One of the saddest days in Sporting history and Jen and I were there. We awoke way before dawn and drove 4 hours into the mad mad mad traffic of Pimlico on Preakness day. We paid $40 to park and waded through drunk and drinking college kids to get to our general admission entrance.
We found a spot with a view of the starting gate and the finish line and from 11am until 4pm we held our location. With 123,000 in attendance this was not easy. We were behind a glass partition so all of our images for this race are muddy, but they are in the moment and THERE.
I had my camera on Burst when Barbaro broke down. So I have him running and I have an image of jockey Edgar Prado pulling him up. You can see the number 5 horse's jockey pulling his horse up as Edgar Prado attempts to pull Barbaro to a stop.
After Barbaro pulled up, the race ended for most of us. We were watching trainer Micheal Mantz and Edgar tending to Barbaro, not the race. When Benardini crossed the finish line in front of us, we could hardly care.
The photo of Barbaro in the ambulance being saluted by Bernardini's jockey is only part of the story. Surrounding us were people in tears. People were crying out to the ambulance, the trainers and each other. We were all stunned. Literally, we were mostly standing in shock at what had happened about 150 feet directly in front of where Jen and I were standing.
I shut off my camera for about an hour while Jen and I tried to take in what we had just seen. Perhaps those who saw Ruffian fall, back in 1975 can understand the disbelief and shock that overwhelmed that standing room only crowd of 123,000.
Like everyone else in America we followed the tale of Barbaro and here is my salute to such a brave, beloved horse. Rest in Peace, Barbaro. Rest in Peace.