Barbaro ─ Winner of 2006 Kentucky DerbyEdgar Prado Up
After watching Barbaro’s breakdown in the Preakness Stakes, my enthusiasm for racing, like that of many others who love it, suffered a crushing blow. For the first time in thirty years of painting Thoroughbred racing, I had lost my enthusiasm. While other artists hurried to paint Barbaro, I didn’t know if I could paint this horse, or any other horse ever again. My feelings, along with most of the industry, were that Barbaro was not going to survive this type of injury.

Then something strange happened. The combination of a dedicated animal hospital, a race horse with an amazing spirit, and the eternal hope of his owners caused me to look at this tragic event in a much more positive light.

At this time, no one knows the future of this very special horse, but because I am a story teller, I knew that I had to paint him, if only to show the dogged determination of both man and animal in the fight for his survival. 
– Fred Stone

And the Years Dwindle Down . . .  John Henry ─ Laffit Pincay Up
It won’t be long before the old warrior will hear the distant call to the post, a sound he had heard so long ago. He will come home now, one last time, to that familiar roar of the crowd and run his final race.

In the early 80’s, there came a champion to represent the working class and the poor, disenfranchised people of this land. He was a small, older gelding named John Henry. He came from the wrong side of the tracks. A son of Old Bob Bowers, whose stud fee was only $2,500.00, John Henry captured the hearts and minds of the poor, as well as the rich, and the famous.

And now he waits. He is fragile and looks even smaller, but, if you look closely, you might see the giant that once lived in that body. 
– Fred Stone