HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. — Comparing Nicanor to Barbaro is inevitable.

Just like his older brother, Nicanor has a meticulous bay coat, inquisitive eyes soaking up his surroundings, a splash of white on his forehead, even that sometimes-feisty demeanor that Barbaro displayed around the barn.

And now, it's time to see if Nicanor's similarities carry over to the track.

"It's his turn," jockey Edgar Prado said. "It's the dream of a lot of people for him to finish what Barbaro started."

The next chapter of the Barbaro story begins in today's eighth race at Gulfstream Park, maybe the most eagerly awaited $40,000 maiden event in a while.

Nicanor will finally make his racing debut, two years and two days after Barbaro — the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner, also by Dynaformer and out of La Ville Rouge — was euthanized, after his fight for life gripped the racing world for months.

All of Barbaro's connections are at work for Nicanor: He's trained by Michael Matz, owned by Roy and Gretchen Jackson and ridden by Prado, the Hall of Famer who doesn't mind saying he wants this to be his Derby horse this year.

"Obviously, Nicanor has some big footsteps to follow," Matz said.

Expectations are understandably high.

In the morning line, Nicanor is the 4-1 second choice, and some bettors at Gulfstream said they would make a small wager and keep that ticket regardless of the outcome, a souvenir that they were there for the debut.

"I certainly think we're all optimistic," owner Gretchen Jackson said. "But we know that certain characteristics — and speed is one of them — doesn't necessarily carry on through families. It can and it can't. In all honesty, I would think there will be some disappointments along the way. Sure, there's got to be. But I'm sure we'll still get a lot of pleasure out of him running."

Really, just about everyone who followed Barbaro's tale wants to find out as well.

A few blogs have popped up in recent months, devoted to tracking the progress of Barbaro's full brothers, Nicanor and Lentenor (who has yet to race). And as Nicanor moved closer to his debut, those sites have been atwitter with excitement.

It's not just happenstance, either, that Gulfstream gave the maiden race a marquee spot on today's card, wedged between the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes (for 3-year-olds, a race Barbaro won in 2006) and the Grade 1 Donn Handicap (for older horses, where Einstein and Arson Squad headline this year's field).

With respect to those graded races, today's lure will be about seeing if Nicanor can add to the Barbaro legacy.

"We don't know what kind of caliber Nicanor can be yet," Prado said. "But I want to find out."

Barbaro won the Kentucky Derby by 6 1/2 lengths and instantly was awash in Triple Crown buzz. He never finished another race.

Barbaro shattered three bones in his right hind leg in the opening strides of the Preakness. He defied the odds by surviving eight months and enduring close to two dozen operations, but ultimately succumbed to laminitis, an often life-threatening problem in horses who shift their weight to one leg to keep pressure off another injured limb.

The second anniversary of Barbaro's death was Thursday, and for Prado, Matz and the Jacksons, the memories are still painful.

"I think I was born with the word horse stamped on my heart," Gretchen Jackson said. "I just am in love with horses. I always have been. For me, it's very easy to get lost in horses."