Barbaro Updates 1 - 250

Update 250: Just had to add this article: Trainer: 
Barbaro 'In Good Frame of Mind' (thanks Karla).  As I noted in update 
248, Peter met with a reporter this morning after his visit, and the story 
seems out already (that's the internet for you).  His quote is similar to 
what Peter told me over the phone five minutes later no doubt:

"He had another good night, " Brette said. "He's doing fine. He's in a 
good frame of mind."

Brette, who exercised the colt daily for trainer Michael Matz, has been 
visiting Barbaro almost every day since the colt shattered his right hind 
leg at the Preakness Stakes on May 20.

Barbaro's condition was stable through Saturday, and Brette seemed more 
upbeat than he was last week.

"He was bright," Brette said. "He sort of at least had a bit of sparkle in 
his eye."

Now I am off to Delaware Park!

Update 249: Off to Delaware Park for the big day of racing.  If you can, 
tune in 5 pm ESPN2 from Delaware Park, they will include Bobby coverage.  
Likely Sports Center at 6 will too (they have done religiously the past 
few days).  Also, if you are still up (we racing people tend to go to bed 
early) tune in to the ESPYs at 9 PM tonight for Edgar.  If you watch any 
of these shows and can add a "report" to the comments that would be 
terrific.  Before going to Delaware I just wanted to add this article: Grim 
reality hits racing again (thanks CJ) which includes some uplifting 
words from Edgar Prado:

"This business is tough," he said. "It's hard to go out there and when you 
come back to the room you see on TV how desperate things are over there. 
I'm sad, but I'm a professional and I have responsibilities. I'll just 
keep on going."

After the seventh race, in which he finished second on a claiming horse 
named Paige Nicole, Prado admitted his mind was more on the horse he 
believed was going to take him all the way to the Triple Crown.

"As long as he's alive, there's hope, and that's the last thing you want 
to lose," Prado said. "If you're going to give up every time something 
like this happens, there would be many people dead and many animals dead."

To Prado, the answers to the questions regarding the Jacksons and their 
extraordinary efforts to save Barbaro are simple and obvious.

"Many, many, many people dream of standing in the winner's circle on 
Kentucky Derby Day," he said. "That horse gave those people the biggest 
thrill of their lives, and I think they were just trying to give something 
back. I mean, that's the least we can do for these horses. Give them one 
more chance."


Update 248: Peter Brette just called, and he left Bobby at about 10:15 
this morning (sunday morning).  He confirmed Barbaro had a good night last 
night (got up and down 2 - 3 times).  He said he looked good this morning, 
in a good frame of mind.  He was met by a reporter from the Philadelphia 
Inquirer, so we'll need to look out for that piece.  The following 
article: Barbaro 
is strong and stable  (thanks Susan), has some nice quotes from Peter, 
Craig (or is it Grey, or ... ?) and Kathy Anderson, a couple here:

"Any problem we threw at him, he handled with ease," said Kennedy, who 
worked with the colt here in the northeast corner of Maryland at Vintage 
Farm, Barbaro's home and part of Fair Hill Training Center, where he was 
trained to race. "We put him on the track, put him in the gate -- anything 
that was difficult from the day before, he took in stride. He was an 
absolute professional."

and

Not only that, but after spending several hours out of the sling two days 
ago, he walked back over to it and nudged it, as if to say, "I want back 
in," said Brett, the assistant trainer who worked with him for more than a 
year. "He's battling back as he normally does by overcoming obstacles. 
He's just a smart horse with a super constitution."

and

Richardson, Dr. Kathy Anderson, the Vintage Farm veterinarian, and 
Barbaro's trainer, Michael Matz, are watching for small nuances in his 
behavior. "When he's feeling good, he's sharp, pushing you around and a 
little aggressive," Anderson said. "When he's not feeling good, he's 
quieter."

Anderson has been encouraged by Barbaro's efforts to sit down more often 
and not overload any of his limbs. The team will know more after removing 
the cast on his right hind leg to check his infection next week, she said, 
but right now, everyone is optimistic and committed to pushing ahead.

"He's not showing any sign of giving up now," she added. "As long as he 
fights the fight, we're authorized to stay with the program."

The author of this article, Tripp Mickle actually broke the story of 
Edgar's most recent visit.  I believe Tripp was simply still at New Bolton 
when he saw Edgar.  If this "meeting" had not happened, I am pretty sure 
no one would have known of Edgar's visit.  His article, reported in the 
comments on this site, had me calling others to confirm the story, and it 
took a lot to get it confirmed!  Ultimately ESPN ran the story that night 
and the New York Post interviewed Edgar later that afternoon about the 
visit.  

Update 247: Bobby had another comfortable night last night (saturday 
night).  Sunday is always a little more difficult for getting updates (I 
try not to ride on sundays and Michael is often not on the horsepath).  
That being said I saw Michael's shortened string coming back from the 
track (three horses, as opposed to a normal ten and Michael on Messaging) 
and asked if they had an update.  Michelle (Matz) noted that Michael said 
all was well during his visit last night.  Angela (her father won the 
Grand National on Rubstic) said she was coming out on one more horse 
(their last set), so I asked her if she would ask Michael if he had heard 
from Dean Richardson yet this morning.  I remained by the horsepath 
(acquired a horse to graze: Randy's Bullet) and waited for Angela.  When 
Angela reappeared on her final horse, she reported Michael said his night 
was comfortable!

Peter (Brette) is planning to go over to see Bobby this morning, so will 
try to catch up with Peter later.

Update 246: Jeannine Edwards caught up with Michael Matz yesterday 
(saturday afternoon) at Delaware Park, she e-mailed me this:

i actually talked to michael today at delaware.  he and D.D. gave me a 
good update.  he told me about the cast change today.  he told me 
barbaro's been using the sling very well, and that he actually likes it, 
he "sits" in it and rests sometimes.  he said at one point, while in the 
stall and out of the sling, he got a little tired or uncomfortable or 
something and he moved over to the sling and stood there like "hook me 
up!!"  anyway, michael gave me a good on-camera interview for tomorrow's 
show.  we'll use just a short comment from him.  he couldn't help but get 
a little emotional.... it's obvious this has been an excrutiatingly 
painful ordeal for them.  he was as gracious and as wonderful as he's been 
all along.

The cast change Jeannine refers to is the one we mentioned yesterday on 
his left hind.  ESPN2 will have some coverage later today (5pm) which will 
include footage of Michael.

