Preakness - Barbaro - OMG!!!

[agnes!]

I'm actually grateful I missed it. Did a search, not much new to report, found an article from the online version of "The Horse"... http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=6966

Here's the article ("Barbaro Taken to New Bolton Center"):

Barbaro, who suffered multiple fractures soon after the start of the Preakness Stakes (gr. I), has been taken to the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals at the New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Penn. He is expected to undergo surgery.

His injury is career-ending and life-threatening.

The transport from Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore to Pennsylvania was shown live on WBAL-TV.

The Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner stumbled and dropped behind the nine-horse Preakness field before being pulled up by jockey Edgar Prado in front of the clubhouse. Barbaro had broken through the gate before the race officially started.

According to Dr. Larry Bramlage, a prominent equine surgeon with the American Association of Equine Practitioners, Barbaro suffered a condylar fracture of the right hind leg. Below the ankle is a comminuted fracture (meaning it is in pieces) of the first phalax and there is a piece off the sesamoid.

At New Bolton, Dr. Dean Richardson will be in charge, according to Bramlage.

Bramlage added that a major factor in the prognosis will be how much the colt's blood supply has been compromised by the injury.

"When he went to the gate, he was feeling super and I felt like he was in the best condition for this race," Prado said. "He actually tried to buck me off a couple of times. He was feeling that good. He just touched the front of the 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."

Gretchen Jackson, who bred and campaigned the colt with her husband Roy Jackson under the Lael Stable banner, said she was still in shock. "We didn't expect this. You can expect being beaten," she said. "It looked like a bad fracture. We're hoping that they'll operate on him tomorrow. That's as much as we know."

*****

How very sad.
agnes!

 

[Luckymommyx2]

As a "horse person" and a local to where he trains, I followed the race and was horrified to see everything play out. My brother did his rotation at New Bolton Vet Hospital which is also close by to us. We were one of the "horse nuts" to go out and watch him go by on his way to the hospital. (It was a surreal sight to watch.) He had two Maryland state trooper cars escorting him to the Pa line. Unfortunately he didn't pick up a Pa escort, but our local news chopper stayed with him. Hopefully he is getting re-examined now and we'll now more soon. We know his racing career is over, now we're just praying that he survives. Lots of thoughts and prayers go out tonight!

 

[Breezy_Carol]

This is so sad. We live near Fair Hill where he trained. We drove up to the training center last weekend and saw his barn. Like Luckymommyx2, we almost went out to see the equine ambulance go by. We were watching on the local TV as well. I hope they can save his life.

 

[zagafi]

That poor horse. You can tell he was in a lot of pain. Kudos to that jockey for being alert and knowing something was wrong. I hope they're able to save his life. Boy, was he ready to race or what!?!?!?! Going up to the gates you could tell he was wanting to race.

BTW, would he have kept on racing on a severly injured leg if the jockey hadn't pulled him back? Would he have just raced until he collapsed?

Yes, he probably would have tried to finish. Thoroughbreds are amazing athletes with huge hearts and competitive natures. Edgar may have saved Barbaro's life by pulling him up.

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

That is a horribly devistating injury.
What a shame.

 

[DWDreams]

Horrible to watch. I hope they can save him. I think it's worse knowing how much he seemed to want to race, breaking through the gate before the call and trying to keep going. If he's saved, I hope his spirit doesn't remain broken. I really thought he was going to get the TC.

 

[crazymomof4]

My heart sank when I read the following in an SI.com article. I didn't realize horses were still euthanized so often for leg injuries. Barbaro will be the first thing I think of when I open my eyes tomorrow!

Thoroughbreds have broken down in the past in big races: In the 1993 Preakness, Union City broke down and was euthanized; in the 1993 Belmont Stakes, Preakness winner Prairie Bayou broke down; in the 1999 Belmont Stakes, with Charismatic trying to win the Triple Crown, he was pulled up while finishing third with a fractured ankle; Go For Wand broke down in the stretch of the 1990 Breeders' Cup Distaff and was euthanized; and in 1975, the great Ruffian broke down in a match race with Foolish Pleasure. She was operated on, but was later euthanized.

Also from that article:

D.D. Matz, the trainer's wife said Barbaro was behaving "like the true champion that he is and, hopefully, he'll get the best care possible and be all right."

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

As a "horse person" and a local to where he trains, I followed the race and was horrified to see everything play out. My brother did his rotation at New Bolton Vet Hospital which is also close by to us. We were one of the "horse nuts" to go out and watch him go by on his way to the hospital. (It was a surreal sight to watch.) He had two Maryland state trooper cars escorting him to the Pa line. Unfortunately he didn't pick up a Pa escort, but our local news chopper stayed with him. Hopefully he is getting re-examined now and we'll now more soon. We know his racing career is over, now we're just praying that he survives. Lots of thoughts and prayers go out tonight!

Oh, wow. So, so sad.

I was born, raised and still live in Louisville and watched him win the Derby via television. I saw this happen at Churchill once (Derby Week 2003) and a horse went down (broken leg was literally bobbing up and down). I was totally shaken, crying and in a box with an owner whose horse was in the same race. They brought out a big green screen to block the view and put the horse down right there on the track. I know it happens, but, man, was I freaked out. Haven't been back to The Downs since, and I cut my teeth at that place.

Sending Barbaro some Kentucky and love.

 

[phisigprincess]

When I saw the headline in the paper, i thought his name was Barbarino... like Vinnie Barbarino from Welcome Back, Kotter!!!

