The Associated Press
Barbaro will be buried at the site of his greatest triumph.
The 2006 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) champion, who was euthanized Jan. 29, 2007 from complications of a breakdown suffered at the Preakness Stakes (gr. I), will have his ashes interred at Churchill Downs.
Barbaro's remains will be placed outside of an entrance gate in a large elevated space enclosed by bricks. The site will also include a bronze statue commissioned by owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson 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.
"It was here that he ran his best race," Roy Jackson said in a statement released Tuesday. "It was here where we spent our most memorable day as horse owners and breeders."
As spectacular as the colt's career was, he became an icon after breaking his right hind leg a few hundred yards into the Preakness. His eight-month battle to survive captured the hearts of people across the globe. Fans set up Web sites, and well-wishers flooded his stall at New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa., and Churchill Downs with cards and gifts.
"His accomplishments as a racehorse are certainly rivaled by the courage and resolve he displayed after his injury," Churchill Downs president Steve Sexton said.
A formal announcement was expected Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs. Pictures of the colt from both his racing career and his eight-month rehabilitation at New Bolton flashed above a stage where the Jacksons were to speak.
