Triple Crown hopeful Barbaro loses... Seriously injured during race

http://www.preakness.com/ ^

[HairOfTheDog]

Post Position	Silks	Horse Name	Trainer	Jockey	Morning Line
1	(NA)	LIKE NOW (Picture NA)	Kiaran McLaughlin	Garrett Gomez	19-1
2		PLATINUM COUPLE	Joseph Lostritto	Jose Espinoza	28-1
3		HEMINGWAY'S KEY	Nick Zito	Jeremy Rose	30-1
4		GREELEY'S LEGACY	George Weaver	Richard Migliore	38-1
5		BROTHER DEREK	Dan Hendricks	Alex Solis	7-2
6		BARBARO	Michael Matz	Edgar Prado	1-2
7		SWEETNORTHERNSAINT	Michael Trombetta	Kent Desormeaux	6-1
8		BERNARDINI	Thomas Albertrani	Javier Castellano	17-1
9		DIABOLICAL	Steve Klesaris	Ramon Dominguez	24-1

[Abigail Adams]

Thanks for the updates! Keep 'em coming.

[Henchster]

LATEST from ESPN:

BALTIMORE -- His career certainly over and his life in jeopardy, Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro left Pimlico Race Course with a police escort at 7:18 Saturday evening and was taken to the New Bolton Center of the University of Pennsylvania in Kennett Square, Pa. There, surgeons will perform surgery in an attempt to save his life.

New Bolton is about 75 miles from Pimlico.

According to Dr. Larry Bramlage, the media liaison for the American Association of Equine Practitioners, Barbaro broke his right hind leg in two places. One fracture was above the ankle and the other was below it. He called the injury "life-threatening."

Bramlage refused to predict whether Barbaro would survive the ordeal, but he conceded that the colt has a fight on his hands.

"I can't give you a prognosis; it's a little early," Bramlage said, adding that even if the surgery is successful, "it will be two months before he is out of the woods."

He said there are two major obstacles Barbaro will face in his potential recovery. One, he said, is whether Barbaro lost a significant amount of blood in the area of the injury. The other, he said, is how he comes out of the surgery and whether further damage is caused to the injured area while he is recovering. Horses must have some mobility while recovering from surgery to avoid complications.

"You and I would lie in bed," Bramlage said. "He'll have to walk around."

Dr. Dan Dreyfuss, Barbaro's attending veterinarian, also declined to speculate whether the horse will have to be euthanized.

"That's up to the owners," he said.

Bramlage said the surgeons at New Bolton will have to evaluate Barbaro's condition before they decide when to operate.

"It could be tonight," he said. "It might be tomorrow."

Bramlage said the occurrence of the second fracture is what sets this injury apart from more minor ones.

"Normally, the way it happens is the fracture above the ankle occurs first," he said. "Before [jockey] Edgar [Prado] could pull him up, the second fracture occurred. It's like if you were in a football game and twisted your ankle badly. The problem is, people know enough to stop. He ran on and that caused the second component to the injury."

Barbaro broke through the starting gate prior to the start, but Bramlage did not believe that had anything to do with the injury.

It was an emotional scene in the Pimlico barn area after the race as several hundred onlookers and members of the media tried to get a glimpse of what was happening with the horse. Trainer Michael Matz got into a silver Lexus SUV and left just moments before the horse. As he was getting into the car, someone shouted, "Good luck, Michael." Another person yelled out, "We're praying for him."

Matz turned to the crowd and gave a brief wave before getting into the car.

Prado told the media Barbaro felt great before the race.

"When he went to the gate, he felt super and I felt like he was in the best condition for this race," he said. "He actually tried to buck me off a couple of times. He was feeling that good. He just touched the front doors of the gate and went right through it. During the race, he took a bad step and I can't really tell you what happened. I heard a noise about 100 yards into the race and pulled him right up."

[Fawn]

I'm with you....along with greyhounds. Too cruel....and for what money?

[Henchster]

When I watched the replay, it looked like Brother Derek's left front leg clipped Barbaro's right hind leg just before Barbaro pulled up lame. Did anyone else see this and is this the possible cause?

[carton253]

I know what the Triple Crown is... I'm just saying that the schedule takes a toll... and if you are going to compete in any of the three races, then you have to race in all three races. You can drop out after the Kentucky Derby or the Preakness, but the Belmont should be limited to the horses who raced in the first two.

[OldFriend]

Not a good prognosis but anything can happen. I do hope the horse can be saved.

[HairOfTheDog]

There is a big difference between the horse running in all three...and the one that comes in during the Belmont. That horse has an advantage.

But the horse that comes in at the Belmont can't win the triple crown. Only the one that wins all three can. You might be thinking the horse that comes in at the Belmont has been at some spa or something and not working too... they've all been on a planned work/rest/conditioning/race schedule.

It would be an interesting set of races to race the same field multiple times to truly test the best of that group. But that's never been what the Triple Crown is. It's racing different lengths, and different tracks, with different fields that truly tests the versitility of the horse that can win all three. It's not about the field.

[carton253]

Why is that? The field is always bigger for the Kentucky Derby... but for the other two races - prize money is still prize money. And all horses who run afterwards still have a chance to win. I'm just saying that the schedule is part of the equation, and to just race in the final race is an advantage for the fresh horse and a disadvantage to the others who raced in both.

[connectthedots]

I didn't watch the race, so I didn't see the injury happen. I also have no interest or desire to see a replay so I can watch it. For me, it would serve no purpose. I assume it looked awful and that's enough so i don't need to see it. I've seen some pretty horrible things in my life and have no interest in going around looking for more.

[prisoner6]

Since I'm at work I might not have a chance to read through this thread for awhile. Could you please ping me?

TIA.

prisoner6

[HairOfTheDog]

Thanks for the update.

[Abigail Adams]

"I heard a noise about 100 yards into the race and pulled him right up."

Yikes!

[A knight without armor]

Awww. The look it its face is like it is embarrassed to be caught in the bath!

[carton253]

Well...sarcasm aside... (and totally needless I might add :) ), I do not think that the other horses are at a spa... I'm just saying that the schedule plays a part. It's to test the horses just as much as the distances do. Why should the ones who have choose to race in the Belmont get to skip that part of the test.

[TC Rider]

"Fugue for Tinhorns" is my favorite scene from Guys and Dolls. Stubby Kaye was great in that number.

I can't even imagine Clooney, Brad Pitt, etc ever having the talent to do anything as well as the originals.

[Lemondropkid31]

No one is going to threaten the life of their horse by doing that. Horses are raced race by race. Even if a horse wins the Derby the trainer doesnt guarantee a ride to the Preakness until they evaluate the horse and make sure he is ok. What you would have is possibly one horse (the winner) running in the preakness and the Belmont and what kind of thing is that? No one is going to watch that.

[Lemondropkid31]

Ok. I got ya

[joylyn]

There was no contact with another horse. Gary Stephens interviewed Solis, who said that he was directly behind Barbaro and heard the leg snap. He immediately pulled Brother Derek to the right to avoid a collision -- fortunately.

Who knows why this happened, but I don't like to see a horse who gets that excited in the paddock. There's always a chance the horse will be spooked by a shadow on the track, another horse, or whatever and take a bad step.

Still, these horses love to race and it would almost be cruel not to race them. Let's hope they can maintain circulation in the leg and Barbaro will have a long life at stud.

[Hildy]

So, don't watch it...what do I care?

[HairOfTheDog]

Why should the ones who have choose to race in the Belmont get to skip that part of the test.

They're skipping the chance at the real glory of the triple crown. Who remembers the horse that only won the Belmont?