Valkyre

There Will Be No Triple Crown Winner This Year

Barbaro, winner of the Kentuck Derby and the favorite in today's Preakness, was severly injured. He may have to be euthanized.

From today's Los Angeles Times:

Bernardini Wins Preakness; Barbaro Is Hurt

Favorite fractures his right hind leg twice early in race, putting the Kentucky Derby winner's survival in jeopardy.

By Robyn Norwood, Times Staff Writer
6:23 PM PDT, May 20, 2006

BALTIMORE -- Barbaro, the imposing dark-bay colt many believed was the best hope for a Triple Crown in a generation, broke down Saturday with two fractures in his right hind leg shortly after the start of the Preakness Stakes and will not race again, with his survival in doubt.

The Kentucky Derby winner broke through the gate before the start, then returned for the official start, only to suffer an initial fracture above the ankle about 100 yards into the race, and a devastating second fracture below the ankle before he could be pulled up.

"No chance he will race again. No chance," said Dr. Larry Bramlage, the on-call veterinarian at Pimlico Race Course who is an equine surgeon in Lexington, Ky.

The crucial issue for Barbaro's survival, which could be determined in a matter of hours or ultimately in the coming months, is whether there is sufficient blood supply in the leg for the injury to be repaired and heal.

"If a horse has no blood supply and no chance to repair the injury, in that case euthanasia [is the option,] Bramlage said. "This is a very serious injury."

Bernardini, a well-bred son of A.P. Indy who had run only three races, went on to win the Preakness by 561/47 lengths in 1 minute 54.65 seconds 1:54.65, but the eyes of much of the record crowd of 118,402 at Pimlico Race Course were on Barbaro. An equine ambulance raced to him, with some spectators crying out emotionally for veterinarians not to euthanize the horse on the track. Trainer Michael Matz, one of the heroes among the passengers of a 1989 United Airlines crash near Sioux City, Iowa, that killed 112 people, clambered from his box seat and went onto the track.

Barbaro, kicking his hind leg, was loaded into the ambulance and taken to the barn, where he remained for about an hour after the race as he was treated and sedated. He was taken away by ambulance, with a police escort helping the ambulance maneuver through the traffic outside the gates.

The horse was taken to George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals at New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa., not far from the Philadelphia-area home of owners Gretchen and Roy Jackson, where surgeons would begin to assess Saturday night whether he was fit to have surgery.

"It's sad. We expected being beaten, yes. We didn't expect this," said Gretchen Jackson, whose horse had inspired hopes of the first sweep of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes since Affirmed did it in 1978.

"I'm sure [people] are sorry," Jackson said. "You had to love him."

Bramlage said Barbaro's false start had nothing to do with the injury, and that he appeared to return to the gate in good order. Jockey Edgar Prado said the horse was "feeling good" before the race.

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

"During the race, he took a bad step and I can't really tell you what happened. I heard a noise about a hundred yards into the race and pulled him right up."

Matz left to accompany the horse for the trip, but his wife, D.D. Alexander Matz, spoke to reporters.

"Barbaro acted like the true champion he is, and hopefully he'll get the best care possible and he'll be all right," she said. Nick Zito, trainer of Hemingway's Key, third behind Bernardini and Sweetnorthernsaint, spoke for horsemen.

"The whole story is this," Zito said. "Let's just hope Barbaro lives."

Posted by Valkyre at May 20, 2006 10:59 PM