Barbaro Hurt; Bernardini Wins
One bad step. That’s all it takes. Triple Crown dreams disappear in an instant, replaced by one wish: “Let’s just hope Barbaro lives.”
The Derby winner was pulled up on the stretch in front of the Pimlico grandstand shortly after the start of Preakness with an injured right hind leg. “During the race, he took a bad step and I can’t really tell you what happened,” said jockey Edgar Prado. “I heard a noise about a 100 yards into the race and pulled him right up.” The noise was the sound of a catastrophic injury:
Barbaro was taken back to his stall in the Pimlico stakes barn. After he was sedated and stabilized, the colt was transferred to the New Bolton Center at the University of Pennsylvania, where he’ll undergo surgery on Sunday. The injury is life-threatening.
More: “In the record crowd, an instant diagnosis could be made of 118,402 broken hearts“; “Startling injury at Preakness ends Barbaro’s quest“; “Preakness reminds us what’s really at stake.”
Photos: Barbaro is held by jockey Edgar Prado and a track assistant after being pulled up; Prado stands over the saddle taken off Barbaro; Bernardini approaches the finish line, running past the injured favorite; wearing a splint, Barbaro is loaded into the equine ambulance.
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The lightly raced Bernardini, in only his fourth start and his first around two turns, won the Preakness by 5 1/4 lengths. “I knew at the three-eighths pole this horse would win,” said jockey Javier Castellano. ”I had plenty of horse and the two horses in front of me [Sweetnorthernsaint and Brother Derek] started tiring. At the quarter pole, when I asked him, he took off.” Bernardini ran “a phenomenal race” to earn a 113 Beyer speed figure. Sweetnorthernsaint was second, Hemingway’s Key third.
