Janney said he never heard anyone in his family lament about losing out on Secretariat.

“I never saw my grandmother or my Uncle Ogden spend too much time worrying about spilled milk,” he said. “They were always about what’s going to happen next. I can remember Uncle Ogden would be very nervous before a big race. There were many times when whatever his expectations were, they didn’t turn out, the horse ran terribly, whatever. It was like he just turned the page.”

Dinny Phipps made an effort to get out to Payson Park near his home in Palm Beach, Fla., to see his late-blooming colt train, making McGaughey, knowing the significance, a little nervous.

“It’s a struggle for me to get out there, but I wanted to go see how he was doing,” Phipps said.

Throughout the lead-up to the race, the family insisted it did not have Derby fever. But a glance at Phipps during the singing of “My Old Kentucky Home” showed he might have had more emotion inside than he was letting on.

Afterward, the owners gave credit where it was due, to McGaughey, who has trained for the family since 1986 and has been a fixture in his barn throughout the week, watching over his charge and getting his hands dirty in the process.

“This is a time to reflect on our terrific trainer,” Janney said. “I certainly hoped it would be his time, and it was.”

Phipps quickly chimed in, “Well, he’s right about that.”

Rosario won the world’s richest horse race, the $10 million Dubai World Cup, on March 30 aboard the 2011 Derby winner, Animal Kingdom. He closed the recent Keeneland meet with 38 victories, a spring session record. And on opening night at Churchill Downs, he won five races, including the prep race, the Derby Trial.