Barbaro pulls up lame in Preakness

Keeping my personal feelings out of the FPP and in the comments... ...this was just simply awful to watch. Just awful. What a beautiful, beautiful horse. Here's hoping that Prado's quick action in pulling him up may have helped save the situation some, although I really don't know how good the best realistic possible outcome is at this point.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 05:33 PM - reply - flag:

The most dificult horse race I have ever watched. Brought tears to my eyes to see a great jockey and a very brave horse struggle like that. Only hope there were no "shenanigans". That said, anyone see the race just before the big one? Great photo finish.

posted by GoBirds at 05:52 PM - reply - flag:

Unfortunatly they seem to think the break may be life threatning. not trying to jump to conclusions, just reporting what was said om the tube.

posted by Folkways at 06:02 PM - reply - flag:

ya see...that's how rumours get started. what was stated on the broadcast folks...was that it appeared NOT to be life threatening..but definitely career threatening. "shenanigans?" it's a horse race.....horses get injured....it's a part of the game. next you're gonna tell me there was someone on the grassy knoll. all we can do now is have our best wishes with the horse and his trainer. barbaro will get the best treatment available. i was raised on a farm and the unnessasary injury or loss of an animal is devastating. i want to see that horse goofing in a pasture til the age of 28. positive thoughts are the best we can do now.

posted by tommytrump at 06:14 PM - reply - flag:

Oh, man, I felt silly at the time, but I damn near cried. What in the world? Who cares about horse racing? Well, obviously I do a little bit more than I would have guessed. Why is the triple crown such an emotionally driven thing; I can't for the life of me understand why I was so emotionally invested in Barbaro's bid.

posted by everett at 06:22 PM - reply - flag:

What in the world? Who cares about horse racing In this case, it's not so much about the racing, as about the animal. We breed horses, and I've cried when we've put them down, as you have to in certain circumstances. Barbaro will probably have the best surgery available, and they'll want to save him, as he's a stallion with a Derby win.

posted by owlhouse at 08:12 PM - reply - flag:

The problem is thoroughbreds don't take to casts well. They are high strung and often re-injure the break. I can site a filly named ruffian as an example..

posted by scotsman at 08:32 PM - reply - flag:

okay yeah a broken leg sucks but lets look at the upside of this for Barbaro. He probably wont have to race again. So he is already retired at 3 and like owl said he won the derby so he is the horse version of Heffner..

posted by PGHTOS at 08:38 PM - reply - flag:

tommytrump: ya see...that's how rumours get started. what was stated on the broadcast folks...was that it appeared NOT to be life threatening..but definitely career threatening. From this article: "It's a serious fracture. This will require pretty major surgery," Bramlage said. "Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer. His career is over. This is very life-threatening. "Under the best circumstances, we will try to save him as a stallion." PGHTOS: okay yeah a broken leg sucks but lets look at the upside of this for Barbaro. He probably wont have to race again. scotsman had the right of it. Thoroughbreds don't take to casts well, and a horse can't live with three legs. Barbaro's survival depends on that leg healing.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 09:13 PM - reply - flag:

I am surprised no one brought up the fact that the tragedy is that horses shouldn't have a saddle on their backs.

posted by doggstarr at 09:20 PM - reply - flag:

I was in the infield at Pimlico today and it was as bad as it looked. At this time it is about 50-50 for Barbaro to survive. Unfortunatly animals don't reason the same way humans do. That is why some people should not own them. Edgar Prado did a superb job pulling that animal up and getting him under controll. Hopefully Barbaro will have long days and peacefull nights as a stud in Fair Hill Md.

posted by xeddie at 10:01 PM - reply - flag:

I am surprised no one brought up the fact that the tragedy is that horses shouldn't have a saddle on their backs. Well, horses have had saddles (or riders, at least) on their backs for thousands of years. To suggest it's "cruel" at this time is to suggest that breeding (as either battle, pack or race animals) is cruel. Human civilization has relied on the domestication of animals, so it's probably silly to suggest that it's a bad thing in general to use animals. It isn't torture, and it isn't abuse, so I pretty much have no problem with it.

posted by grum@work at 01:04 AM - reply - flag:

doggstar, I don't really understand your comment. Are you just trolling?

posted by everett at 02:56 AM - reply - flag:

Sorry tommytrump, had no idea I was dealing with an expert. I didn't mean to suggest I thought any one directly involved with the race was into "shenanigans", hence the quotation marks. Where there is a lot of money involved, and a great deal of gambling, organized crime is usually not far behind. Shudder to think what would happen if they had as much control as they used to. "I know it was you Fredo. You broke my heart."

posted by GoBirds at 03:38 AM - reply - flag:

I think horse racing is cruel!! Such great horse it just makes me sick to run them to death and for what the money.........

posted by gammy1 at 03:49 AM - reply - flag:

gammy, I think trying to read your rant is cruel.

posted by smithnyiu at 09:44 AM - reply - flag:

I've been following horse racing closely for over 30 years and that is one of the most upsetting things I've ever seen on a track. The horse is a champion. I rarely bet, I just love the sport, but I have seen enough to know that the odds of his recovering and surviving are extremely long. I realize some people (read: ignorant clods) will hold this up and use it as an excuse to browbeat the sport and demand a ban on horse-racing, but sadly, such is the nature of that animal species that it could have happened anywhere. If you want to eradicate horses breaking ankles and sesimoid bones, then you'll have to eradicate the species. And to think just a fortnight ago he won the Derby by the biggest margin in 60 years. Tragic.

posted by the red terror at 11:21 AM - reply - flag:

The problem is thoroughbreds don't take to casts well. They are high strung and often re-injure the break. I can site a filly named ruffian as an example.. From the article it appears the biggest problem is not so much the bone break healing but ensuring that blood vessels repair properly, and that blood can continue to flow into the lower leg. Down here, a big time and popular stakes winner, Might and Power, broke his leg. After a number of operations he fully recovered. He's now at stud but about 18 months ago I saw him paraded around the ring at Eagle Farm, to great cheering from the stands. I can only wish Barbaro the same levels of treatment and powers of recovery. And doggstar, come out to the farm one day. My Clydesdale wants to bite you.

posted by owlhouse at 06:11 PM - reply - flag:

trolling?,, nah,, just a quick thought was all. Just because horses have been saddled for thousands of years doesn't make it right in my opinion.

posted by doggstarr at 06:12 PM - reply - flag:

"After about an hour the horse is transported via monorail back to the stable." Wow, now that's high-tech.

posted by mr_crash_davis at 06:48 PM - reply - flag:

Just because horses have been saddled for thousands of years doesn't make it right in my opinion. Indeed. That's why God gave us cars. (I forget, though...was that on the fifth day or the sixth?)

posted by lil_brown_bat at 07:18 PM - reply - flag:

Update: looks like he got through the surgery just fine. Get well soon, you good brave horse.

posted by lil_brown_bat at 08:45 PM - reply - flag:

Barbaro's injury should advance cause of track safety.

posted by justgary at 03:43 AM - reply - flag:

What a surreal moment watching Barbaro jump out of the gate early and eventually getting hurt. Just bizarre. The announcer said the time was "tepid" so I am assuming Barbaro would have had a decent chance to win it had he not been injured.

posted by tron7 at 11:18 AM - reply - flag:

The way that they treat those race horses is cruel anyways. Hopefully now better the horses will be treated better, and live under better conditions.

posted by redsoxrgay at 03:06 PM - reply - flag:

I have to disagree with much of the premise of the article linked by justgary above. I personally don't think that it's a very compelling argument that the reason the horse racing powers-that-be should implement changes (primarily safer tracks) is that because if they don't, "fans" will be driven away from the sport. I would think that as long as people continue to "play the ponies," it really doesn't matter whether the casual fan tunes out the racing on TV (I'm sure it impacts the bottom line, just not so much as other revenue sources). The main thing deficient with the analysis from my perspective, though, is that Forde thinks that a top-down change is necessary for improvements to be made. We are talking about a sport where (at least at the upper levels) the owners have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in their horses. It seems to me that there is plenty of economic incentive for the owners to push for any changes that might be necessary to protect their investments. Maybe change is necessary, maybe not -- but a lot of what I see coming out from the sports journalists seems to be a bit of an overreaction to something that may be an isolated event.

posted by holden at 03:41 PM - reply - flag:

While I think horses are very usefull as domesticated animals, at this point I find myself questioning horse raceing. In the past Ive always enjoyed watching the "big 3" races. But this year I wont be watching the next race (belmont?). Just cant bare to witness a repete injury.

posted by Folkways at 04:43 PM - reply - flag:

Saturday, May 20, 2006

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