"Barbaro: A Nation's Horse" Documentary to Premiere Saturday on NBC  5/1/07

“BARBARO: A NATION’S HORSE” TO PREMIERE IN PRIMETIME ON NBC SATURDAY 8 PM ET

NEW YORK – May 1, 2007 – NBC Sports' critically acclaimed documentary "Barbaro: A Nation's Horse" will premiere in primetime on NBC Saturday, 8 p.m. ET. "Barbaro" was scheduled to debut Sunday, but was pre-empted due to extended live coverage of the double-overtime Sabres-Rangers NHL playoff game.

THE CRITICS ARE TALKING

"The emotions of this hour rise and soar like the passions of a close race." – New York Daily News

"Four stars." – New York Post

"Barbaro: A Nation's Horse is, simply, one of the most emotionally involving hours aired on network television this season." – Rocky Mountain News

"Painful, poignant and sweet." – Las Vegas Review Journal

"NBC does a masterful job telling the tale of Barbaro." – Albany Times Union

"NBC has done an excellent job." – San Diego Union Tribune

NBC Sports presents "Barbaro: A Nation's Horse," a special one-hour documentary look at the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner, who touched the hearts of horse racing fans and animal lovers around the world last year with his fight for life before finally succumbing to injuries suffered at the Preakness Stakes. "Barbaro: A Nation's Horse" looks back at the thoroughbred's impressive six and a half length win at the Derby, his dramatic injury and his amazing will to live that captured the imagination of the public. The film also examines Barbaro's legacy and impact on the future of horse racing. "Barbaro: A Nation's Horse" premieres at 5 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC, on what would have been Barbaro's fourth birthday.

"Barbaro: A Nation's Horse" includes new footage of Barbaro's baby brother, who was born just last week. The as-yet unnamed foal shares both parents with the late Derby champion – maybe one day he too could race for the roses at Churchill Downs.

"It's extremely rare that an athlete stirs the depth of emotion among people that Barbaro did," said Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics and executive producer, "Barbaro: A Nation's Horse." "We were lucky enough to have a front row seat to witness the rise of this remarkable horse to win the most prestigious event in thoroughbred racing, the Kentucky Derby. Sadly, we were also there for his devastating fall at the Preakness Stakes; and we were there to document why his subsequent struggle to live touched so many people."

"Barbaro: A Nation's Horse," which began production in January, includes rare footage of Barbaro preparing for last year's Florida Derby, as the colt was beginning to display his incredible athletic abilities. The documentary also includes interviews with Roy and Gretchen Jackson, Barbaro's owners; Michael Matz, his trainer; Edgar Prado, the jockey who rode Barbaro during both his winning turn at the Kentucky Derby and at the Preakness; Dr. Dean Richardson, the head of surgery at the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center, who cared for Barbaro through his final hours; Peter Brette, Matz's assistant trainer who worked most closely with Barbaro.

DVDs of "Barbaro: A Nation's Horse" will be sold on NBCSports.com, with 50 percent of the proceeds benefiting the Barbaro Fund and the Laminitis Fund at the New Bolton Center. The Barbaro Fund was created when an anonymous donor made an extremely generous donation to the New Bolton Center; the Barbaro Fund supports ongoing patient care and expansion of the George D. Widener Large Animal Hospital, Penn Veterinary Medicine's world-renowned clinical, research and teaching hospital. The Laminitis Fund is specifically geared towards researching this incurable disease that took the life of both Barbaro and the great Secretariat.

"Barbaro" is produced by Emmy Award winner Rob Hyland; Dick Ebersol serves as executive producer.

Source: NBC Press Release