Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro put down

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was put to death on Monday, ending an eight-month drama and outpouring of public support after the colt shattered his right hind leg in the Preakness Stakes.

Veterinarians and Barbaro's owners went to great lengths to save the horse, which won the Derby, the most famous contest in U.S. horse racing, by a whopping 6-1/2 lengths on May 6.

He was favored to win the second leg of the sport's U.S. triple crown three weeks later at the Preakness Stakes when he pulled up lame in front of millions of television viewers.

As get-well cards and baskets of fruit poured in for the horse, veterinarians had fought to save him through a series of surgeries, recoveries and setbacks.

But after surgery on Saturday to support the injured leg, and with all four of Barbaro's feet ailing, the veterinarian in charge and co-owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson decided to put the champion “down,” or euthanize him, because he was in too much pain.