Churchill Downs To Be Barbaro’s Final Resting Place
In an announcement made Tuesday, January 29, by Barbaro’s owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson, Churchill Downs has been chosen as the final resting place of the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro.
Barbaro captured the hearts of horse racing fans around the world for waging a brave fight for survival following a horrific breakdown at the Preakness Stakes in May of 2006. After a lengthy battle with laminitis, Barbaro was euthanized and was cremated following his death on January 29, 2007.
Barbaro‘s ashes will be interred outside of Gate 1 at Churchill Downs, in a large elevated space enclosed by bricks. The site, which will be open to the public and is currently being used as a garden, will include a bronze statue of the Kentucky Derby winner that will be commissioned by the Jacksons and loaned to Churchill Downs as part of Barbaro’s official memorial site.
The popular colt, Barbaro, will become the only horse buried on the grounds of Churchill Downs to date. The adjacent Kentucky Derby Museum has the remains of four Kentucky Derby winners interred on its property — Sunny’s Halo (1983), Carry Back (1961), Swaps (1955), and Broker’s Tip (1933).
“Barbaro took his place in history on the first Saturday in May 2006 with a brilliant Kentucky Derby victory, but his accomplishments as a racehorse are certainly rivaled by the courage and resolve he displayed after his injury. We are grateful to the Jacksons for entrusting their beloved Derby champion to us,” said Steve Sexton, president of Churchill Downs and executive vice president of Churchill Downs Incorporated.
“In the year that has just preceded, we have spent much time thinking about Barbaro’s memorial and where it would be best placed. Churchill Downs became the obvious site for us,” said Roy Jackson. “It was here that he ran his best race. It was here where we spent our most memorable day as horse owners and breeders. It was here where his racing fans could visit daily, and it was here at Churchill Downs where he was cordially invited to rest. We look forward to working with Steve Sexton and his team.”
In the coming weeks, Churchill Downs will install a bronze marker in the garden outside Gate 1 to designate the area where Barbaro’s ashes and bronze statue will be located.
Roy and Gretchen Jackson are currently considering a select group of artists for the project and plan to make a final decision on the artist and statue design in the next few months. The Jacksons and Churchill Downs anticipate the statue’s completion and the formal unveiling and dedication of the Barbaro memorial site estimated to be some time in 2009.
"Churchill Downs To Be Barbaro’s Final Resting Place" was posted on 29 January 2008 8:24 PM under Horse Racing News, Horses, Kentucky Derby, Owners & Breeders, Special Features
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