FRED STONE

"After watching Barbaro's breakdown in the Preakness Stakes, my enthusiasm for racing, like that of many others who love it, suffered a crushing blow. For the first time in my thirty years of painting Thoroughbred racing, I had lost my enthusiasm. My feelings, along with most of those in the racing world, were that Barbaro was not going to survive this type of injury.

Then something very strange happened. The combination of a dedicated veterinary hospital, a race horse with an amazing spirit, and the eternal hope of his owners caused me to look at this tragic event in a much more positive light.

Even after I finally painted Barbaro, we did not know his fate, but because I am a story teller, I knew that I had to paint him, if only to demonstrate the dogged determination of both man and animal in the fight to survive."