JC / Railbird

Horses Archive

Barbaro in Surgery

Update: Barbaro is out of surgery and standing in an intensive care stall at New Bolton. “Things right now are good,” said Dr. Dean Richardson. “He practically jogged back to his stall … He’s very comfortable right now.” The news is about as good as can be hoped for, but Richardson did caution that Barbaro still faces a challenging months-long recovery from his injuries. “To be brutally honest, there’s still enough chance for things going bad that it’s still a coin toss even though everything went well.”

Photos: Here’s one of Barbaro coming out of the recovery pool and another of him walking back to his stall. The image below shows the x-ray of Barbaro’s leg before surgery on the left; on the right is an x-ray of the leg after surgery:

Images courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania/New Bolton Center

Richardson put in a bone plate and 27 screws during surgery to reconstruct Barbaro’s leg. The x-ray showing his incredible work is not only amazing but testament to how much equine medicine had advanced in the past couple of decades.

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Surgery on Barbaro’s injured right hind leg began shortly after 12:30 today at the New Bolton Center and is expected to take at least three hours. “It’s a very complicated procedure,” said Dr. Dean Richardson. “We’ll be attempting to fuse the entire joint. I don’t want to give any prognosis for success until further review during the surgery.”

It was revealed this morning that the injuries Barbaro suffered in yesterday’s Preakness were more severe than initially reported: In addition to the cannon and pastern bone fractures, the colt also has a fractured sesamoid and his ankle was dislocated at the fetlock joint. Richardson called the damage “very, very serious,” and said that he had not worked on a horse before with such catastrophic injuries. “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,” he said. “This is rare.”

The news might be grim, but its sounds as though Barbaro has so far been the perfect patient (“He was very brave and well behaved under the situation and was comfortable overnight“) and that he’s getting the best possible care. And, as the Blood-Horse reassuringly points outs, while the situation is dire, “broken legs aren’t death.”

After surgery, surgeons plan “to place the leg in a sling and place Barbaro on a raft on a pool before the horse emerges from anesthesia.” The pool is used to prevent a horse from reinjuring itself as it wakes from surgery. Here’s a short video that shows another New Bolton equine patient waking from leg surgery in the recovery pool and then walking to his stall in a cast.

Posted in Horses on May 21, 2006

Return to the Winner’s Circle

Funny Cide snapped an eight-race losing streak with a win on Sunday in the Kings Point Stakes at Aqueduct. “It has been a long time,” said Sackatoga managing partner Jack Knowlton. “We’re just happy to get him back into the winner’s circle.” The Kings Point was restricted to NY-breds; Sunday was the first time since his two-year-old season that Funny Cide raced in restricted company. After taking an early lead, Funny Cide faded in the stretch, but then showed his old fighting spirit, gamely coming back to put away Gold and Roses, who finished second.
Before Sunday, the last race Funny Cide won was the 2004 Jockey Club Gold Cup, in which he appeared to stop as the field entered the final turn and then fought his way to the lead in the stretch. It was a thrilling victory, but one that was unfortunately followed by a string of performances so lackluster that many said the gelding should be retired. If nothing else, Funny Cide’s Kings Point win proves he’s still competitive. That he continues to race is good for the sport, and not just because Funny Cide can still draw a crowd. As Steven Crist writes in a recent column:

Posted in Horses on April 30, 2006

LITF Returns Saturday

– Sprint champion Lost in the Fog makes his four-year-old debut on Saturday in the Golden Gate Sprint. The race is the first for “the cool dude” since he finished seventh in the 2005 Breeders’ Cup Sprint after winning his first 10 starts. Four others are entered in the Sprint, but only one — Carthage — appears to have the speed to challenge him. Carthage won his last two starts, earning Beyer speed figures of 108 and 105 for the efforts, and is coming off a two-month layoff, as opposed to Lost in the Fog’s six-month break. Trainer Greg Gilchrist considers the race “strictly a prep” and warned bettors that Lost in the Fog might not win. “This will not be Lost in the Fog’s best race,” he said.
– In her first start since winning the Coaching Club American Oaks last July, champion filly Smuggler will also return to the track this Saturday in the Bed o’ Roses Breeders’ Cup Handicap at Aqueduct. “She’s bigger and stronger than she was last year,” said trainer Shug McGaughey. “I’m really looking forward to getting her started.” Smuggler, who’s been in and out of training because of illness, has previously won off a lengthy layoff.
– Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Silver Train was upset in the third at Aqueduct this afternoon. Sent off at 1-2 in a three-horse field, Silver Train finished second by one length to Spooky Mulder. “He ran a good race. It’s a good set-up for his next race,” said trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. “As long as he returns to form at Belmont, we’re going to be good.” Silver Train is expected to start in next month’s Met Mile at Belmont. Spooky Mulder, a formidable eight-year-old gelding who’s now won 25 and is 4-for-7 over the Aqueduct main track, was claimed for $100,000 out of the optional claiming/allowance race by trainer Patrick Reynolds for owner Paul Pompa Jr.
– Taking advantage of a narrow opening on the rail, Gorella pulled ahead in the stretch to win a turf allowance by 1 1/4 lengths over Sabellina at Keeneland on Wednesday. The four-year-old French filly finished third to Artie Schiller and Leroidesanimaux in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile and she’ll challenge males again in her second start of the year, the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic on the Kentucky Derby undercard. “Why not?” said trainer Patrick Biancone. “She is very good right now.”
– Oklahoma Training Track opened on Tuesday. About 100 horses are on the grounds so far, with another 100 or so expected by the start of next week.

Posted in Horses on April 20, 2006