A New Yorker paid $22,222 Tuesday for a gold-plated mint julep cup honoring 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro in a charity auction to benefit retired racehorses and injured jockeys.


The buyer, Bonnie O’Neil, will have Barbaro owner Gretchen Jackson pick up the cup for her on Saturday at the Derby.


“I wanted to do something in my own little way to make sure Barbaro didn’t die in vain,” O’Neil said in a statement. “I was thrilled when Gretchen Jackson agreed to accept the cup on my behalf.”


Barbaro won the Derby last year by 6 1/2 lengths but suffered a broken leg in the Preakness Stakes two weeks later and died in January of complications from the injury.


Woodford Reserve auctioned cups online for 13 Derby winners–the 11 Triple Crown winners plus Aristides, winner of the first Derby, and Barbaro, winner of the most recent Derby – in partnership with Christie’s in New York.


The cups brought a total of $49,337, and all proceeds will benefit Thoroughbred Charities of America, Woodford Reserve said in the statement.


The organization will contribute funds to charities that help retired thoroughbreds and injured jockeys and conduct research into laminitis, a painful hoof disease which led to Barbaro’s death, Woodford Reserve said.


The cups are being presented on the day of the Derby at Churchill Downs and include a julep made of ice from the Bavarian Alps, mint from the coast of Ireland, organic sugar from Queensland, Australia, and a special selection of Woodford Reserve bourbon, the distillery said.


For more information see www.TheHorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=9399.