Barbaro: In Memory of a Champion

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was euthanized on January 29, 2007 following a courageous fight for life.

The chilling images of the 2006 Preakness are seared into the memory of every horseracing fan. Shortly after the start of the race, the odds on favorite Babaro pulls up lame. The way that his right hind leg was dangling useless made it obvious from the outset that it was a serious, life-threatening injury. Veteran jockey Edgar Prado quickly recognized the severity of the injury, and immediately dismounted to do whatever he could tophysically support and comfort his mount.

At first, it seemed like the Preakness injury could be a sad story with a happy ending. Thanks to state of the art veterinary science and the well known feisty toughness of Barbaro, initial prognostications were guardedly optimistic. The colt responded well to his surgery and for months the recovery progressed well. Finally, the laminitis that affected both of his rear hooves became so severe that the decision was made to put him down.

Barbaro never had the opportunity to earn credentials to rank him as an all time great race horse, he will clearly go down in history as one of the most dominant Kentucky Derby winners ever. Barbaro seemed to shift into another gear at the final turn, and ended up winning the race by 7 lengths. According to jockey Prado, his margin of victory was even more impressive considering that he wasn't even running all out during the home stretch. In historical context, his Derby performance ranks among the best ever. The 7 length victory was the largest since 1946 when Assault won "the run for the roses" by 8 lengths. That also means that his Derbyperformance was more dominant than a number of all time greats including Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed.

Barbaro will be remembered not only for his performance on the track, but for the courage, heart and toughness he showed during his injury and its aftermath. As of this writing, no decision has been made on his burial site but under consideration is Churchill Downs. It would be a fitting resting place for the horse that won the Kentucky Derby in such impressive fashion and that captured the imagination of the American public during his fight for life.

The University of Pennsylvania has started a memorial fund for Barbaro to benefit their Veterinary Medical Center. Additionally, there's another fund for research into laminitis. Both of these would be well deserving of a gift:

University of Pennsylvania Barbaro Fund

The Fund to Fight Laminitis

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