Barbaro
Barbaro is taken to the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania for treatment. The center is renowned for its specialized care, especially for animals needing complicated bone surgery.1
It was announced on Jan. 29, 2008, the one-year anniversary of his death, that the ashes of Barbaro would be buried at Churchill Downs, the site of his most memorable victory, the 2006 Kentucky Derby. The ashes will be buried at the center of a brick plaza in front of the Kentucky Derby Museum under a statue that his owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, will have commissioned.2
The sculpture by Daniel Edwards - whose Paris Hilton and Britney Spears sculptures are familiar eye-openers - is scheduled to be unveiled on April 30th to coincide with this year’s Kentucky Derby. Unlike the beloved statue of Balto, the heroic sled dog who saved a town by delivering medicine through an Alaskan blizzard, parents may want to steer their kids clear of the Barbaro statue.3
His feature, “Gone Like the Wind,” was a finalist for a 2008 National Magazine Award. Bissinger says he still gets sad when he hears clips of the call from Barbaro’s Kentucky Derby win.4
He is only the sixth undefeated Kentucky Derby champion in the 133-year history of the race, and his 6?-length margin was the largest since Assault prevailed by 8 lengths 60 years earlier. But most analysts lament Barbaro’s relatively small body of work (seven starts) and wonder what might’ve been.5