So what?
I’m surprised, because I hadn’t heard anything about Barbaro recently, but I’m not surprised, because recovering from this injury was always kind of a longshot. I’m sad, because the horse has died, and because so much time and money and effort was poured out for a lost cause–not neccessarily wasted, exactly, just used to delay the death of a racehorse. But I’m not tremendously sad, because as a racehorse that got injured, Barbaro got a better shot than most to try to recover.
I just saw a report this morning that as long as he’s eating and “comfortable” they would continue to try to fix him. Kind of a shock that he’s down after hearing that.
It’s sad. I am glad that the owners gave him every chance to make it but there comes a point where the humane thing is to let him go. I can’t second guess the efforts to save him or the final decision to put him down.
What a shame. Big horse, bigger heart. Here’s the Sports Illustrated article on it:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/01/29/barbaro.ap/index.html?cnn=yes
Poor horse.
Sad. At least it sounds like they did their best effort; I think a lot of owners would have given up long ago.
His fight for life ended in euthanasia at 10:30 this morning. Press conference is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
DAMN.
I’m sitting here crying for a horse I never met. But he grabbed my heart, with his racing magnificence and with his gallant struggle to overcome disaster. Something noble and beautiful is gone from the world now.
My much-loved horse Nick has been much on my mind these last few days, since the news the latest setback made my heart sink in anticipation. My old guy left this life on September 16, 2005, after 13 years of laughter and delight, of worry and tears, of a bond, a companionship, whose loss still aches inside. I know what grief the Jacksons, Michael Matz, Dr. Richardson, everyone who knew Barbaro must be suffering.
Rest in peace, Barbaro.
Damn.
And I still miss my Phelan, who had to be euthanized because of melanoma. My first horse and my best.
StG
RIP Barbaro. You’ll always be a champion…
Oh, what powers I do have!
I merged all three threads (one from CS, one from IMHO, and one from MPSIMS) into this big ol’ mess. So, if the replies don’t seem to jive with the (assumed) order, you can blame it on me.
That said, all should be well now for new posts.
I will think tenderly of poor old what’s-his-name when I open the can of Alpo for my dog tonight.
Poor horse.
Though he cost me money, (I bypassed him in my Derby picks and then coupled him up for the Preakness) I was still rooting for him to recover.
My dear sweet Barbaro. No more pain where you are now, boy… Oh, god, that’s tasty. I wish Barbaro was here to enjoy this…Oh, Barbaro…
A very sad day in racing……
I was very fortunate to get to see Barbaro in person during morning works Derby week. Of all the Derby contenders, Barbaro was the horse I was most anxious to see. I loved his breeding, and very much wanted Dynaformer to be a Derby winner sire. If Barbaro should win the Derby, then I thought that might begin to bring about a change in breeding trends. For a while now the trend had been to breed for early speed. I felt it was better for the breed to look towards producing horses with stamina. Dynaformer comes from a long line of stayers, and has produced many versatile horses. I also thought the damsire, Carson City, made for an interesting cross. Dynaformer’s stamina with Carson City’s speed, no one was counting Barbaro out because of his breeding.
And no one who saw him in person would count him out on conformation or mental attitude. He was built a bit stockier than many of the contenders. Compared to Barbaro, many others looked delicate and slight. He had sturdiness to him the other three year olds didn’t have. And while most horses that make it to that level of racing seem quite cocky when on the track, prancing about as if to say, “Yeah, I am all that…” often getting a reputation for being hard to deal with, Barbaro had a quiet confidence that affected everyone who saw him. You could easily picture him as a calm stable pony, a reliable trail horse, a graceful hunter/jumper, pretty much doing anything a horse is needed to do. And you couldn’t help but think what nice foals he could sire.
I know many I talked to that morning said they hadn’t had Barbaro on their short list before they saw him, but definitely added him after observing him. As a handicapper, you don’t really want to admit you pick a horse because he looks so good. But with Barbaro, he really did stand out among the others, you just couldn’t help it. He had been on my short list from the beginning, just based on his breeding. Then as we went through the Derby preps, I felt the way he won those races, mostly the hard way by being bumped, caught in traffic, but still having enough left in the stretch to pull out a win, was just what was needed to win a crowded race like the Derby. By Derby day, I fully expected him to win, the only surprise to me was by how much and how easily he beat everyone else.
