Is Barbaro the one to beat?

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Sat May 20, 2006 10:55 am

The 131st running of the Preakness Stakes is today.

I read that Barbaro has never been passed in any of his races and

has won against 73 other horses. We'll see what happens, my fingers

are crossed for a Triple Crown winner finally!!

:)

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Sat May 20, 2006 1:14 pm

It is big-time partying going on down there, those young teachers at school talked about their bonnets and the guys where they were staking out the spot in the infield. It has been on TV since noon, my husband keeps flipping the channel back and forth waiting for the race.

I wish the horsies luck too!:)

LilacDragon · Post by **LilacDragon** » Sat May 20, 2006 3:26 pm

I am heartbroken!

Barbaro looks like he is in sooo much pain!

I am so sure that if he had not hurt his leg he would have won.

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Sat May 20, 2006 3:45 pm

LilacDragon wrote: I am heartbroken!

Barbaro looks like he is in sooo much pain!

I am so sure that if he had not hurt his leg he would have won.

:-1 :-1

I don't understand why they didn't have a vet right THERE to give him a

sedative before they took him off the track! Terrible, terrible pain.

I'm very concerned that he won't even be able to stand at stud, since

the injury is to a hind leg.

This is awful.

:-1

DesignerGal · Post by **DesignerGal** » Sat May 20, 2006 5:43 pm

Barbaro has a life threatening injury. Lets all pray for him that he doesnt get put down and gets to go on to stallion some beautiful horses...

**moment of silence**

Marie5656 · Post by **Marie5656** » Sun May 21, 2006 10:39 am

It is sad to see an animal in such pain. I only know what I read in the papers this morning. Anyone know how he is today? I did read that an ankle injury like that is very bad for a horse, as for healing goes.

Philadelphia Eagle · Post by **Philadelphia Eagle** » Sun May 21, 2006 10:59 am

Marie5656 wrote: It is sad to see an animal in such pain. I only know what I read in the papers this morning. Anyone know how he is today? I did read that an ankle injury like that is very bad for a horse, as for healing goes.

It's a bit more than an 'ankle injury', I'm afraid.

Barbaro has broken a hind leg in two places.

It's a life-threatening injury and his chances of survival are not good.

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Sun May 21, 2006 11:02 am

KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. (AP) -- Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro went into surgery Sunday to determine the extent of "life-threatening injuries" after the colt broke three bones above and below his right rear ankle at the start of the Preakness Stakes.

The surgery was being performed by Dr. Dean Richardson at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center for Large Animals. He said the operation could take several hours.

Richardson, the chief of surgery for the center, said the injuries were "very, very serious," and that he's never worked on so many catastrophic injuries to one horse.

"You do not see this severe injury frequently because the fact is most horses that suffer this typically are put down on the race track," Richardson said. "This is rare."

"It's about as bad as it could be," he added. "The main thing going for the horse is a report that his skin was not broken at the time of injury. It's a testament to the care given to the team of doctors on the track and [jockey] Mr. Prado on the racetrack."

Richardson said Barbaro sustained a broken cannon bone above the ankle, a broken sesamoid bone behind the ankle and a broken long pastern bone below the ankle. The fetlock joint, the ankle, was dislocated.

"The aspects of the surgery will be dictated slightly by what we find," Richardson said. "But the bottom line is we will attempt to perform a fusion of that joint and to stabilize it and make it comfortable enough for him to walk on."

Marie5656 · Post by **Marie5656** » Sun May 21, 2006 11:03 am

Philadelphia Eagle wrote: It's a bit more than an 'ankle injury', I'm afraid.

Barbaro has broken a hind leg in two places.

It's a life-threatening injury and his chances of survival are not good.

Thank you for the clarification, Eagle. As I said, I only knew what I saw in the paper..and they just said ankle broken in two places.

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Sun May 21, 2006 7:08 pm

Barbaro came out of about 7 hours of surgery and according to the

surgeon "Practically jogged back to his stall".

He is even reported to be eating. The surgeon said he's been doing

this too long to think that the first day is the end, but he was all

smiles so it does seem there is hope.

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Sun May 21, 2006 7:09 pm

Oh, that is encouraging news!:)

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Sun May 21, 2006 7:51 pm

Barbaro's x-rays:

Barbaro post-op:

LilacDragon · Post by **LilacDragon** » Sun May 21, 2006 8:25 pm

Holy Hardware, Batman! That poor horse has more screws then the local hardware store!

Here is hoping they can keep him quiet long enough for that to heal properly.

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Tue May 23, 2006 8:19 am

Send a msg of support and encouragement to Barbaro:

We know there are hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, of you out there who would like to send words of support to Barbaro and trainer Michael Matz. A special email account here at the USEF has been created for that purpose. The messages will be compiled and sent to Barbaro, Michael and owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson at the New Bolton clinic. The email address is matzbarbaro@usef.org.

Let's all join together to wish Barbaro a safe recovery.

United States Equestrian Federation, Inc. 4047 Iron Works Parkway, Lexington, KY 40511, 859-258-2472

K.Snyder · Post by **K.Snyder** » Sun May 28, 2006 6:33 am

Shouldnt this be in the conspiracy theory thread?/

Growing up around race horses, I cant help but have a certain paranoia about horses and betting. Its kind of funny, because even when I would spend an entire night of betting on horses and coming home with over a 70% profit I still feel like every race is fixed :-3 .

LilacDragon · Post by **LilacDragon** » Sun May 28, 2006 7:56 am

K.Snyder wrote: Shouldnt this be in the conspiracy theory thread?/

Growing up around race horses, I cant help but have a certain paranoia about horses and betting. Its kind of funny, because even when I would spend an entire night of betting on horses and coming home with over a 70% profit I still feel like every race is fixed :-3 .

I don't know about races being fixed, I have never bet money on a horse. Heck, my luck is nowhere near that good - Barbaro is the first horse in years that I have picked to win the Derby.

Even if the race had been fixed, I doubt that someone could arrange a broken ankle like this and I doubt that the owners of the horse would have even considered it, what with the cost of repairing it and the possible loss of a horse worth millions in stud fees.

K.Snyder · Post by **K.Snyder** » Sun May 28, 2006 9:34 am

LilacDragon wrote: I don't know about races being fixed, I have never bet money on a horse. Heck, my luck is nowhere near that good - Barbaro is the first horse in years that I have picked to win the Derby.

Even if the race had been fixed, I doubt that someone could arrange a broken ankle like this and I doubt that the owners of the horse would have even considered it, what with the cost of repairing it and the possible loss of a horse worth millions in stud fees.

yeah, no one can predict injuries.

When I was working with Standard bread horses(Harness racing)my grandfather would tell me about how I should be careful about people coming up to me trying to get me to throw the race through bribing or even threatening me(Organized crews). you will be surprised the kind of things that go on behind the scenes of horse racing.

K.Snyder · Post by **K.Snyder** » Sun May 28, 2006 9:37 am

valerie wrote: Barbaro's x-rays:

BTW

Yikes!

How many screws does it take to screw in a horses leg?

This horse cant be racing is he?

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Sun May 28, 2006 10:48 am

No, but he's doing very well.

The reports are a little conflicting as to number of screws. I've

seen the figure 23 as well as 27.

One week post-op today, they keep doing all the cautionary things

about "He's got a long way to go" but so far looks good.