Derby winner Alysheba memorialized at Kentucky Horse Park with bronze statue

Horse park unveils statue of Alysheba

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A bronze statue honoring Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Alysheba was unveiled Friday across from a monument for John Henry, giving a final resting place of two of the greatest racehorses ever.

The structures, surrounded by flowers and bushes, show the horses looking at each other with an imaginary gust of wind hitting John Henry from the back and Alysheba from the front. Together they form the gate heralding the entrance of the champions barn.

The park’s Hall of Champions is a place for racing fans to visit some of the sport’s living legends, such as current residents Cigar and Funny Cide. But now anyone making the trek to see them will pass between the monuments.

“Now and forever this great Hall of Champions will be watched over by John Henry and Alysheba,” horse park executive director John Nicholson said. “Both are great symbols of all that we hold dear here and reminders of what we believe is the great majesty of the horse — a great gift from God.”

Alysheba’s statue unveiling came one year after his memorial service at the park. Many of the same people who attended then were there Friday, including owner Clarence Scharbauer III and jockey Chris McCarron, who rode both horses now honored in bronze.

“I get goose bumps,” said McCarron, standing between the two statues. “It’s fantastic. I just can’t get over how blessed I was to be affiliated with a couple champions like that.”

Dubbed “America’s Horse,” Alysheba had spent eight years abroad before returning to the United States as a gift from the Saudi king to live out his days at the horse park. Six months later, he had to be euthanized after an accident in his stall.

McCarron, who says Alysheba “put me on the map,” listed the Kentucky Derby as his top accomplishment. The first question all jockeys get asked, he said, is whether they had a successful Run for the Roses.

“From that first Saturday in May 1987, I was able to stick out my chest and raise my head really high and say, ‘Yep, I won the Derby,’” he said.

Shelley Hunter, who created the sculptures for both horses, recalled watching Alysheba in the horse park paddock and observing an immensely happy animal.

“He just stood there, looked at that grass and those trees, and I’ve never seen a horse quite so much look like, ‘I’m home,’” she said.

Scharbauer, whose mother and sister previously owned the horse, said he saw the statue of John Henry and was determined to give similar treatment to his family’s beloved star.

While he said he didn’t want the tribute to Alysheba to “upstage” the one for beloved John Henry, he said he was pretty sure Alysheba was the superior runner.

“I’m not so sure he couldn’t take him,” Scharbauer said. “Of course, I’m biased.”