Kentucky Derby (G1) hero BARBARO (Dynaformer) was set to undergo surgery on
Sunday afternoon at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center in
Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The Michael Matz-trained dark bay suffered
multiple fractures in his right hind leg soon after the start of Saturday’s Preakness S. (G1).
“He’ll be placed under general anesthesia and additional radiographs will be
taken,” said Dr. Dean Richardson, chief of surgery at New Bolton Center. “He’ll
be under anesthesia for several hours, and it’s a very complicated procedure.
“We’ll be attempting to fuse the entire joint,” he continued. “I don’t want
to give any prognosis for success until further review during the
surgery.”
Richardson said that Barbaro had suffered three fractures instead of the
originally reported two — one in the cannon bone above the ankle joint, a
second in the long pastern bone located below the ankle joint and the third
within the ankle joint. He also reported that the sophomore had a dislocation in
the affected ankle joint.
“It is very unusual to have three catastrophic injuries all together,”
Richardson commented, adding that in most cases the horse would have been
humanely euthanized at the track. “I’ve never seen this exact fracture and I
never tackled one before.”
Despite all that, Richardson said that people shouldn’t give up hope.
“I think horses can do a lot of things if given a chance,” he said.