Bump.
Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro euthanized
Barbaro, winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) whose battle to overcome injuries suffered in the Preakness Stakes (G1) attracted worldwide attention and a legion of fans, was euthanized on Monday morning at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center.
Gretchen Jackson, who owned and bred the Dynaformer colt along with her husband, Roy, said that Barbaro’s front feet were beginning to become affected by the limited ability of both his laminitic left hind foot and his fused right limb that was shattered in the Preakness Stakes to bear weight.
The decision was made early Monday after consulting with Dean Richardson, D.V.M., chief surgeon at the University of Pennsylvania’s veterinary school.
“There was not a foot that was not affected,” Gretchen Jackson said. “He just would not lie down. He had not layed down for two days now. That can’t be good for him. He’s got to get the weight off of his feet. They were bringing him in and out of the sling, but his front feet were showing signs of laminitic changes and we just thought rather than put him through any more else. He had been good up to the beginning of this month, and then everything went.”
Barbaro, who became the sixth undefeated Derby winner in history when he won the 2006 Derby by 6 1/2 lengths, demonstrated considerable discomfort on his right hind foot over the weekend and underwent surgery to insert two pins in his right hind cannon bone in an effort to eliminate all weight bearing from the right foot on Saturday. The procedure was described as a last ditch effort to keep Barbaro comfortable enough to continue his recovery.
“Dean said, ‘The good stuff takes a long time, and the bad goes fast,’ “ Gretchen Jackson said. “That seems like that’s what it was, it went really fast. We all are really, really confident that he didn’t suffer. We know that he was pain free and we just didn’t ever want to see him…it’s an issue of pain and quality of life. If it’s not going to happen, it’s just not going to happen. We just owed it to him to give him the best.”
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