 

[Banshee]

Yes! I have seen horses on the track run with blood streaming out of their nostrils. We had a filly in a stakes race that sadly collapsed the veternarian estimated after she had a heart attack that she ran another 2 furlongs before she dropped to her knee's. Her name was Midnight Damsel. Barbaro would have kept running if he had someone on his back that didn't know what they were doing. When a horse is lame though you can feel it. It's almost like having a flat tire on your car. I knew right away it was broken when he was running and holding his hoof up you could see it swinging back and forth, and when he actually put it down it wasn't striking the ground on his hoof but more on the ankle near his fetlock his hoof was more bent to the side. Some people dont realize just how much force is put on a race horses body their legs are like matchsticks compared to their bodies. The average horse is about 1200 lbs. and the average canon bone (the bone just below the knee and above the ankle) is about 2" to 3" in diameter.Barbaro is in an excellent place though New Bolton is a university hospital that has many very talented vet's. All of our horses go there if they have problems. He will also need pixie dust after surgery if they are able to perform it. It will be a long painfull recovery for him with ailments such as colic and founder that could possibly pop out of the word work due to stress. He is an extremly fit athlete that 6-8 weeks of stall rest will not sit well with him. I have hope though, we had another filly with a very similiar injury that survived we got her through it and she is now one of our best broodmares and has given us 2 beautiful foals so far!! Let's just hope his humans dont give up hope on him! I have all to often seen that happen!!

 

[georgina]

The situation just reinforces my opinion that horse racing is cruel. I am curious how many horses are injured badly each year racing, and how many die as a result. I am going to do some more research.

 

[Planogirl]

I don't think that racing is cruel. Horses love to run and that certainly isn't cruel. Plus they're usually carrying just a light little jockey while they run.

Of course, you could argue that horse riding is cruel in general but that's another discussion.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

Let's not turn this into a debate on horse racing, please.

Barbaro is having surgery sometime today and we should all concentrate on sending him as much of our thoughts and prayers. Just as Banshee said, even if he makes it through surgery, there is a lot that can happen afterwards. Thoughts and prayers to Barbaro, his doctors and nurses, and all of Barbaro's caretakers....

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

Exactly. Rehab for a horse like this is the most dangerous time. Alydar also broke his leg and even though he was an old horse by then, and had to be euthanized because he wouldn't stay calm during his immobilization and re-injured himself.
I feel really sorry for the owners. Not only could they lose a beautiful animal, but they will also lose tens of millions (literally) of dollars on stud fees.

 

[wdwgirl03]

I saw it. That was bad. It upset me more when my dad told me the horses sometimes don't make it.

 

[maxiesmom]

I keep sending prayers to the doctors that they will be able to heal him. I was shocked that they still have to put down horses with leg injuries. Right now we can only hope that he heals and can enjoy life as a stud. I'm afraid that being such an athlete he will not want to stay still and heal. What a beautiful horse!!!! Does anyone know when exactly they are doing the surgery or how long it might take? I keep checking the news but I am afraid they will break in and say the surgery didn't go when all they had to put Barbaro down.

 

[hydster]

Years ago we went to a track in Wyoming with my parents. We bought our tickets for which horses we wanted and went to wait for the race to start. The horses took off out of the gates and went around maybe twice when the horse I bet on fell and broke his front leg very badly. I started to cry and having never really been or watched a horse race I didn't even think about it when this guy walks right out where the horse was and shot him right there in front of everyone. No screen, no hiding it, he just did it. I was so upset that I bet on a horse that ended up dying and I swore to never ever watch or bet on a horse race again and I haven't. The track announcer came on over the loud speaker and apologized for having to do that in front of everyone but the horse was in so much visible pain they couldn't wait for the screen to come out. He needed to be put down ASAP.

I do feel for this horse! It would be a tragedy if he dies from a break. Just too sad.

 

[always dreamin']

I keep sending prayers to the doctors that they will be able to heal him. I was shocked that they still have to put down horses with leg injuries. Right now we can only hope that he heals and can enjoy life as a stud. I'm afraid that being such an athlete he will not want to stay still and heal. What a beautiful horse!!!! Does anyone know when exactly they are doing the surgery or how long it might take? I keep checking the news but I am afraid they will break in and say the surgery didn't go when all they had to put Barbaro down.

I just heard that the surgery will start very shortly and that it would last about a couple of hours. I appears the breaks are much much worse than originally expected. This makes me very sad today!

 

[crazymomof4]

We are stripping old siding off of our house today but all I can think of as I work is Barbaro. I have KYW (Philly news radio) on and they keep saying that the surgery is set to start soon. I also keep running in here to check this thread for new info.

While I'm sure you could find some owners and trainers who treat horses with cruelty, I don't think that horse racing in general is cruel. Each year there are thousands of horses who've been bred to race and only a small fraction of those actually do race. The ones that are fastest are the ones that WANT to run, WANT to compete. It's not very easy to make a 1000+ pound animal do something it doesn't want to do. Sure, other horses run fast, but the champions are the ones who have the heart and desire to run, to compete. As much as the owners, trainers and jockeys want to win, the determination comes from the horse or else it doesn't happen.
Just as was mentioned, Barbaro being the athelete that he is may actually be to his disadvantage during recover. He doesn't want to stand around, he'd rather run. That thought makes me very sad for him.

 

[mickeysgal]

What a terrible shame. I remember Ruffian in '75. I was just a kid back then, but I still remember all the headlines. I'm hoping that they'll get him to pull through so that he can live a comfortable life in some beautiful pasture somewhere.