Barbaro Still the Center of Attention

It seems as if the new Barbaro statue outside Gate 1 at Churchill Downs has already become a landmark. The Kansas City Star reports that "no one, not even those intent on speeding through the security stop at Gate 1, failed to take a minute to drink in the bronze sculpture that Alexa King has wrought..."

And many of those that paused, had their picture taken in front of the 2006 Kentucky Derby Champion. Some even joked that having their picture taken in front of the statue had become a tradition. The more knowledgeable race-goers even commented that the toe grabs depicted on the statue are now illegal.

The statue was the center of attention the day after the Derby when the connections of Mine That Bird briefly draped the garland of roses over the rail of the statue in tribute to the late champion and then proceeded to hand out the roses to the Derby fans who were visiting the Museum the day after the race.

"This is a tribute to a great horse," trainer Chip Woolley, Jr. said. "I wanted everyone to have a little piece of the Derby. We wanted to give something back to the game. We just want to show how important horses really are. That's what this is all about. We want people to know just how important these horses really are to us. They're not just animals, they're a part of us."

Well said and well done.