Kentucky Derby-winning racehorse Barbaro was put to death on Monday, January 29th after failing to recover from a shattered hind leg suffered in the Preakness Stakes last year, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association said.

Veterinarians went to great lengths to save the horse, which won the most famous contest in U.S. horse racing by a whopping 6 1/2 lengths on May 6. He was attempting to win the second leg of the sport's triple crown three weeks later at the Preakness Stakes when he pulled up lame.

Dean Richardson, chief of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, led the team that had been treating the colt. Richardson had said Barbaro suffered a significant setback when the horse developed a deep abscess in his foot last week, requiring surgery on Sunday that carried significant risk.

Click here to read the full story from Rueters Press.

Click here to link to the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine's archive of the stages of Barbaro's condition and treatments.