Game On caught an image of the new statue commemorating Barbaro’s Kentucky Derby in 2006, an impressive display of MY FREAKING GOD, PEOPLE, IT’S JUST A DAMN HORSE!

A bronze statue was unveiled yesterday at Churchill Downs of the race’s 2006 winner, who died after a lengthy battle with a hoof condition. Barbaro’s ashes are buried beneath the sculpture, which stands near Gate 1, next to the Kentucky Derby Museum.

The artwork is being called a first, because it shows the horse in midair, with no feet touching the ground.

The statue is about 5/4 the size of the actual Barbaro, which could make a lot of guys uncomfortable if it’s anatomically correct. The Derby, by the way, is this Friday Saturday. I think of it as the NCAA Tournament for horses, since the participants get paid with lodging and oats, and can pretty much screw whoever they want. Beats having your scrotom hair burned off by a laptop five days a week. But then, so does…everything.

Fallen champion Barbaro will be remembered with a statue to be displayed in Central Park this April, but it won't be of the mighty steed winning races and screwing fillies, the latter of which would have been totally sweet.

"The Barbaro Memorial for the Right to Die" by controversial sculptor Daniel Edwards is a tribute to the late Triple Crown contender and is dedicated to the institution of euthanasia… "The Barbaro Memorial" will depict the thoroughbred champion in the winner's circle on his back with his number 8 saddle cloth draping his belly and hooves in the air, representing his inability to stand on his feet due to the debilitating laminitis which followed the shattered ankle he suffered in the 2006 Preakness Stakes…

"We believe a memorial dedicated to the Right to Die will encourage horse owners to forego their own self-interests and act mercifully on behalf of their suffering horse," said gallery co-director, John Leo. "If Barbaro has taught us anything, it is that horses deserve our compassion first." 

If Barbaro taught me anything, it's that people are goddam freaks who like horses way too much.  "Oooh, look at this beautiful animal.  It weighs a ton and has sharp hooves and bites and freaks out at any sudden movements.  Hey, I know: let's try to ride it!"  Fuckin weirdos.

By the way, Edwards is the same guy who did the statues of Britney Spears giving birth on a bear rug and Paris Hilton dead and naked on a coroner's table.  Up next for him: a statue of me pissing on the dead bodies of the cast of Entourage.  That would fucking rule.

[Lion in Oil] … and oh yeah, NICE SHOES ASSHOLE

Barbaro's Holy Grail will be auctioned on Kentucky Derby Eve this year:

[Edgar] Prado donated the saddle to the Jockeys' Guild and proceeds from the sale of the saddle will go to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, a division of National Thoroughbred Racing Association Charities. There are 58 severely injured jockeys receiving vital assistance each month from the fund.

Barbaro's effects are even healing poor souls beyond the grave – he truly is the king of kings.  Only Dan Brown may be able to decipher the cryptogram that Prado (of Cyrene) inscribed on the underside of the saddle depicting which vessel is the bona fide bearer of the holy horse's sanctity: the saddle or Dee Mirich. -KD

Well, it's not just a joke any more: HBO is making a Barbaro movie. And will 289 and I see any revenue for coming up with the brilliant intellectual property you see above four weeks ago? No, of course not.

Fucking HBO.

After Ben Greenman conceived of the Barbaro musical for The Morning News, and after reading this inspired comments thread at Deadspin, I decided that With Leather needed something more somber and respectful to the tragic, angelic, healing figure that Barbaro became.

Behold: The Passion of Dee. Executive produced by yours truly. Directed by 289. Starring Shannon Sharpe as Barbaro and Sarah Jessica Parker as Dee Mirich, the woman who knew how to love, but not how to write.

Key grip: Ass. Ed. KD. Sorry, pal.

Well, that took for-freakin'-ever. Barbaro got euthanized today. I guess it's too bad, valiant fight, et cetera, et cetera… but for God's sake, he took longer to die than the one-armed vampire that Paul Reubens played in the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Anyway, Barbaro wasn't nearly sexy enough to be a With Leather star, but on the off chance you don't have that magical Deadspin comment invite and can't join the fun going on over there, you can share your thoughts in my non-exclusive comments. Glue jokes discouraged; gelatin jokes preferred.