In my mind now, when I hear the common phrase, “he won easily for fun,” I immediately picture Barbaro’s Derby win. Coming down the stretch, easily passing the others, he most definitely looked to be having fun. Cruising along so easily I was sure he had plenty in the tank for the upcoming Preakness. The Derby looked to be a nice little warm-up for him, nothing more than a chance to stretch his legs. As I watched the first replay of the race, I really believed I was looking at our next Triple Crown winner. I couldn’t imagine any way he could lose. I can remember thinking that the timing was perfect. Racing had had some rough times lately. We very much needed a new hero to give us something to get excited about. And I felt Barbaro was perfect to take on that role.
Unfortunately he never had the chance to prove what he could do on the track. He did everything that was asked of him, so we certainly had reason to believe he had quite a bit more to show us.
As I talk to my other racing friends, many are saying the same thing. From the time we heard that they were going to try to beat the odds and save him, we tried not to get our hopes up too much. No horse had survived such a bad injury. We could hope technology had improved to the point that it might make a difference for him. He certainly had the best connections working on him and supporting him. But we all knew this would be the likely end, more a matter of not if, but when.
So it is quite surprising to us that we feel so bad now. We thought we had protected ourselves by preparing for this. But I guess in some situations you just can’t do that. He proved himself to be an amazing horse both on and off the track. The stories of how well he was handling his confinement and what a model patient he was just added confirmation of how very special he was.
The only thing that makes me feel better is that I do believe all the interest and news stories about him has created an environment that will lead to better conditions for future thoroughbreds. I don’t think it was a coincidence that many tracks started looking into artificial surfaces more seriously after his break down. I know there has also been renewed discussions about the timing of the TC races, the safety of starting gates, training routines, horse hospitals at tracks, breeding practices, pretty much all parts of racing are looking at what they can do to prevent things like this happening again. It would have been nice if these conversations had taken place before we lost Barbaro, but at least they are taking place now.
So I am hopeful some good may come from all this after all.
R.I.P. Barbaro
Gone but not forgotten.
Here is a picture from the morning I saw him:
http://i5.tinypic.com/2pt8jki.jpg
And here is how I will remember him, with his eye on the prize, winning under the Twin Spires, the first Saturday in May.
http://i18.tinypic.com/339q9ux.jpg
Thank you, Grits.
a sad day. i was really hoping he could beat the odds. seeing him go outside and graze after being in hospital for so long was wonderful.
i know it wasn’t an easy decision to let him go.
perhaps he and ruffian can run around the green pastures and still waters together.
Poor horse. If only there were some way to keep horses from being hurt by not making them run in races…
If horses weren’t raced, Barbaro would never have been foaled. He was bred and born to run, it was his reason for being, and he loved it. No, that last isn’t anthropomorphizing. If you’ve ever spent time around Thoroughbreds you’ll recognize that as the simple truth. It’s horrible that horses break down in races, yes. I still grieve for Ruffian, all these years later. But one of the things that killed Ruffian is that she tried to keep running after her leg shattered, she fought her jockey’s attempts to stop her; her fierce will to run, to beat the other horses, drove her to go on until her leg was so terribly ruined that no surgeon could save her. That is the glory – and, tragically, sometimes the undoing – of the Thoroughbred: their heart, their courage, their passionate will to run.
What does need addressing is making racing safer for horses, such as developing and installing new kinds of track surfaces that greatly reduce catastrophic breakdowns – which is already happening and has gotten a boost from Barbaro’s high-visibility case.
There’s also research underway into how shoeing affects breakdowns (get lost, toe grabs) and what training techniques can help preserve soundness. What’s been learned about fracture repair, laminitis care, sling use, and so forth from Barbaro’s course of treatment may save the lives of horses in the future.
I personally believe that two-year-olds shouldn’t be raced at all, and that the three-year-old season should be rescheduled to reduce the early-season pressure on the horses, but that is highly unlikely given the economics of horse racing.