WHEW! BARBARO PULLS OFF RALLY 1/12- NY Post Online Edition

By ED FOUNTAINE


January 12, 2007 -- KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. - The sense of doom that hung in the air Wednesday at the New Bolton Center after Barbaro suffered a "significant setback" in his recovery from the dreaded foot disease laminitis dissipated yesterday with the welcome news that the Derby champ was "stable and acceptably comfortable" after a good night's rest.

"He is getting up and down on his own and continues to eat and have stable vital signs," said Dr. Dean Richardson, New Bolton's chief of surgery. "Radiographs taken yesterday revealed no additional complications in either hind leg. We are considering several additional therapeutic options at this time."

Barbaro continues to be medicated, as has been the case since he fractured his right hind leg in the Preakness. He also is spending some time in a sling to help support his weight. The sling was first used last July when Barbaro developed laminitis - a painful, often fatal inflammation of the foot - in his left hind hoof. Richardson had to cut away 80 percent of the hoof, saying, "The only way you can cure it is many, many months of growing a new hoof wall."

Since then, the right hind leg has mended, but the left foot has remained a problem. The outside of the hoof was growing well, but the inside was not.

"There's some parts of his healing that are good; there are some parts that are disappointing," Richardson said. "That takes months before you know that is happening. If I knew it was just a matter of chopping his hoof wall off and letting it regrow - it's not like a plant. I'd love for him to be better than he is, but he's not. He still has farther to go before he is acceptable."

Plans were being made to transfer Barbaro from the New Bolton Center to a farm in Kentucky, where he would continue his recovery under the care of Dr. Scott Morrison, a foot specialist at the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington. Last week, looking to stabilize the coffin (foot) bone, which showed signs of deterioration and was hitting the ground at a toe-down angle, Morrison came to New Bolton and fitted Barbaro's foot with a cast and bar shoe.

Unfortunately, several days later, Barbaro was in obvious discomfort, not putting weight on the foot. The cast was removed and part of the hoof wall was cut away again.

"The hoof cast tore the laminae [the sensitive tissue that binds the hoof to the foot]," Barbaro's trainer, Michael Matz, said yesterday from his winter base in Florida. "He was sore and uncomfortable, and when they took [the partially grown hoof wall] off, that relieved the pressure. It was going to have to be removed anyway because it wasn't growing back strong enough."

Meanwhile, the public's affection for Barbaro is strong as ever. Dozens of hand-lettered signs - "We Love You Barbaro," "Grow Hoof Grow" - hang from the fence at the entrance to New Bolton, and each day the local florist delivers huge gift baskets containing fruit, carrots and snacks for the hospital staff from fans across America.

ed.fountaine@nypost.com


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