by Jeff Lowe

Paulo Lobo has made his mark as a successful trainer in Southern California, but his most significant impact on a national scale has come in forays to other states, which may bode well on Saturday when he will saddle Gayego for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1).

Since he arrived in the United States from Brazil in 2001, Lobo has six wins from ten starts outside California, including Gayego's victory in the $1-million Arkansas Derby (G2) on April 12 at Oaklawn Park.

The other five wins were in Grade 1 races, including three from Pico Central (Brz) in the 2004 Carter Handicap (G1) and Vosburgh Stakes (G1) at Aqueduct and Metropolitan Handicap (G1) at Belmont Park. 

Farda Amiga provided the other victories in the 2002 Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs and Alabama Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, and she also finished second to Azeri in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) at Arlington Park to seal up the Eclipse Award as champion three-year-old filly.

Farda Amiga was a bright spot in a difficult time for Lobo and his wife, Maria Carolina.

"I think we are so close because we didn't have anyone else [in the United States]," said Lobo, 39. "It was a very tough time."

Lobo came to the United States to fulfill his dream to "be around good farms, good horsemen, and especially good horses." He was invited to make the move by three partners who promised to send him five yearlings. Farda Amiga was one of them. 

"Farda Amiga for sure introduced me in America," Lobo said. "It was my card."

 Lobo said the quality of the horses in his barn particularly improved following the success of Pico Central, who was an Eclipse Award finalist as champion sprinter of 2004. He began training for Gayego's owners, Carlos Juelle and Jose Prieto, about five years ago after being introduced by a mutual friend.

Gayego is the only horse Lobo currently trains for the partners.

Lobo heard good things about Gayego before the Gilded Time colt joined his barn last fall. Lobo saw the potential himself the first time he worked Gayego.

"The first [three-furlong workout] he showed us that we were talking about a very good horse," Lobo said. "He went in :36 and change but he breezed so well that you could see that he was a very, very nice mover."

Gayego has never finished worse than second in five career starts. His two second-place finishes came in a December entry-level allowance race in which he missed the break and a narrow defeat to Georgie Boy in the San Felipe Stakes (G2) on March 15 in his first start around two turns.

In switching to dirt for the first time in the Arkansas Derby, Gayego took command along the backstretch and held strong to win by three-quarters of a length over Z Fortune.

"He's always been right there," Lobo said. "He's never run a bad race. After the Arkansas Derby, I think I have a very good shot because he has been improving at the right time. He is peaking at the right time."

Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer