Barbaro had surgery last night
 

Just go this in an e-mail.

http://www.vet.upenn.edu/newsandeven..._Update7-9.htm

Late Saturday, July 8, Dr. Dean Richardson, Chief of Surgery, replaced the plate and many of the screws that had been inserted into Barbaro’s injured hind leg on May 21. “Barbaro had developed some discomfort and a consistently elevated temperature so we believed it was in his best interest to remove the hardware and thoroughly clean the site of the infection,” said Dr. Richardson. “We also applied a longer cast on that leg for additional support.........................


This one is not great news but not terrible either. He appears to be doing much better now than before last night.

I have a much worse feeling about this than you do. I'm worried he is starting to take a turn. Not a good week in terms of info on him.

You could be right. They weren't concerned at all about his last one a couple days ago. Now I sensed they were a little more worried. They said he is still better than 50-50 so I guess it is a complication but there is a belief that this is all that really was the issue and it was taken care of.

I was told today he was much better. They are big time optimists though, which is a requirement in their business or they would lose their sanity.

thank you for the update ruler. I have to say that this concerns me far more than anything else that has been said so far...but i'm pulling for him.

From what I gather there is reason to be concerned this time.

absolutely, no doctor/vet will reopen a surgical site unless completely warranted. He must has been in clear distress both in his vitals and demeanor.
fingers crossed.

dang.. I hope he keeps fighting.

Upsetting. But we knew there would be hurdles. This looks like a big one. Hope his temp. comes down and he can take a break from the procedures.

All these Barbaro headlines that are on the racing websites sure don't feel right to me.

It seems like they are preparing for the worst.

The pictures showed shift in the structure of some pins. Probably because he was putting so much weight on the leg they conjecture. But I am sure they would rather not have opened him up again.

It really is all about infection now as his bones appear to be healing very well from what I have read. Hope he makes it. And it would be an added bonus for me if he was sterile. I would love to see how all involved would react.

From the sounds of it, the Jacksons would have taken these steps even if Barbaro was known to be sterile. It's rare to see in this game sometimes (or any game) where loyalty is aptly rewarded. I tend to believe the Jacksons see Barbaro as their champion, almost like a child, and are just doing anything to help him. Like any parent would do for their own.

Hang in there, Barbaro.

Quite honestly, I think breeding is the furthest thing from their minds at the moment. Pretty sure that the connections are just hoping he pulls through. Time to think about anything else a looooong way down the road.

I really doubt sterility is on their mind right now, but I guess that would only be something a person with ZERO CLASS would say. You must be pretty disturbed to even come up with a comment like that. The owners don't exactly need the cash they would make from breeding him.

Funny you mention Loyalty because Lael is the gaelic word for loyalty.

They would save their cheap horses if they had a bad injury. 80-90% of people in the business would do the same if they had the money, fortunately they have the money. Most people that own horses get very attached to them. They had another horse named Nice Nelly, one of the last daughters of Seattle Slew suffer a break this year too and she is doing fine.

thought i read barbaro was gaelic for loyal...... hope he does well.

No, Barbaro means Barbarian in Portugese or Exceptional/Superior. They actually got the name from a foxhound in some painting they own. There is a great story out there about what Matz's assistant said Barbaro meant back in January.

http://tcm.bloodhorse.com/BarbaroSpotlight.asp

When trainer Michael Matz was asked if he knew where the name Barbaro came from, he called to his assistant, Peter Brette. “Hey, Peter, what does the name Barbaro mean?” he asked. Brette didn’t hesitate with his answer: “Kentucky Derby winner.”

“In our dreams, right?” Matz said.

But those dreams will become much closer to reality if Barbaro should handle the dirt in the Holy Bull Stakes (gr. III) Feb. 4 as well as he’s handled the grass. In his three career starts, all on grass, Barbaro has been untouchable, winning by a total margin of 201⁄4 lengths, including runaway victories in the Tropical Park Derby and Laurel Futurity (both gr. IIIT).

So you think a claimer of theirs would have ended up in that facility and not been put down? Think of what the vets would have told them. Now a Kentucky Derby winner that has captured the Nation... Not trying to be mean spirited, just real. It was not just their decision. Its much easier when the Vets tell you what is best for the animal... I wonder how many opinions the Jacksons got to put Barbaro down... now make the same injury to a claimer and listen to the opinions.

while this argument may have some merit, is it really worth having? No one knows if an owner would have done the same for another 'lesser' horse, but why even debate it? The point is that they did do it for this horse, and thus far his recovery has been better that expected. Certainly he has had a setback but to imply that perhaps they shouldn't have tried to save him in the first place is useless.

loves barbero but have to agree that this is afine horse and graded stakes winner so the breeding has to come into the dec mix..no nw of 2 is gonna get this treatment...

A cheaper horse would have been put down on the track at the tracks vets rec. The point is that the Jacksons would save any of their horses if they could. They live right near New Bolton and I would imagine they would let any of their horses be worked on there even if the horse has little chance. Money is not the object with them. As for Barbaro, the insurance company was willing to pay the claim which is worth a small fortune, but they kept him alive. If I heard correctly, if he can't breed because he cant mount mares because of the injury (not likely) they won't get paid on the insurance claim. The smart thing for them to do financially was to put him down. Money isn't an issue with these people.