The New York Times also caught up with Michael yesterday at Delaware Park: 
For 
Barbaro's Trainer, the Race Must Go On (thanks Mary).  The following 
are a couple of excerpts:

"Not so much physically, but, mentally, everything is catching up with me 
right now," he said between races here Saturday. "I thought for sure this 
horse could win the Triple Crown. Then, when this happened, I thought it 
wasn't supposed to be, but he was still going to be a good stallion. Then 
this latest setback comes along, and I've had to resign myself that maybe 
we'll have to put him to sleep. Then, he bounces right back again. 
Sometimes, I don't know what to expect."

and

After the races, he was planning to head to Kennett Square to make his 
daily visit to Barbaro. He did not know what to expect.

"Sometimes he wants somebody to be there with him and sometimes he wants 
to be left alone," Matz said. "It all depends on what people are doing 
with him."

Matz does not try to pretend he is taking it all in stride. He understands 
that, despite Saturday's positive report, the odds remain very much 
against Barbaro. The type of severe laminitis that Barbaro has is 
difficult to cure and can lead to severe pain. About the only factor 
working in Barbaro's favor is his spirit.

"It's like anything else with this horse," Matz said. "You can never count 
him out. He's just an unbelievable horse who doesn't want to give up. I'll 
put it this way: I'm not giving up on him. If any horse can get through 
this, it is him."

I saw Michael leaving New Bolton just after 7 pm last night, as I was 
there for the Vigil.  Unfortunately it seems NBC was not aware the intent 
of the Vigil was for those who want to come to NBC to gather outside the 
gate, by the get well posters etc.  I hope everyone who wanted to 
participate found a quiet time to think of Bobby. 

Update 245: Kathy Anderson just visited (I called her as she was leaving 
at 5 pm).  While Barbaro appeared a little  irritated (I guess as one 
would from time-to-time when stall bound as Bobby is)  he managed to 
devour a bag of fresh grass Kathy fed him.  Kathy also noted that they 
changed the cast on his left hind and apparently all looked as it should.  
All his vital signs were good.  He remains comfortable.

Michael Matz won the Virginia Oaks with Aunt Henny!

Update 244: Trying to catch up on much of the recent media coverage.  Mike 
Schuh e-mailed us this video clip he reported on for WJZ 13 Eyewitness 
News yesterday (July 14). Barbaro Shows 
Improvement Day After Outlook Was Grave.  (Its cool to have media 
contact you!)  Its a nice piece I think (I am sure it was also commented 
on below).  It includes footage of Bobby's use of his sling, it highlights 
the gifts that have been sent to NBC and also includes a short interview 
with Michael Matz.  Well worth viewing! 

Update 243: The following is a comment posted by Jen as a result of our 
afternoon activities (it was actually pretty cool watching a horse use an 
aqua treadmill)!

alex and I went to a very interesting open house this afternoon for Fair 
Hill Equine Therapy at Bruce Jackson's new barn (rebuilt since devestating 
fire late last year). We had the opportunity to chat with Chuck, one of 
the Fair Hill vets who works with Kathy Anderson. He was great about 
letting us pick his brain to better understand some of the issues related 
to Barbaro's condition. I wanted to share some of what I personally 
learned...most of all, in regards to the sling. I naively thought that 
whilst in the sling the horse was literally suspended and totally 
non-weight bearing. Not the case. In fact, he's still actually full-weight 
bearing in the sling. What it does is provides support so that should he 
want to lean on it (in whatever direction), he can rest himself off of 
whichever leg he wants. So, it still gives him a fair bit of control over 
his situation. Even so, it was a learning process for him to become 
comfortable with the concept (understandable!). But it seems as though 
he's come to appreciate it's benefits. Also, regarding the sling, as you 
can see from the photos it's positioned right in front of the stall door 
and that is because it's a part of the lift system that transports the 
horse from post-operative recovery back to the stall. Makes sense. Another 
bit I found interesting was that Barbaro has apparently been on Aspirin 
and Plavix (anti-platelet aggregation...ie. makes blood less likely to 
clot) since his injury as part of the effort to prevent laminitis (general 
risks of immobility)and he will continue on these medications to try to 
fascilitate blood flow to where it is so very needed for healing. Last 
bit,also related to laminitis prevention, initially, they fed Bobby on the 
ground to encourage weight bearing on the front legs. Now, they're feeding 
him more upright to try to provide protection for the front legs as they 
don't want him to favor them too much at this point. OK, that's it. I know 
I for one have absolute faith that our boy is in the very most capable 
hands and I thought it was cool to hear more about the details.

Update 242: Just spoke to Peter Brette.  While he is unable to visit today 
(still in the barn) he noted that D.D (Michael's wife) visited earlier 
today and said Bobby remains comfortable (she visited about noon).  No 
doubt Michael will visit later today, I think he had runners at Delaware 
Park.  Kathy Anderson is also visiting today (likely as I type) so I will 
try to catch up with her in a little while.

Update 241: We have received a couple of calls about tonights 
vigil (CBS radio, New Bolton Center).   The main questions were where 
and when ?

Where: whereever you are.  If you can congregate with others in your area, 
great.  If not, great!  I am sure there will be a few congregating 
outside the main entrance of New Bolton (I may do the same).

When: 7 pm east coast time.

Update 240: New Bolton Center press release:  
Barbaro continues to be stable confirms what we learned from Michael 
this morning:

Chief of Surgery Dean Richardson reports today that Kentucky Derby winner 
Barbaro had a very good night and remains in stable condition at the 
George D. Widener Hospital. "His heart rate and pulse are normal, and his 
appetite is good," said Dr. Richardson. "He continues to respond well, 
looks good and has a positive attitude."

Barbaro is being treated at the hospital for fractures received at the 
Preakness on May 20 as well as laminitis in his left hind foot. "We 
continue to monitor him very closely, and we are keeping him as 
comfortable as possible," said Dr. Richardson. 

Jeannine Edwards (ESPN) left the following comment:

ESPN's coverage will continue throughout the weekend. I will actually be 
at Delaware Park today (Sat) and tomorrow for our Delaware Handicap 
telecast on Sun, but another reporter is coming for the Barbaro watch. If 
the situation warrants, I'll be back at New Bolton on Mon. Let's hope for 
a positive update again today. Good luck with the vigil this evening... 
I'll be there in spirit.

Note, Jeannine left the comment before the positive update this morning!  
She further explained to me that ESPN will likely have coverage throughout 
the day, and Sports Center this evening.  There will also be a piece on 
the Delaware Handicap broadcast tomorrow from Delaware Park (5pm ESPN2).   
Many have commented on the quality of ESPNs coverage (of course I agree).  
I think the fact that Jeannine was a racehorse trainer and exercise rider 
for many years helps with her objective coverage.

We had a visitor today, at Fair Hill.  Jean, I hope you enjoyed your trip 
to Fair Hill, and NBC.  I enjoyed the Maccaroons, and will wait a little 
while to enjoy the Sam Adams!

Update 239: Just spoke to Michael Matz and Barbaro had another comfortable 
night last night (friday night).  Dean Richardson called Michael.  Michael 
said he was up and down 2 - 3 times, again showing that he is OK using 
himself  to move around.  All vital signs are normal.

I also saw Kathy Anderson, who saw Bobby around 4pm yesterday (she tried 
to call me last night but apparently my phone was on the blink).  She also 
said that when she saw him he looked the same (as her positive report 
yesterday).  She also noted the pulse in his front feet was normal.  She 
saw 35 baskets of goodies being delivered as she was leaving!
updated 7:15 am, saturday morning

Update 238: Added an update to the Fan 
Media page that links to Barbaro Livingston's work and Anna's lovely 
pastel. 

A nice article in the Philly Inquirer: Barbaro 
said to be in good spirits, stable condition that notes the fan 
outpouring of late (lots of people here contributing no doubt) and Edgar's 
visit yesterday, excerpt:

The day's upbeat report was accompanied by an outpouring of sentiment from 
Barbaro's fan base. Numerous floral arrangements - one of roses in the 
shape of a horseshoe - and carrots and apples seemed to arrive at New 
Bolton on Friday by the minute. A woman brought in a single orchid and 
wondered about the latest news. Barbaro's trainer, Michael Matz, put a 
number of arrangements in the back of his car after an early evening 
visit.

Earlier in the day, Barbaro received a visit from another old friend. 
Barbaro's jockey, Edgar Prado, stopped by to see the horse early Friday 
morning before riding at Belmont Park later in the day. He left New York 
at 4:30 a.m., got down to the Kennett Square facility, then drove back to 
Long Island with his wife, who had visited the day before.

"He looked much better than I thought he would," Prado told a New York 
Post reporter at Belmont Park. "He is very smart, and he knew me right 
away. I fed him, walked with him, and he put his head on my shoulder and 
fell asleep."

Ed, thanks for getting the Prado interview!


Update 237: The Sports Center's piece was nice and upbeat, while of course 
respecting the true reality of the situation.  It was nice to see Jeannine 
note Edgar's visit and use footage from the Derby (yeah!)  The gifts look 
great.  

Here is the site for Kennett 
Florists.

Tim ran Randy's 
Bullet today.  He was a closing third on the turf at Colonial Downs.  
He had not run for a year. Iit was nice to see him come back, and Tim was 
very happy with him.   I have mentioned Randy before, he is a cool horse 
to ride, but really is the type of horse to benefit from Fair Hill.  He 
loves to go "out back", away from the training tracks, to do much of his 
training. (You can see me on Randy in a 
couple of the pictures in our gallery).

Mike Rea continues to make steady 
progress in his long recovery!

Finally, my perspective on Bobby's situation today.  I am totally psyched 
he remains comfortable, but remain very conscious of the seriousness of 
his condition.  Edgar Prado is simply an amazing human being.  In England 
he would be considered for Sports Personality of the Year (top Jockeys in 
england are high profile stars); I wonder if there is something similar 
here.

Update 236: A Barbaro Vigil is planned for 
tomorrow (saturday)  at 7 pm east coast time.  I think Sheila's comment 
sums it up best:

I am going to bring my kids into this, even though it looks like we're set 
for 7pm EST. After seeing me cry I finally let in on why last night so it 
makes sense for them to be involved. The more positive energy, the better! 
Thanks for the suggestion Anita. I agree that we all my have different 
methods - for some it's prayer, some it's meditation, some its just 
sending positive energy, but we are united in our love for the big guy and 
I think that we should stay that way - united. 

I don't think it matters how long the vigil, just if you can spare a 
thought, prayer, hope, sentiment etc. for Bobby at 7 pm tomorrow night 
(est), whereever you are, whatever you are doing.  

Roberta wrote a lovely Bobby poem which I am reproducing below:

To Barbaro

With pride and joy
Flying wingless
Unconquerable
Roses on your neck

A new, more perilous race
Your spirit, determination and trust
Allied with skill, loving kindness and compassion
Against the frailties of flesh and bone and hoof
Against despair
Against death
May victory again be yours
Roberta Goodman 7/14/06 

Update 235: Nice to see NBC offering two releases today, this one 4pm: Barbaro's 
condition remains stable:

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro remains in stable condition according to his 
veterinarians at the George D. Widener Hospital at the University of 
Pennsylvania. "His vital signs, including heart rate and pulse, remain 
good," said Dr. Dean Richardson, Chief of Surgery. "We are treating his 
laminitis aggressively and he continues to respond well and is acceptably 
comfortable."

Laminitis is a severe, painful condition in horses that can be fatal.

"As I said at the press conference on Thursday, we monitor his condition 
very closely because signs can change quickly," said Dr. Richardson. 
"However, it's important to remember that Barbaro's treatment could easily 
continue for several weeks, and if all goes well, even months. Our goal is 
to keep him as comfortable as possible, and clearly that comfort level 
will be a major indicator for our treatment decisions." Dr. Richardson 
also emphasized that Barbaro, as evident in the footage and still photos 
released yesterday, has a very positive attitude.

His positive attitude was noted by Peter during his visit today (Peter 
noted "good frame of mind").

Update 234: Peter Brette just called.  He visited Bobby about 1:30 pm.  He 
also reports Bobby is comfortable and appears in a good frame of mind. 
Peter was pretty happy with what he saw.  He fed him some carrots, his 
appetite does appear to be holding up well.  Peter was also not aware of 
Edgar's visit.

Update 232: A little more on Edgar's visit today.  I just spoke to Ed 
Fontaine (New York Post) who just spoke to Edgar Prado (just before the 
4th race at Belmont).  Ed reports that Edgar (and his wife I guess) left 
New York at 4:30 am, arriving at NBC about 7:30 am.  He stayed until about 
9 am.  At one point Bobby fell asleep on Edgar's shoulder for 10 minutes 
(hence Edgar's prolonged stay).  Edgar told Ed that Bobby looked better 
than he thought he would be (given all he had heard), he appeared very 
comfortable.

The interesting thing about this story is that as far I can tell, no 
one was aware Edgar decided to visit.  I spoke to a few people who had 
not heard about the visit after it was reported by Tripp 
Mickle of Newsday.

Update 231: Daphne has this report on Jeannine's 3:15 report from New 
Bolton:

**Alex** my tivo is on overtime and I just watched Jeannine 3:15 update.. 
good reporting. She did indicate that this is just a "shred more positive" 
than yesterday- that is what I heard. She spoke about Barbaro being able 
to sleep about 4-5 hours, also on his side, get up and down, being out of 
the sling(everything we've read) but that this is still (as we know) very 
serious. She mentioned all the floral/goody deliveries to NB and that the 
NB staff gobbled them down, beginning last evening. Ok, she didn't use the 
work gobble, this was my word. Also, many more deliveries expected later.

Jeannine will be on Sports Center (6pm) with a new report.

Update 230: Edgar made his third visit to Bobby today, he's all class, and 
of course won the ESPY too I believe!  Like 
his fans, Barbaro's jockey still hopeful, the following is an excerpt:

The news left Prado scrambling to make a trip to visit the horse at the 
University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Penn. He 
just returned from California, leaves for a race in Florida tomorrow and 
heads to Peru, his homeland, on Sunday.

"The drive is really far and the traffic was awful, but we had to do 
this," Prado's wife, Lilian, said. "It was the only time he could see 
(Barbaro)."

The injured horse's stall felt more like a fruit stand than a barn, Prado 
said. Baskets of apples, carrots and candy -- all sent by the horse's fans 
across America - were everywhere.

Prado grabbed several carrots and fed the horse, which chomped down more 
than 10, the jockey said. It was an affirmation of the good appetite Dr. 
Richardson had described the day before, Prado added.

"The horse appears to be handling things well," he said. "He wanted to get 
out of the stall today, which is a good sign."


Update 229: Jeannine Edwards did a piece on ESPN2, a comment from Anne:

Just saw Jeannine Edwards on ESPN (2:10pm est) doing an update on Barbaro. 
MUCH more upbeat than yesterday. She mentioned that Barbaro's internet 
fans were devastated and that NB received about 25 baskets of goodies for 
Barbaro and the staff after yesterday's news. Hopefully this will be run 
again all day long......very uplifting. Did anyone else catch it?

She is about to go live on ESPN news (its 3:13 now), and I think she will 
be on Sports Center tonight.

ESPN has some cool 
pictures of Bobby and a few were added to the New 
Bolton site.

Update 228: The official word, New Bolton's press release today: Barbaro's 
condition is stable:

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro spent a restful night and his condition is 
stable, according to Dr. Dean Richardson, Chief of Surgery.  At a news 
conference yesterday, Dr. Richardson announced that the three-year-old 
colt has laminitis. Laminitis is a painful condition in horses that can be 
the result of a number of causes, including excessive weight bearing in 
one limb. It occurs when laminae, the strong connecting tissues that 
attach the pedal bone and the inner hoof wall, are inflamed.

"Barbaro was out of his sling for more than 12 hours yesterday, and he had 
a calm, restful night, sleeping on his side for more than four hours," 
said Dr. Richardson. "While his condition is stable, it remains extremely 
serious." 


Update 227: Bloodhorse (and many others) confirm Barbaro had a good night 
last night: Barbaro 'Doing 
Much Better' Friday Morning.  The following is an excerpt:

"He had a good night last night, and even slept on his side," Dr. Dean 
Richardson told The Associated Press early Friday before re-entering the 
George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals to check again on the 
3-year-colt. "He's doing much better."

Richardson appeared a bit more upbeat than he was Thursday, when he told a 
packed news conference that Barbaro has a severe case of the disease 
laminitis in his left hind leg, and termed his condition "poor."

This confirms what we learned from Michael Matz this morning (update 226).

Sabina Pierce left the following comment:

I'm the Photographer for Penn who has been shooting Big B, as I like to 
call him as his personality is larger than life. I tried to show in this 
last set how great he looks and is doing, but also how his will and 
personality to overcome are identical to the way they have been over his 2 
month stay at NBC, he is naughty at times with his nips but a cuddly teddy 
bear a minute later. I saw all of those attributes as he chewed on my 
camera bag and hammed for the lense. I've had horses since I was 6 and 
I've known many more. He is special and a real fighter, the real thing.
Sincerley, Sabina louise 
pierce 

Jeannine Edwards just called.  ESPN is planning more coverage, but she is 
not sure when yet.  She'll try to alert us ahead of time.


Update 226: Barbaro had a comfortable night last night (Thursday pm). He 
slept about 4-5 hours which is a clear signal of his comfort level. He was 
out of the sling for most of the night. I spoke to Michael Matz to get 
this news this morning (he had heard from Dr. Richardson). It was obvious 
in Michael's expression that he was relieved to be able to provide this 
news.
Updated Friday 7:10am

Update 225: Must see: Web Extra: Latest 
Barbaro Video.  It illustrates Bobby's use of the sling, his mobility 
and to be honest, the sharpness about the look he retains.  He appears 
inquisitive (I noticed a quick "ears pricking" moment),  and obviously 
loves the carrots.

Jeannine Edwards left this comment regarding ESPNs coverage:

Thank you for the kind words. Just want to let you know, in case you 
noticed and were wondering why Barbaro's tail looked so short in the ESPN 
footage from today (shot at 5pm by New Bolton staff) they had a rope 
around his tail when he was recovering from anesthesia Sat night (standard 
procedure) but it was a rough go, and most of his tail hairs were pulled 
out. As if the poor horse doesn't have enough to deal with! I thought he 
walked well, and New Bolton clearly shot the footage to avoid speculation 
that Barbaro may be suffering. His eyes seemed a bit dull and tired to me, 
but keep in mind he's on massive amounts of meds and was also sedated 
earlier in the day so they could work on his foot. He's been through 
hell... I think he looked good considering. I was happy to see him putting 
good weight on the left hind foot. He's a trooper. Very sad situation, but 
we must all hope for a miracle. We'll have more updates tomorrow from New 
Bolton.
Jeannine

Update 224: Barbara Livingston, whose Barbaro 
photographs (and all racing photos) are fantastic,  just left the 
following comment and offer:

We are all so grateful for your updates and information. I start and end 
my days visiting your site nowadays - wishing all good things for the 
remarkable Barbaro.

I first became smitten with Barbaro last year, as his name is so similar 
to my own. When I finally saw him Derby week, I was thunderstruck. He was 
SO professional, relaxed, stunning - just right. To say he had 'the look' 
seems understatement. He is truly a once in a lifetime horse.

I told everyone who would listen before the Derby that Barbaro was like a 
different species from other horses - he could not lose the Derby.

And now we simply root for him to live.

I've had so many requests for photos that I added more to my site, as well 
as a couple of wallpaper patterns and two downloadable 8x10"s.

If any Barbaro fans would like to download them and print them for their 
own use, feel free. Please do not sell them, or make them into artwork, 
etc.

Depending on response, I'd be happy to add others. The address is www.barbaralivingston.com/gallery/barbaro

Again, we are so grateful for all that you are doing, Alex...as well as 
indescribably grateful to the Jacksons, Dr. Richardson, and everyone 
connected with Barbaro.

Take good care.

Barbara Livingston

Thanks Barbaro for your kind offer of your great work.

Update 223: Just spoke to Kathy Anderson (Barbaro's Fair Hill vet) who 
visited Bobby this afternoon (she was just leaving at 6 pm when I spoke to 
her).  She said he remains comfortable, as comfortable as he was when she 
visited yesterday.  She noted the many gifts that had been arriving for 
Bobby all day (I am guessing many of them are from people commenting on 
this site).  Kathy fed some carrots to Bobby, part of a very elaborate 
gift sent by Margaret from Beaufort, SC.  The nursing staff were also 
feeding him cut grass and corn husks (chopped up for him).

Update 222: New Bolton has released a copy of the transcript 
for today's press conference.

Update 221: OK, just returned from the Press Conference.  I waited to 
watch Jeannine Edwards do her ESPN 2 broadcast.  You can see the 
conference at CBS3.  A couple 
of links to reports: Barbaro 
has life-threatening inflammation in hind foot and Doctors Say Barbaro 
Has Catastrophic Injury.  And here is Laminitis in Wikipedia.  
A few observations of my own:

Dr. Dean Richardson is a class act.  I was thoroughly impressed with his 
forthright discussion on Bobby's condition.  He was clearly open, 
understanding of the media, and obviously upset with current 
circumstances.  He and his team have worked incredibly hard, and this must 
be very tough for all of them at an emotional level.

Bobby is now a long shot to recover, but while there are still chances of 
recovery, and he is comfortable, they will keep trying.  No one is yet 
giving up.

2 weeks ago Dr. Richardson really thought Bobby was going to make it.

Bobby now has a foot cast on the left hind, he also uses a sling from time 
to time.  This sling is designed to help Bobby, it still allows him free 
movement.  

The laminitis is catastrophic, and the onset of laminitis was very rapid.  

Bobby looks good, he is eating well.   He has a strong constitution.

The media asked good questions and were very respective of the situation 
(I was impressed).



Update 220: The focus of the press conference was the new, significant 
problem of laminitis in the left hind foot.  No doubt this will be widely 
covered by all the media. Barbaro's current state is extremely serious 
however, he does remain comfortable. They will continue to work around the 
clock to try to overcome this setback as long as he remains comfortable. 
One issue that Dr. Richardson emphasized was that the Jacksons will not 
tolerate any discomfort for Barbaro. More to come later.
Updated Thursday 11:30am

Update 219: Jeannine Edwards will be broadcasting directly after the 
conference on ESPN 2 on a show that I think is called "Cold Pizza." She'll 
also be on ESPN news after that (not sure what time) and then SportsCenter 
at 6pm tonight. I would estimate about 70-80 people (writers, TV people 
etc etc) here at the conference awaiting Dr. Dean Richardson. Should be 
very soon.

Update 218: Just arrived at New Bolten Center...the parking lot is full. 
There are quite a few trucks- WGAL, News 8, Fox 29, NBC 10, Eyewitness 3. 
I spoke briefly to Jeannine Edwards from ESPN. This is actually the first 
time I've been to NBC since the accident. I'm looking in the lobby at the 
six huge cards for Barbaro from Churchill Downs. They're covered with 
signatures and each one has the quote "Once a Derby winner, always a Derby 
winner. Get well soon Barbaro." The news conference is scheduled to start 
in 10 minutes. Will update as soon as it's over.

Update 217: OK, off to the Press Conference.  Will report back when I am 
there etc!  Wanted to thank Ed Foutaine for his kind mention of this site 
in the New York Post today.  May be I'll get to thank him in person.  Also 
wanted to note that I saw Bobby's older half brother this morning, Holy 
Ground.  Emily (Michael Matz exercise rider) was riding him on the track.  
He is a four year old stakes winner I think.  It seems many have interest 
in his younger siblings but are less aware of the oldest half brother.

Update 216: Spoke to Michael Matz this morning (thursday).  It appears 
Bobby is still doing OK given all we know.  I asked Michael a little more 
about the press conference this morning.  He won't be able to attend, but 
is aware that Dr. Dean Richardson will be very forthcoming with everything 
that is occuring (no surprise apparently if you know Dean).   Michael also 
mentioned he received a very nice letter, which he gave to Peter (Brette) 
to give to me, that discussed this site.  I'll  look forward to reading 
it.  (Peter could not give it to me since he was on a horse, Michael was 
on Messaging and I was on one of Tim's horses, whose "nickname" is also 
Bobby!)  I am planning to attend the press conference.
update thursday, 7:15 am

Update 215: A new article from the Baltimore Sun, later in the day 
yesterday (10:34 pm): Derby 
winner Barbaro is 'facing tough odds' Infections impede horse's 
recovery.  Much of the content we are familiar with I think.  The 
Mercury News carries an article that mentions the purpose of today's press 
conference: Surgeon 
says Barbaro's 'facing tough odds' (which I plan to attend), excerpt:

Addressing a rumor that the news conference was to announce that Barbaro 
would be put down as soon as Thursday night, Gretchen Jackson said that 
was unfounded.

"No, I guarantee that's not going to happen unless something goes 
drastically wrong in the next 24 hours," she said in a phone interview 
Wednesday night.

The purpose of the news conference, she said, was for Richardson to give a 
detailed update on the events of the last week. "It just seems fitting 
that Dean does the whole thing now."

Lets hope Bobby has good comfort today and the Press Conference gives us 
some hope regarding his medical condition.

Update 214: Just spoke with Kathy Anderson.  She visited Bobby at about 4 
pm.  She wanted to let me know that despite all the medical information 
that we are learning, Barbaro is comfortable.  He appeared bright 
and she was encouraged.  She gave Bobby about a half hour of good 
scratching, and when a nursing assistant was russling a plastic bag he 
misinterpretted this activity as dinner time; he was alert and looking for 
food.  She called me as she really wanted to make sure everyone knew that 
despite all, he remains reasonably comfortable.

Update 213: Good Morning America is doing a piece on Bobby tomorrow 
morning.  Jeannine Edwards let me know as we were discussing tomorrow's 
press conference.  (ABC owns ESPN or something like that).   Jeannine left 
a comment clarifying ESPNs coverage of the press conference tomorrow and 
the reason for such a press conference:

Just to clarify for everyone, SportsCenter always sends a producer with 
the reporter when they cover any story. It's always a tag-team situation. 
But normally someone would not fly in from TX, normally a regional person 
would make the trip from NY or DC. Perhaps no one in the area was 
available. ESPN takes the Barbaro situation very seriously and wants to 
cover it accurately and completely. We have no idea what will be discussed 
at tomorrow's presser, but we have to be prepared for what could 
potentially be a worst-case scenario. New Bolton is being beseiged with 
phone calls right now, and rather than try to deal with each news org 
separately, it's much easier to hold a press conference and give everyone 
as much info as possible in an orderly fashion. Pressers can be held for 
several reasons: 1) There is updated info to communicate, 2) There are 
inquiries and demands made on the facility and so they're trying to 
accomodate everyone. We'll know more tomorrow.

I am planning to attend the press conference scheduled for tomorrow.  I 
hope they let me in.  I did call New Bolton and asked if it was OK.  They 
were aware of this site, and did not seem to mind.  

The New York Post may be including a bit on this site tomorrow in its 
Barbaro coverage. (Eliza, I hope we have the bandwidth for that ?)    As I 
was enjoying a couple of Tetleys at the Whip it seemed HRTV was running 
something on Bobby (sound was muted, but it seemed they were talking to 
Jeannine during some of the coverage). 

Mike Rea seems to continue to improve, with plenty of visitors, Bruce 
Miller can see improvement in his condition.

Update 212: Just spoke to Peter Brette.  He visited Bobby this afternoon 
(wednesday) and said he looks reasonably comfortable.  Peter mentioned the 
press conference tomorrow, and the intent of the conference was for Dr. 
Richardson to detail everything that has occured over the last week or so.  
Keep all your positive energy for Bobby, he needs it.

Update 211: A press conference is scheduled for tomorrow (thursday) 11 am.  
Jeannine Edwards (ESPN) e-mailed me the following:

the presser is tomorrow at 11am.  you can put on the site that 
sportscenter and espn news will be covering it.... no times yet, but it 
will be on the 6pm SC, and of course earlier on espn news during the day.   
they are flying a producer in from dallas to work with me tomorrow. 

Update 210: The Baltimore Sun has this piece, timed: 2:17 pm today: Barbaro 
'facing tough odds,' veterinarian says (thanks Sarah) copied in full:

Barbaro's condition turned "potentially serious" again today, a day after 
the Kentucky Derby winner's veterinarian gave a more upbeat report, saying 
the colt was stable and resting comfortably.

Dean Richardson, the chief surgeon at the University of Pennsylvania's New 
Bolton Center, also said the colt faced "tough odds" and that doctors were 
looking at all possible treatments to keep the 3-year-old comfortable.

"Our entire staff is determined to do all they can for this magnificent 
horse," Richardson said in a statement issued by the George D. Widener 
Hospital for Large Animals.

Barbaro, who shattered three bones in his right hind leg at the start of 
the Preakness at Pimlico Race Course on May 20, has undergone three 
surgical procedures in the past week. In the most recent one Saturday, 
Richardson replaced the titanium plate and 27 screws and treated two 
infections -- one in the injured leg and a small abscess on the sole of 
his uninjured left hind hoof.

"Today we will focus on further diagnostics and keeping our patient 
comfortable," Richardson said.

Doctors also are keeping watch for any signs of laminitis, a potentially 
fatal disease sometimes brought on by uneven weight balance.

A major concern centers on the infection in the right rear pastern joint 
-- located above the hoof that was shattered into more than 20 pieces. 
While most of the fractured bones have healed, the joint that connects the 
long and short pastern bones remains problematic.

Barbaro's recovery had been going smoothly until this recent series of 
setbacks. Saturday's surgery lasted three hours, and Richardson replaced 
the hardware that had been inserted into the leg the day after the 
Preakness.

"He's facing tough odds, and his condition is guarded," Richardson said.

Owner Roy Jackson said the sudden changes in Barbaro's condition made this 
a tough week.

"We've been concerned all along," Jackson said today. "It's just one of 
those things. It's very difficult to climb the mountain when something 
like that happened."

I think there is new information above, the most critical being the notion 
that he really does face tough odds.  I will try to get an update from 
Peter later, but I am also not going to bug him (too much) for it.  My 
plan, head down to the Whip for a couple of Tetleys (and that's not tea) a 
little later!
 

Update 209: No update, but someone in the comments asked about the naming 
of Barbaro.  Anita's response made me smile:

Linda Lee - I read a cute story about the name Barbaro. BEFORE the 
Kentucky Derby, Michael Matz was being interviewed and was asked by the 
interviewer what the name Barbaro meant. Michael Matz turned to Peter 
Brette, the assistant trainer, and repeated the question. Peter Brette 
immediately replied "KENTUCKY DERBY WINNER!".

Lynette then provided the more official version of the name, from the 
link: Batting 
1.000:

Paraphrasing:

Mrs. Jackson had foxhunted and competed at hunter trials for much of her 
life.

Barbaro got his name from a foxhound in a five-panel 1880's painting the 
Jackson's discovered in Mr. Jackson's mother's attic after her death. Each 
dog had their name written at the bottom of their picture. They chose the 
hound on the right-hand side, Barbaro. The painting is now in the family 
room.

It has been speculated that the Jackson's will name Bobby's full brother 
(the cute foal we have 
pictures of) after another hound in the painting.

