As of today, it’s been a decade since Barbaro, the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner, answered the starting bell at the Preakness Stakes, moments before jockey Edgar Prado pulled him up with a broken hind leg. Eight months later, he would die of the complications from that injury.
Presenting the final 2009 inductee to The Deadspin Hall Of Fame ...
Oh, like he wasn't going to get a nomination. Barbaro will be nominated until you guys finally come to your senses and elect him.
"The strain, my dear, the strain. I have attended wars which seemed less emotional experiences than Pony Club polo matches." Note to columnists: War is never a good analogy. Especially when you're writing about tony ponies. [Daily Mail]
He is risen. Barbaro Canizares is his name. The Braves just called him up from Triple-A Gwinnett, and he's hitting behind Chipper Jones at this very moment. At the plate, he is, by all accounts, a stud.
Barbaro's full brother, 3-year-old Nicanor, broke his maiden Wednesday by 15 1/4 lengths at Delaware Park. Fans of the late Barbaro reacted with typically cool understatement. One told the New York Times: "Wahhhooooo!"
The time has come, ladies and gentlefolk. (We're actually starting a little bit late.) The 2008 Sportshuman Of The Year awards are about to grace you with their presence, and, as always, we need your nominations over here. This is the third annual SHOTY tournament. The first winner died, and the second one may have…
One SHOTY winner looks like he's gonna make it into the Hall this year. The other is up for an unprecedented third time. Is this the year? Can't a dead horse catch a break? Honestly, if he doesn't make it this year, I plan on putting him up for nomination as long as the site exists anyway. Why not? Don't we kind of…
She doesn't actually mention him by name, but we know that prolific Internet horse poet Dee Mirich has been touched in a profound way by Will's imminent departure. Just read between the lines of her latest poem and you'll find a stirring tribute to Will, Deadspin, and of course Grade II Peter Pan Stakes winner Casino…
Just because you have a famous brother doesn't mean that you will approach the heights of greatness yourself, as anyone who has seen a Daniel Baldwin movie will readily attest. We've previously written about Barbaro's younger brother, of course, but now the horse — named Nicanor — is ready to make his racing debut.…
Many of us have wondered why prolific message board poet Dee Mirich has remained silent on the tragic Eight Belles Kentucky Derby accident. After all, when Barbaro fell, you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting one of her offerings. But now all is clear: Ms. Mirich had been working feverishly on her magnum opus;…
Eight Belles is probably in Heaven by now, galloping in fields of clover on four sturdy legs and eating tasty apples. No, I'm not sure which friends she's romping about with up there (a safe bet; one of them is not Christopher Reeve). Down here on earth, though, things are quite unsettled. Who is to blame? Could the…
By now, you've surely heard: Barbaro will be buried at Churchill Downs. You really need to see how poorly everyone handled it at the press conference.
We had made a vow that we would go at least a month without mentioning Barbaro. And then we learned that they're making an upside down statue of Barbaro to be placed in Central Park. And we realized that resistance was futile.
We're just a couple weeks away from the year anniversary of the day Barbaro galloped off this mortal coil, and no one has decided yet what to do with his ashes. It's a big concern. Really.
I used to think that I knew what Dee Mirich was writing about. I would read her impassioned, fractured poetry on various horse racing message boards, and nod knowingly. "Yes," I would say to myself, "Angels DO prefer hitching their horses to rainbows." But lately, Dee has been listing toward crazy even more than usual…
We really don't know any other way to put this: You can currently buy a painting of Michael Vick riding Barbaro. Worlds collide, combine and explode.
So, we only had one entrant in the Deadspin Hall of Fame this year. Some have called for us to automatically induct some popular picks, like we did last year with YWML and Carl Monday, but that seems against the spirit of matters. (We don't think anyone would argue they wouldn't have made it, had it been up for a…
