My Year with Barbaro

We're approaching the end of the year so I thought I would look back at some of the memorable Barbaro-related moments that I covered as part of my research for this story.

High on the list would have to be going to the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville, KY on the day after Barbaro was euthanized. I happened to be in Kentucky doing research and had scheduled a tour of Churchill Downs with Tony Terry, the PR guy in charge of the Derby before Barbaro's sudden turn for the worse. It turned out to be a fascinating place to be. Fans were streaming in leaving bouquets of flowers at the feet of the horse statue in the museum painted to replicate Barbaro, the current Derby winner. It was a freezing day and even more chilling standing in the paddock where Barbaro's name joined the names of all the other Derby winners that are painted on the proscenium around the area. There was also a steady stream of visitors to the graves of those horses who are buried at the museum and great speculation as to where Barbaro would be buried. (To my knowledge, this has still not been determined.) Inside the museum, there is an interactive exhibit that allows visitors to view any Kentucky Derby race in history. I must have listened to the call of Barbaro's race over 100 times that day as fans lined up to replay his victory. I took special note of the sign the museum staffers had added to the neon display outside the theater that showed the Derby movie: Barbaro, Thanks for the dream.

On April 29, 2006, over 600 Fans of Barbaro gathered at Delaware park to celebrate what would have been Barbaro's fourth birthday. These were all people who had never met in person but who had forged strong relationships on the internet via Alex Brown's web site. Roy and Gretchen Jackson were in attendance as were representatives from both New Bolton Center and Fair Hill, including Barbaro;s groom Eduardo. I remember doing an interview with Eduardo, who speaks very little English, using the translation services of a Fan of Barbaro that I had just met, who happened to be from England and spoke fluent Spanish. It was a joyful day at which several movies about Barbaro were screened, including the NBC documentary that aired a week later. It is safe to say, there was not a dry eye in the tent when that video ended. These are amazing people, deeply committed to each other and to the legacy of a horse that brought them all together.

A few months later, I was invited by New Bolton Center to attend the screening of the HBO documentary about Barbaro. This was a fabulous event. All of the "luminaries" in the documentary were there, from the equine ambulance drivers to the doctors and nurses who treated Barbaro and it was great to put faces with names. Prior to this, I had been invited to New Bolton Center when Amy Gutman, Penn's president came to speak a few weeks after Barbaro's demise, and the grief was palpable. Anyone who ever thinks that the veterinary profession is not deeply connected to their patients had only to see and hear Dean Richardson break down during a slide show of Barbaro in happy times. It was clear that the experience of caring for this horse was emotionally wrenching for everyone connected with New Bolton Center. It may have been a pain for them to work around all the publicity but it was also a privilege. Some of that grief was still there at the HBO screening, but it was clear that the mood was improving.

Through all of the year, I kept in constant touch with Gretchen and Roy Jackson and my contacts at New Bolton Center. I only wanted to do enough research to be able to write the proposal from a position of authority--not enough to write the book. I think it will be extremely interesting to go back, if and when this proposal ever sells, and interview all these players now that even more time as passed. My guess is that stories that they might not have told me then may be more important now.

I'm heading to Florida for a week and will post from there. I hope to go to the races, ideally on a day when Michael Matz (Barbaro's trainer) is running a horse and catch up with him.