Barbaro's Final Home Still Undecided

KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. (AP) _ Barbaro's owners said they need some time to determine the final resting place for the Kentucky Derby winner. <br/><br/>Roy and Gretchen Jackson, owners of the beloved colt

Wednesday, January 31st 2007, 6:02 am

By: News On 6

KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. (AP) _ Barbaro's owners said they need some time to determine the final resting place for the Kentucky Derby winner.

Roy and Gretchen Jackson, owners of the beloved colt who was euthanized Monday, remained undecided about where Barbaro will be buried.

It could be the Kentucky Derby Museum, just a few hundred yards from the scene of his greatest triumph in the 2006 Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

Or it could be in the bluegrass of Lexington, Ky., at the 1,200-acre Kentucky Horse Park. Or possibly the Jacksons' 190-acre Lael Farm, not far from the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center where Barbaro spent eight months trying to recover from three bones that shattered in his right hind leg at the start of the Preakness.

Barbaro's resting place might form the basis of a regional racing museum in Pennsylvania, Gretchen Jackson said Tuesday night.

``My son-in-law, I think, had this idea that we really ought to get some kind of museum for the horses who have run out of this area,'' she told The Philadelphia Inquirer. ``That sort of sticks in my mind. You'd have to look at that before you decide where Barbaro goes.''

Despite the pain of Monday's decision, Jackson said, ``There's a certain amount of relief knowing that horse is in a better place. ... I don't have any regrets.''

Barbaro's body was no longer at New Bolton. ``We cremated him,'' Jackson said. ``I assume it's been done.''

Subdued staffers at the center tried to get on with business as usual. It wasn't easy, especially for chief surgeon Dean Richardson, who cared for Barbaro from the start and built a special bond with the colt.

During Richardson's morning rounds Tuesday, there were no bright eyes staring back at him from the corner ICU stall Barbaro occupied.

``I've been getting up before six every morning for the last eight months to look at the horse,'' Richardson said, pausing to collect his thoughts. ``And he's not there. It's kind of tough.''

There was still plenty of work, though. Back in surgery, Richardson popped out briefly in the lobby to give one person a medical update on her horse, cracking a few jokes and putting the owner at ease about her stallion.

``That's what I do,'' Richardson said.

Still, it may take Richardson some time to get over the loss of Barbaro, who was put down after complications from his Preakness injuries led to deadly laminitis in his other three legs.

``I'm still having trouble dealing with it,'' Richardson said, his voice cracking. ``I don't really want to talk about it. It's still hard to deal with.''

While the outpouring of support during Barbaro's recovery continued after he was euthanized, floral deliveries arrived with sympathy cards attached instead of messages of hope:

``Barbaro, you fought the good fight. You will always be a champion. Love you!!!!!''

``In loving memory of Barbaro, champion of our hearts.''

Barbaro's trainer Michael Matz also had a tough morning at Palm Meadows training center in Boynton Beach, Fla., where he oversees more than 60 horses. One is a half brother to Barbaro, 3-year-old Man in Havana.

``It's hardest when I think and talk about it,'' he said in a story posted on the Daily Racing Form's Web site Tuesday. ``If I'm working, I don't have it on my mind. It's better to keep going.''