The following article from yesterday: Trainer 
reports that Barbaro is resting quietly notes Michael's win yesterday 
and discusses Barbaro's condition yesterday (I think the articles we cited 
in update 207 and 205 are more recent), including 
the following about his weight:

According to Gretchen Jackson, Barbaro, whose right hind leg was shattered 
in the May 20 Preakness, had lost a lot of weight while recovering from 
the initial surgery on May 21. He had gained that back before getting a 
fever and showing discomfort in his hind legs about 10 days ago. Now, 
after four cast changes and a very long, involved surgery Saturday night 
into Sunday, Barbaro is trying to recover from all that.

Update 208: New Bolton Center press release this morning echoes other 
recent news: Barbaro's 
condition guarded (thanks Sarah):

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro is continuing to rest comfortably today 
according to Dr. Dean Richardson, Chief of Surgery. "As we said yesterday, 
Barbaro's condition is potentially serious, and we are aggressively 
seeking all treatment options," he said. "Today we will focus on further 
diagnostics and keeping our patient comfortable." Barbaro is being treated 
for fractures received at the Preakness on May 20 as well as discomfort in 
his left hind foot.

"He's facing tough odds and his condition is guarded," said Dr. 
Richardson. "Our entire staff is determined to do all they can for this 
magnificent horse." All decisions are being made in constant consultation 
with the owners, who continue to be only interested in his comfort.

Barbaro remains in the Intensive Care Unit of the George D. Widener 
Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center.

Watch for a media advisory for a press conference later this week.

On a lighter note (needed) Tim told me a funny story this morning.  His 
friend Mike, who visits Tim's barn each saturday morning and now has a 
horse that may come to training in time, was at Delaware Park.  He was 
talking with someone in the office there, and asked her if she new Tim 
Woolley.  She said no, but I am on his site right now, and showed him the 
computer screen!   Not sure many trainers can say their web-site is more 
famous than they are! 

Update 207: The Baltimore Sun covers the same problem in the "good" leg 
that was covered by the New York Times (update 
205): Barbaro 
suffers another setback (thanks Sarah).  Please read in full.  Someone 
in the comments noted that it was a positive signal that I even saw 
Michael this morning.  Oddly I had the same thought, and had mentioned it 
to Michael earlier (that I was relieved to see him at Fair Hill).  I am 
not sure if he heard me to be honest.

Update 206: Saw Michael Matz this morning as I was going to the track. He 
told me Dr. Richardson had called and said Barbaro appeared a little 
brighter this morning (wednesday). I suspect we should take this news 
within the context of the two articles reproduced in Update 205. I'll post more later as I learn more. 
updated wednesday 7:20am

Update 205: Articles from the New York Times and 
Washington Post highlight the current problems Bobby is facing.  New York 
Times Another 
Serious Turn in Barbaro's Recovery (thanks Gloria) copied in full:

The recovery prospects of Barbaro, the Kentucky Derby winner, took another 
serious turn Tuesday when veterinarians discovered that the infection in 
his left hind leg may be more serious than first thought.

Dr. Dean Richardson, chief of surgery at the George D. Widener Hospital 
for Large Animals, will detail the setback to Barbaro's owners, Roy and 
Gretchen Jackson, on Wednesday, Gretchen Jackson said Tuesday night.

In a telephone interview late Tuesday, Jackson said that tests had 
identified a bacterial infection on Barbaro's left hind -- or healthy -- 
foot that Richardson hoped he had cleaned out during a three-hour 
operation late Saturday.

During the operation, Richardson also changed the titanium plate and many 
of the 27 screws that had been inserted into Barbaro's injured right hind 
leg on May 21, a day after the colt shattered it during the opening yards 
of the Preakness.

Jackson said she did not know the details of the infection or possible 
treatment, but said that she, her husband and Richardson remained 
optimistic that Barbaro could overcome the setback.

"Barbaro is alive and he is going to be alive and is acting like he wants 
to live," Jackson said. "He is having trouble with his good leg. He can 
put weight on the leg and is a pain-free horse right now. We, and he, are 
not quitting. We're a long way from that."

Gail Luciani, a spokeswoman for the University of Pennsylvania 
Veterinarian School, said there might be a news conference about Barbaro's 
condition later this week.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the school released a statement saying that 
Barbaro was eating well, resting comfortably and without fever after 
undergoing surgery and four cast changes in the last eight days.

Richardson, who on Monday warned that the colt faced tough days after 
those medical setbacks, said his team had also changed the bandage on the 
colt's left hind foot, where they drained an abscess during surgery.

"Barbaro is eating well and resting in his stall," Richardson said in the 
statement. "He's tolerating the new cast well. We have changed his left 
hind foot bandage and that looks improved. His vital signs remain stable 
and his attitude and appetite remain excellent."

On Monday, Richardson had changed Barbaro's cast from a full-length one 
intended to protect the colt as he came out of anesthesia to a shorter one 
that allows Barbaro more mobility. The cast changes and surgery were 
prompted by fever and infections that made it difficult for Barbaro to 
support himself on his hind legs and raised the concern he might develop 
laminitis, a painful condition for horses that is caused by excessive 
weight bearing on one limb.

While horses with laminitis can be saved, and there was no evidence that 
Barbaro had developed the condition, the prospect of him having to battle 
the condition could be devastating, Richardson said Monday. The 
potentially excruciating pain could put stress on Barbaro and impede his 
healing process, leaving little choice but for his owners to ask the 
veterinarians to euthanize Barbaro.

Richardson said that option had not been discussed, and on Tuesday 
Gretchen Jackson reiterated that she and her husband had yet to consider 
that option.

Before Barbaro's bad turn over the weekend, he seemed to be recovering 
well. X-rays last week showed that his main fracture was healing well. It 
was the pastern joint, which is above the hoof, that had veterinarians 
worried.

On Friday and Saturday, however, it was clear that Barbaro was 
uncomfortable and surgery was needed. The colt had been treated topically 
for an abscess found on his left foot, had a fever and struggled to put 
weight on his right foot.

Before Richardson performed the original five-hour operation, he 
calculated the chances of Barbaro's survival at 50-50; and he increased 
them only slightly to 51-49 in the days after the procedure, when the 
colt's convalescence was proceeding smoothly.

But Gretchen Jackson said that she and her husband were aware of the long 
odds they were facing, and they have steeled themselves for the sudden 
shifts in Barbaro's status.

"We've know all along that what can be going wonderfully can turn 
disastrous in a moment," she said. "We also believe that what can be going 
badly can be turned around, too."

