... Nobody can be entirely sure what caused the triple fracture in Barbaro's ankle, but there is one undeniable truth: the best 3-year-olds in this country in the last three years have all been dramatically - and prematurely - removed from racing through injury. Last year it was Afleet Alex, before that Smarty Jones and now Barbaro. What's going on?
It's a stretch to call it coincidence. In fact, there is a deeply ingrained perception in the business that the breed generally has been severely weakened over the years by the massive infusion of drugs, licit and illicit.
But that's not the whole answer. The breeding industry is on a mad tear to breed horses with speed. Gone are the days when buyers looked for tough, slow-developing, long-distance stayers. The hottest stallions at stud today are flying milers.
Trainer Wayne Lukas likes to say, "The three most important things in a young horse are speed, speed, speed." A few weeks ago, all sales records were broken when a young untried horse, since named The Green Monkey, sold for $16 million. His sire: Forestry, a rapid miler at best.
Barbaro's unusual racing pattern piqued interest all along the Triple Crown trail. After sending him out for his first race last October, trainer Michael Matz spaced his races as follows: six weeks, six weeks, five weeks, eight weeks, then five weeks into the Kentucky Derby.
Matz explained that he was pacing the horse to remain fresh through the grueling Triple Crown. A few days before the Derby, I asked trainer Nick Zito whether this racing schedule hinted at physical problems.
Zito said he didn't know anything about Barbaro, but he offered some pertinent views of what is happening to the current breed.
"The modern horse cannot take too much racing," he said. "A lot of horses are running better off layoffs because they don't make them like they used to.
"They are not as strong, not as sound. I don't know whether it's genetics or what."
Zito recalled the days when horses ran every couple of weeks. "Today, there's no way you can do that," he said. "A lot has to do with the structure of the modern horse. In the last seven years, I've seen the breed changing."
Zito went on, "We've done a terrible job. We have debilitated the breed. I don't know if it's the sale, the speed, the breed or the market. Whatever it is, we have done a terrible job. We just don't have the same breed of horse we used to have."
Barbaro was given a very protective training regimen. In the five weeks between the Florida Derby and the Kentucky Derby he had just two workouts, an easy four-furlongs and a sharp four-furlong drill in 46 seconds at Churchill Downs....
Some heavy hitting trainers commenting on the current health of the Thoroughbred breed here.
