KENTUCKY DERBY WINNER - BARBARO- FIRED

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro put down

Barbaro lost his battle for life overnight when the Kentucky Derby winner was put down after a major setback in his eight-month long recovery from a broken leg.

Roy Jackson, co-owner of the colt who was injured last May at the Preakness Stakes, told the Philadelphia Daily News that Barbaro was put down after his front legs began to show signs of stress.

Combined with the right hind leg he broke in three places in the 'Run For The Roses' and the left hind leg that developed laminitis during treatment, the pain to the horse was too great to continue the extraordinary life-saving effort.

"He started to have changes in the front feet," Jackson said. "Now we were dealing with all four feet. We were all concurrent on everything that we just don't want the horse to suffer."

Barbaro won the Derby last May by the largest margin in 60 years but broke down barely 200 metres into the second jewel of US horse racing's Triple Crown.

-AFP