Saturday is the Kentucky Derby

It is time to look at some of the past races:

2008: Big Brown:



2007: Street Sense:



2006: Barbaro:



2005: Giacomo



2004: Smarty Jones:



2003: Funny Cide:



2002: War Emblem:



2001: Monarchos:



2000: Fusaichi Pegasus:



Official Kentucky Derby YouTube channel is here.

Barbaro News.

Barbaro's jockey Edgar Prado remembers the champion in a series of interviews.

For Those Who Are Interested,

here are some photographs of Barbaro's brother, Nicanor.

He's a beauty.

Barbaro News.

Barbaro's ashes will be laid to rest at Churchill Downs, the site of his greatest triumph, the 2006 Kentucky Derby.

It has been a year since Barbaro was put down because of complications from laminitis.

More:

Barbaro will be the first horse in history to have his remains placed on the grounds of the historic track. His ashes will be interred outside Churchill's entrance gate in a large elevated space enclosed by bricks. The site will also include a life-size bronze statue commissioned by the Jacksons and loaned to the track as part of the official memorial site.

Roy Jackson said Churchill Downs was the best place to honor the colt, who won the Derby by a dominating 6-1/2 lengths before being injured in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I).

Barbaro News.

Dr. Dean Richardson, in a speech yesterday, recalled his treating the Kentucky Derby winner:

"Very few things really got to me personally as far as irritating me," Richardson said. "But one thing that bothered me immensely was when people would imply that the only reason this was being done was for money. The Jacksons have a lot of money. They're rich people; there's no getting around it. They didn't need the money; they didn't want the money. This wasn't done for the money in any way, shape, or form. I made an awfully concerted effort to get that point across, and I hoped I succeeded."

That always pissed me off, too. They did it because they loved the horse. He was their pet.

Roy and Gretchen Jackson,

who bred George Washington, were extremely saddened about the tragedy that befell him last Saturday during the Breeders' Cup Classic.

After watching the Danehill colt suffer multiple injuries to his right front leg and be euthanized on the Monmouth Park track, Roy Jackson could not help but think about Barbaro. The Jacksons' champion homebred also had to be put down after a long health battle that began with a similar injury suffered at the 2006 Preakness Stakes (gr. I).

“We’re not as emotionally involved with George Washington on a day-to-day basis,” Jackson said Oct. 28. “But I would say it brought up some of the same kinds of feelings as the Barbaro story. We didn’t have that connection (to George Washington), but I still feel very sorry about it. He was a special horse.”

George Washington was very popular in Europe, where he spent most of his racing career.

Since I Don't Get

HBO, I won't be able to see the documentary on Barbaro which is scheduled to air tomorrow.

I'll have to wait until it comes out on DVD.

I highly recommend the Sean Clancy book on Barbaro. It is excellent, with many pictures of the Derby winner. It reminds me a great deal of the Raymond Woolfe book on Secretariat which was first published in 1974 and available in paperback. Clancy, like Woolfe with Tweedy and company, had seemingly unlimited access to Barbaro's connections.

Barbaro News.

A Barbaro painting is up for auction on eBay.

It is currently at $14,200. You can see the painting on the site while the auction is still going on.

A Year Later,

Barbaro casts a huge shadow over the Preakness.

It Seems Appropriate

trainer Michael Matz would win the first running of the Barbaro Stakes with his colt, Chelokee.

Some of Barbaro's

many fans have decided to carry on his legacy.

They aren't as nuts as some of the Elvis fans.

A Year Ago,

the owners had to make a quick decision whether or not to try everything they could to save Barbaro.

Money was never a factor in their decision. That's what the second-guessers and animal rights nutjobs can't figure out in their lamebrained assault on a sport they don't understand. The Jacksons did it because they loved the horse. He was their pet, much the same way Tony and Sam are my pets.

There's nothing they would not have done to save him as long as he was not suffering. Plus the fact, that although his ultimate chances for survival were low because of laminitis and other complications, his injury was not a compound fracture.

When it appeared he would not make it when the laminitis started affecting his forelegs, then they made the decision to euthanize him.

Barbaro News.

On Thursday, Dr. Richardson had an online chat with Blood Horse readers:

Pasadena, CA:
I understand that every effort was made to save Barbaro, and am no way trying to find fault. The question I can't seem to reconcile in my own mind is how Barbaro's status could change so quickly, from talk of discharging him in early January to his death on Jan. 29. What was the turning point (or was there a single turning point)?

Richardson:
The biggest problem is that he began to get more sore on his laminitic left hind foot. That occurred even though he had been fairly stable on it for several months. This is NOT unusual, however. All of us who work on this type of case have seen one be comfortable for months to years and then suddenly have a crisis. In Barbaro’s case, when he became lame on the left hind, he badly overloaded the right hind limb. The latter, as you know, was healed but not perfect. The result of the overload on the right hind leg was that he developed a severe subsolar abscess on that foot. We tried to protect the RH foot by placing him in transfixation pins. This allowed him to bear full weight again on the RH but it wasn’t enough to offset the development of laminitis in both front feet. I have described it as a deck of cards falling and still find that to be an apt analogy.

The AP's James Crisp snapped this photograph of Barbaro's two-week-old full brother at Mill Ridge Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. La Ville Rouge is the dam and Dynaformer is the sire.

Barbaro has another full brother, a yearling named Nicanor.

While

I was "transcribing" the McCain comments, I recorded the Barbaro special which aired on NBC this evening. I will watch the entire thing later, but what little I saw had me in tears. That horse gave so much, and it was so sad the way it ended.

I don't know if this was the same show which aired on HBO, but if it comes out on DVD, I will make sure I get a copy of it.

Barbaro Watch.

The Jacksons purchased Barbaro's saddle to raise money for charity.

The saddle will be displayed at the Kentucky Derby Museum.

Barbaro News.

One year later, Dr. Richardson looks back on his most famous patient.
_____

A documentary on the late horse will air this Saturday after the Kentucky Derby.

In Remembrance of Barbaro,

this year's Kentucky Derby will have a bonus.

Later in the week I will write more about this year's running.

The Jacksons,

owners of Barbaro, will be honored at Churchill Downs along with their deceased champion.

Roy Jackson gave an interview.

Barbaro News.

The Jacksons will speak at a fundraiser in Ocala, Florida.