Fair Hill

The owners of Barbaro announced yesterday, on the anniversary of his death, that the ashes of the colt who became a symbol of courage and perseverance for many will be buried at Churchill Downs, the site of his 2006 Kentucky Derby win. Most will recall that two weeks after his 6 1/2 -length win in the Derby, Barbaro suffered what would prove to be a fatal lower leg injury in the Preakness. It was during his eight-month battle for survival after surgery that his admirers became legion and he came to be "America's horse."

FAIR HILL -- Steeplechase racing ended its spring meet in summer heat in Cecil County yesterday. It was so hot at the Fair Hill Races that the ice cream line was longer than the lines at any betting window. It was so hot that there were nearly as many race-goers lurking in the cool beneath the grandstands as in the seats. And by midday, the rows of opened beach umbrellas seemed to stretch from here to Ocean Downs. One day each year, Fair Hill opens for racing and legal wagering. It's the only steeplechase track in the country that allows pari-mutuel betting.

The making of a legend has a distinct sound, its own special rhythm. The vet hears it in the thump-thump of a horse's heart. The women in hats and men in jackets hear it in the undulating singsong of the track announcer. The railbird hears it in the beating of the hooves on the dirt track. We learned yesterday there's a rhythm to a horse's life, as well. The spring is a time full of cheers and rose garlands and winning betting slips. And the winter ... well, we don't need to see a calendar to know that winter is upon us. Barbaro's fight to recover from a horrific track injury suffered during the Preakness ended yesterday.

FAIR HILL -- Two Maryland-bred horses had first-place finishes and another narrowly missed winning the feature event at the Fair Hill Races yesterday in front of 14,750. Fair Hill in Cecil County was supposed to feature eight races with a total purse of $75,000, but the CCBF James Stump Memorial Novice Timber was canceled because officials with the National Steeplechase Association ruled the jumps were not structurally sound. Jack Fisher, whose Maryland-bred horse, Looking Best, won the $15,000 Delaware Park Hurdle, said he hopes to put together a group of horsemen to meet with the state and discuss ways to make the necessary repairs.

Maryland's spring steeplechasing season concludes today when Fair Hill conducts its 38th annual program with an eight-race card starting at 1 p.m. The only jump-racing event in the state with legal pari-mutuel wagering, it annually accentuates family fun, picnicking and a day in the country on Memorial Day weekend to benefit Union Hospital in Elkton. A compact field of five will race in the feature, the $30,000 Valentine Memorial, which is part of a relatively new National Steeplechase Association series that is restricted to fillies and mares.

The peace of the Fair Hill Training Center, which trainer Michael Matz had raved about since returning Barbaro to his picturesque home in Cecil County after his dominating Kentucky Derby victory two weeks ago, seemed undisturbed yesterday. A day after the star 3-year-old thoroughbred had suffered a life-threatening broken right hind leg shortly after leaving the starting gate in the 131st Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course, Matz went through his normal morning training regimen before going to see his horse.

Fair Hill -- Much has been made of the serene setting where Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness darling Barbaro has been training at the Fair Hill Training Center in the northern reaches of the state. While other stakes horses are often quartered and trained in the more competitive atmosphere of racetracks, Barbaro resides and works in a decidedly quieter, more pastoral place where the contrasting gentle pace has become a subplot in the dark bay colt's Triple Crown quest. That the 350-acre training center exists at all - along with an adjoining public recreation area nearly 16 times larger - is the result of the ambitious, even obsessive, accumulation of land in the first half of the 20th century by a scion of one of America's wealthiest families and later, a fortuitous purchase by the state.

FAIR HILL -- After winning the Kentucky Derby, Barbaro returned home to Cecil County as a bona fide celebrity and he has been getting the royal treatment. "Any little thing you need is taken care of," said trainer Michael Matz of the accommodations at the tranquil Fair Hill Training Center. "They'll rake the track and roll it or put sand in the shedrow instead of using a wheelbarrow to take it in bit by bit. They're very amenable here to everything. They're glad to help you." Matz moved to this serene setting after a tiff with the late William Rickman, Sr., the owner of Delaware Park.

FAIR HILL -- By all indications, Barbaro was born to run on grass. His breeding for the turf is exquisite (Dynaformer out of La Ville Rouge with Roberto his grandsire), and his early races confirmed all the suggestions of his pedigree. In his second race, he romped in the Laurel Futurity over the grass by eight lengths, and one start later, he scored his first graded victory in Florida's Tropical Park Derby by 3 3/4 lengths on the same surface. Assistant trainer Peter Brette, who also serves as his exercise rider, said, "It was me, more than anything else, who thought he was a turf horse."

Barbaro's Kentucky Derby victory was easy - a lot easier than deciding which state gets to brag about it. The horse is stabled in Maryland. His owners are from Pennsylvania. His trainer races a lot at Delaware Park. He prepped for the Derby in Florida. He was bred and raised in Kentucky. His parents once ran through a field in North Dakota. Just kidding about that last one. But seriously, fans and racing officials in five states claimed the horse, or a piece of him, when he crossed the finish line ahead of the field 11 days ago at Churchill Downs.