicanor will spend the summer in Kentucky and then be moved in September to Florida, where he will learn to become either a race horse or a pampered flop. In a year he will have doubled his weight to about 1,100 pounds and should be showing signs of promise.

"These traits are emerging," said Welker, "but we'll never truly know till he breaks from the gate."

Stay tuned. If the plans for Nicanor pan out, you could see him at Churchill Downs in 2009.

But not everything is riding on Nicanor alone -- another brother was born to the family just last month. Farm officials said if anything, this unnamed foal looks even more like Barbaro than Nicanor, and that may raise the hopes and up the ante even more.