Horse Racing: Barbaro, the Kentucky Derby champion
Sired by Dynaformer, the great thoroughbred racehorse was foaled on the 29th of April 2003. The bay coloured talented colt gave a took over the field at the 2006 Kentucky Derby, but unfortunately inured his legs in the Preakness Stakes 2006 that
followed which eventually lead to Barbaro’s death.
After his victory at the Kentucky Derby, Barbaro was sent out to the Preakness Stakes as a heavy favourite. Things however did not turn out as expected. On the 20th of May 2006, Barbaro false started the Preakness Stakes and thus fractured three
bones in and around his ankle and the right hind leg. The racehorse lost any chance of winning the Triple Crown after this intense injury. Moreover, with this injury, his athletic career also came to an end. Bararo was then sent for a surgery at the New Bolton
Centre of the University of Pennsylvania, the very next day. Due to the injuries, it was diagnosed in July the same year that the champion thoroughbred had developed a condition known as laminitis in his left front leg. To treat this problem, the racehorse
had to go through another series of surgeries and operations and thus had to stay in the Equine Intensive Care Unit at the New Bolton Centre for an extensively long period of time. During the process of treating his right hind leg, Barbaro then developed laminitis
in both of his rear legs. The racehorse had to be eventually euthanized on the 29th of January 2007, after the veterinarians and his owners concluded that he could not be saved since the surgeries could not treat his injuries.
Being a descendant of the legendary Mr. Prospector, Barbaro was related to many Triple crown champions and hopefuls including Big Brown, Afleet Alex, Smarty Jones, Funny Cide and Fusaichi Pegasus.
Sent out as the second choice at odds of 6:1, Barbaro emerged victorious in the Kentucky Derby 2006. The champion managed to hold off all his competitors under the jockey Edgar Prado and won the race by six and a half lengths ahead of the runner up. This
was the second largest marginal victory in the event after the Triple Crown winner of 1946, Assault led his competitor Run for the Roses with eight lengths. This victory made Barbaro the sixth undefeated thoroughbred racehorse to have won the Kentucky Derby.
Barbaro also set a record of contending a race after the longest lay off of five weeks prior to the race.
The great thoroughbred was a hopeful of the Triple Crown 2006. He sent out to contend the Preakness Stakes as a heavy favourite after his spectacular victory at the Kentucky Derby. However, Barbaro started the race with a false start and then suffered from
a catastrophic injury from which he could never recover. This race was won by Bernardini, after Barbaro fell to the ground and fractured more than 20 bones.
The Kentucky Derby winner was owned and bred by Gretchen and Roy Jackson’s Lael Stables of West Grove situated in Pennsylvania. While the thoroughbred’s stay at Fair Hill Training Centre, he was put under the training of Michael R. Matz. Peter Brette was
Barbaro’s exercise jockey, meanwhile he was ridden by Edgar Prado and Jose Caraballo in his entire career starts that he contended.
Barabro started his athletic career as a two year old colt. The first ever race contended by him was the race that was run on the Delaware Park on the 4th of October 2005 over a distance of 1 mile. He then went on to win the Laurel Futurity on
the 19th of November 2005 at the Laurel Park Racecourse at Laurel, Maryland over a distance of 1 1/16 miles. He then won the Tropical Park Derby on the 1st of January 2006 at Calder Race Course in Miami Gardens Florida over 1 1/8 miles.
The same racing season, he was undefeated in three other races including the Holy Bull Stakes and Florida Derby at the Gulfstream Park and Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.
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