Churchill Downs chosen as final resting place for Barbaro

Barbaro's ashes will be placed outside of Gate 1 at Churchill Downs (Michael J. Marten/Horsephotos.com)

Churchill Downs has been selected as the final resting place for 2006

Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Barbaro, who was euthanized one year ago after a

lengthy battle with laminitis. The announcement was made Tuesday by Barbaro's

owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, at a Churchill Downs news conference.

Barbaro's remains were cremated following his death on January 29, 2007, and

his ashes will be interred outside of Gate 1 at Churchill Downs, in a large

elevated space enclosed by bricks that is currently used as a garden. The site,

which will be open to the public, will include a larger-than-life-sized bronze

statue of the Kentucky Derby 132 winner that will be commissioned by the

Jacksons and loaned to Churchill Downs as part of Barbaro's official memorial

site.

"Churchill Downs is deeply honored to be selected as the final resting place

for Barbaro, who first captured our hearts with his impressive win in the 132nd

Kentucky Derby and who demonstrated strength and determination in his long

battle to overcome both injury and illness," said Steve Sexton, president of

Churchill Downs and executive vice president of Churchill Downs Inc. "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."

"Gretchen and I are pleased to be collaborating with Churchill Downs in this

wonderful project," Roy Jackson said. "In the (last) year, 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. 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."