After his breeding career ended, he was pensioned at the Ocala Jockey Club farm in Florida. In 1983, preparations were under way for a joint birthday celebration for Carry Back and his fellow Florida-bred Needles, who were then the two oldest surviving Kentucky Derby winners. A month before the "birthday party", however, Carry Back was diagnosed with cancer and euthanized on March 24 at the age of twenty-five. His ashes were originally interred at Ocala Racecourse but were later moved to the Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs in Louisville, home of his greatest victory. His grave marker carried the words "The People's Choice."