Sunday, May 21, 2006

A Horse is a Horse.............

I didn't see the Preakness live, but the clips of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro from yesterday's race brought back some memories - bad ones, truth be told. If you missed it, the Associated Press put it this way:

Barbaro breaks down as Bernardini wins Preakness

BALTIMORE -- Barbaro was rarin' to go. The unbeaten Kentucky Derby winner gave jockey Edgar Prado every indication he was set for the race of his life.

The strapping bay colt was bucking in the starting gate at Pimlico Race Course and actually broke through early. All seemed well after Prado reined him in and returned to the No. 6 gate for a second start.

About 12 seconds later, the question was no longer whether Barbaro would win the Triple Crown but whether he would survive at all.

After galloping only a few hundred yards in the Preakness, Barbaro's right rear leg flared out and he veered sideways while eight rivals passed him.

The record crowd of 118,402 watched in shock as Prado pulled the powerful horse to a stop and jumped off. With Barbaro still on the track and running on three legs, there wasn't much enthusiasm for the finish, especially with many of the fans in tears.

Bernardini won the $1-million US race, beating Sweetnorthernsaint by 5 1/4 lengths.

The story reminded me of one from around 1975 or so, when a horse named Ruffian went down in a match race with Foolish Pleasure.As if the sight of a horse hobbling along the track wasn't enough, I was shocked to find out that horses often didn't, ahem, recover from injuries like Ruffian's.

Equinenet has an excellent account of Ruffian's breakdown. Check it out; the similarities are striking: http://www.equinenet.org/heroes/ruffian.html

UPDATE: Barbaro in surgery today. The Daily Racing Form reports:

Surgery for Barbaro, the Kentucky Derby winner who was seriously injured in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico, began shortly after 12:30 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday at the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa.

Barbaro updates: http://www.drf.com/

Posted by Unclejbird @ 1:47 PM