Barbaro Improving but Still only 50-50 to Survive
At the begnning of Saturday’s race, Barbaro not only lost his chance at the Triple Crown but he also may have lost a chance to lead a successful life after racing. Barbaro suffered a catastrophic injury to his back right leg, which usually mean the end of the horse’s life at the track due to it’s severity. Barbaro’s life was salvaged thanks to his potential value from breeding. He is believed to be worth between 30 and 50 million dollars. As for his surgery, Barbaro had 27 screws but in his hind leg in order to repair the damage done to his leg. After the surgery, the doctor declared that Barbaro had a 50-50 shot to live, and he has improved every day since the surgery.
“He’s actually better today than he was even yesterday and he was pretty good yesterday,” Dr. Dean Richardson said. “He’s walking very well on the limb, absolutely normal vital signs. He’s doing very well.”
It has been reported that Barbaro’s owner would have tried to save the horse even if it had no breeding value in the future, which is a testament to the goodwill of the owners. Roy Jackson and his family are well respected in the horse racing industry and it’s good to know that at least one famous horse owner would be willing to attempt to save its horse’s life even if it had no reproductive value. Unfortunately, Barbaro’s life could take a turn for the worse anytime but hopefully that will not happen.
“Bad things can happen anytime with horses, good things take a long time to happen. It will take a long time to know if we have this thing even close to being cured.”
The horse racing community and the Philadelphia horse fans can only hope that Barbaro continues to improve and survives this tragic injury to his racing career.
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Posted on May 23, 2006 by Kyle Garis | Filed Under General, Philadelphia
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