June 13, 2006 — Approximately 20,000 signatures and get-well wishes were collected on “the world’s largest get well card” June 10 at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., as fans offered their support for injured Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro.
As part of the Belmont Stakes Day celebration, fans were encouraged to sign the card that read “Get Well Barbaro. New York Loves You!” and to make whatever donation they could afford. All proceeds went to the Barbaro Fund and the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. Total cash received was $2,811 with another $1,000 in pledges.
Barbaro, who suffered a broken right-hind ankle shortly after the start of the Preakness, is recovering at the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals at the New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa. Gifts made to the Barbaro Fund go directly to improving the equipment and services of the center.
The card, which measures 62 feet wide and seven feet high, was signed first by Barbaro’s jockey, Edgar Prado.
The 138th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes went to Shadwell Stable’s Jazil, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin and ridden by 18-year-old jockey Fernando Jara. Attendance was 61,168.
