"Going The Distance" By Karen Gardner

REPORTER'S NOTEBOOKS: KAREN GARDNER


Going the Distance — Barbaro’s story was one of the years best
Published on December 31, 2006

THIS WEEK’S COLUMN will digress from the usual spotlight on local athletes to focus on the athlete I think deserves notice at the end of this remarkable year. We saw some great stories in 2006. But the moment that struck me the most was when Barbaro held up his right hind leg just a few yards into the Preakness on May 20 and looked for all the world like a star horse who suddenly realized he needed a lot of help to survive.

Barbaro won the Kentucky Derby by 6 3/4 lengths, the largest margin in 60 years. He won the race so easily, jockey Edgar Prado never even sounded the whip. Racehorses are usually not whipped; it's the sound that gets them going, and the direction of the sound indicates which way they should go.

Barbaro’s owner, Gretchen Jackson, said she realized when she stroked him after the race he wasn't even wet. Prado said the horse had gears the world hadn't seen yet, and this was after he defeated 19 other horses in the Derby.

Barbaro was undefeated in six races after the Derby. He won easily on turf, on dirt, in the slop. He had a stride that stretched to 25 feet, and that might not have been his fullest potential.

He seemed to take whatever came his way, and still come out on top. Yet in the Preakness what came his way was a shattered right hind leg that in seconds ended his racing career and nearly his life. Prado heard the horse's leg pop mid-stride, and immediately pulled him up. He jumped off and held himself against the much larger horse, preventing Barbaro from falling and probably saving his life. Prado definitely deserves kudos, as much for his concern about the horses he rides as for his remarkable skills as a jockey.

Barbaro stood on the track until veterinarians reached him; he was then helped off the track and behind a curtain so he couldn't see the race that was still taking place. His leg was splinted and an equine ambulance was prepared to take him to the New Bolton Veterinary Center in Kennett Square, Pa., 90 minutes away.

The side walls of the specially prepared van were inflated to hold Barbaro, his groom Eduardo and a veterinarian steady. Barbaro received a police escort to the New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, where he was prepared for surgery the next day.

Waiting until the horse calms was a lesson learned after the horrifying death of Ruffian, perhaps the greatest racing filly of all time, and one of the greatest racehorses of all time. I still recall watching the race on that summer afternoon in 1975. I was stunned to watch the great filly nearly fall against her rival, Foolish Pleasure. The fracture was repaired in surgery after the race, but she thrashed about upon awakening from anesthesia and re-broke her leg. She was immediately euthanized.

Since then, I've had a lovehate relationship with horse racing. I love the thoroughbreds. They are beautiful creatures, energetic, often playful, always ready to run. I hate the breakdowns, the brief racing careers of the horses, the reported overuse of drugs by a few nefarious trainers and the fates of many horses that don't make it on the track.

Barbaro's recovery this summer and fall has been long. There was one awful week in July where it seemed Barbaro wouldn't make it. His right hind leg, which needed 27 screws to fuse his bones, became infected, and Barbaro bore too much weight on his left hind. The left leg developed an abscess, which quickly became Laminitis. Laminitis, known more commonly as foundering, is a deadly disease in which the hoof separates from the bone. Secretariat died of Laminitis.

Barbaro's veterinarian, Dr. Dean Richardson, said Barbaro’s Laminitis was one of the worst he’d seen. But Barbaro pulled out of the infection, and as Richardson, the horse’s his owners and trainer Michael Matz debated what to do, Barbaro had a look in his eyes that told his people he was ready to do what was necessary to survive.

Barbaro has reportedly been a model patient, adapting from galloping around the pastures of his home at Fair Hill Training Center in the northeastern corner of Maryland, to living in his stall at the intensive care unit of the New Bolton Center. Barbaro walks outside, weather permitting, for about 45 minutes each day.

His recovery has taken more than seven months, and it isn’t over. His right leg has healed, allowing him to walk with a limp. His left hoof is encased in a boot that allows him to bear full weight. The hoof is growing back, although slowly and unevenly. It will probably need to be watched for the rest of his life. He may soon be headed for a farm where his legs can be monitored, and where he may someday be able to stand at stud.

Barbaro’s owners Gretchen and Roy Jackson visit daily. So did Matz, until he left in December for his winter training grounds in Florida.

Matz won a silver medal in Olympic equestrian competition before transferring his considerable horsemanship skills to racehorses. He saved three children from a burning plane after a plane crash in 1989. And he trained a horse named Barbaro who probably could have won the Triple Crown save for an unfortunate step in the Preakness Stakes.

Matz was reduced to tears later in talking about his horse, and when it looked as though Barbaro would be euthanized when Laminitis hit in July.

The Jacksons have since turned their Barbaro spotlight into a campaign to raise donations and awareness for retired thoroughbreds. They have focused their energies on track safety and on benefits for racetrack workers, who often live on little pay. They have brought attention to the plight of exercise riders, who risk their lives while riding these horses.

Many tracks are installing synthetic surfaces, which may be safer, citing the “Barbaro effect.” They have brought attention to the issue of horse slaughter, the fate of many failed racehorses and even some successful ones.

Barbaro has definitely gone the distance in 2006. He started out by winning every race he was asked to run. And when the race turned into one for his life, he responded again, by cooperating with those around him, by withstanding pain, by doing what he needs to do to heal his legs.

He may or may not ever be able to stand at stud. His owners maintain that doesn't matter. His trainer, who will never again train Barbaro for another race, monitors his progress. His fans check on Barbaro daily through a little-known Web site, www.timwoolleyracing.com. Alex Brown, a Web site designer and teacher at the University of Delaware, exercises horses for trainer Tim Woolley, who is stabled near Matz at Fair Hill.

When Barbaro won the Derby, Brown began issuing reports on Barbaro. These continued after his Preakness injury. Several times a day Brown reports updates on Barbaro’s progress and other issues in horse racing and race safety.

To me, 2006 will always be the Year of Barbaro. Barbaro is an athlete in every sense of the word, giving his all wherever needed. He never asked for money, never sought performance enhancing drugs, never turned down an autograph.

All he asked for were caring humans and lots of baby carrots. Heres hoping heel have many more years to live and green pastures in which to roam.

“Reprinted with permission of The Frederick News-Post and  Randall Family, LLC as published on Dec. 31, 2006"