Washington Post: Infection 
Leaves Barbaro In Jeopardy (thanks Debbie):

An infection in Barbaro's right rear pastern joint has reduced the chance 
the Kentucky Derby winner will survive, Dean Richardson, the chief of 
surgery at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center, said 
Tuesday.

While the majority of bones fractured have healed in the seven weeks since 
Barbaro's catastrophic breakdown at the start of the Preakness Stakes on 
May 20 at Pimlico Race Course, problems in the joint that connects the 
long and short pastern bones in the ankle region are putting the horse's 
life in jeopardy.

"There's so much concern. It's significant," Richardson said from the 
George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals on the New Bolton campus. "It 
worries me. I have a hard time sleeping at night. So many people want to 
see this horse survive. He is stable today, and he's got a great appetite, 
but he's not as good as he was two weeks ago.

"Two weeks ago we were at 50-50 [for survival]. With this new problem, 
we're less than that."

On Saturday, Richardson performed extensive surgery on Barbaro, changing 
six screws and applying two new titanium plates in the pastern joint area. 
Richardson also attempted to clean out and treat an infection that had 
developed in the joint. Under anesthesia, and with a long cast placed on 
his leg, Barbaro did not recover enough to stand on his own until 15 hours 
after the operation began. On Monday, Richardson replaced the long cast 
with a shorter one to give the colt more mobility.

Barbaro maintains a hearty appetite and his vital signs were stable 
Tuesday. Richardson continued to treat an abscess on the left hoof, 
changing the bandage. Richardson stressed that the pastern infection, 
which is being treated with antibiotics, needs to be controlled before 
healing in the joint will resume.

The infection in the pastern joint developed despite extensive 
precautions. For example, the orthopedic surgery suite at the hospital is 
a completely sterile room with special filters to keep sterilized air 
flowing in. On the floor at the entrance of each room in the hospital, 
including the intensive care unit where Barbaro resides, are mats soaked 
in a powerful disinfectant to cleanse the soles of shoes.

"Parts of the recovery have gone better than average, but the infection 
now is a complication we'd rather not have," Richardson said. "Do we 
always succeed in dealing with infection? No, we do not."

There are no medical benchmarks or thresholds to consider when deciding 
whether to continue trying to save Barbaro, Richardson said.

"When it gets to the point where he's inhumanely uncomfortable, there's no 
strict, objective measure you have to quote," he said. "It requires 
experience with consultation among many people. We're not at the point 
where we're going to pull the plug."

It appears each article covers a different problem.  

Update 204: Just spoke to Peter Brette.  He reported that Barbaro remains 
the same.  He is doing OK.  That being said, I could just hear in his 
voice that he knew these were extremely tough days.  Barbaro has just been 
through a lot in the last few days.  Time to focus on how successful 
Nurevey came through: A Look Back: Saving 
Nureyev.    Nureyev is an amazingly uplifting story.  Keep all energy 
for Barbaro please, lets hope he writes a similar story!

Update 203: As update 202 was being composed New Bolton came through with 
an update:  
Barbaro stable after sixth cast applied (thanks Faye): 

Dr. Dean Richardson, Chief of Surgery, reports today that Kentucky Derby 
winner Barbaro is resting comfortably after receiving his sixth cast since 
his accident at the Preakness on May 20. "Barbaro is eating well and 
resting in his stall," said Dr. Richardson, who also treated the colt for 
an abscess in his left hind foot.

"He's tolerating the shorter cast well," said Dr. Richardson. "His vital 
signs remain stable and his attitude and appetite remain good."

Update 202: No new update until after 6 pm unless New Bolton provides 
something.  Just wanted to let everyone  know.  I called Peter Brette at 
3, he was still at the barn (Fair Hill).  Michael is running a horse 
today, once that has run he will get to NBC and let Peter know.  Peter 
plans to call me later.  

As I continue to read through all the recent Barbaro articles this one 
seemed pretty comprehensive re: the recent events: Barbaro 
has 'very significant setback,' surgeon says (thanks CJ): the 
following is an excerpt:

After Barbaro's temperature spiked to 102 degrees Saturday and the 
Kentucky Derby winner showed signs of discomfort, Richardson performed 
surgery that evening. Monday was a better day for the horse, the surgeon 
said.

and

Monday, the horse had a sixth cast put on, his fourth cast replacement in 
the last week. Richardson put a shorter cast on, like the previous ones 
Barbaro had been wearing. The doctor had put on a longer cast, covering 
Barbaro's entire leg, Saturday night. That cast was designed to protect 
him better as he woke up.

"He's a tough horse . . . a big, strong horse that's kind of aggressive, 
so we put him in a full-length cast," Richardson said. "It's a more 
protective cast, but it's also much more cumbersome for a horse to wear. 
They panic a lot of times because they feel they can't move their legs. He 
really didn't like it very much.

"As a consequence, we spent most of the night trying to get him back 
standing comfortably. We literally worked on him for close to 15 hours 
(including the surgery) before he was back in his stall."

Good luck Bobby, these are the toughest of days I am certain.

Update 201: The Baltimore Sun (which continues to do great Barbaro 
coverage) has an interesting article: Barbaro 
faces 'tough times' (thanks Anne) that includes quotes from Peter 
Brette and a vet which I include below:

At the equine center in Leesburg, White said the main concern in such 
cases is whether the bone is actually healing.

"Any evidence of healing is a good sign," he said. "It's a race between 
that bone healing, having the plate and screws hold up and keeping 
infection at bay."

Richardson said Sunday that Barbaro's main fracture was healing well, but 
the pastern joint above the hoof - which was shattered into more than 20 
pieces - continues to be a concern. The joint, which doctors are 
attempting to fuse, was stabilized with "new implants and a fresh bone 
graft."

Often, such a traumatic break leaves portions of the bone and tissue 
without sufficient blood supply to grow back together, White said. 
Inadequate blood supply also hampers the immune system's ability to find 
and destroy any bacteria that entered the wound during surgery.

"Then you've gone ahead and taken a piece of metal and screws and put them 
into that environment," he said. Bacteria will attach to the metal parts, 
grow and destroy surrounding tissue and bone. That can loosen screws and 
diminish the support needed by the bone as it heals.

Veterinarians watch animals for signs of postoperative infection. They 
check for fever and look for evidence of pain, such as limping or favoring 
the injured leg. They may even be able to feel unusual heat through the 
cast or spot drainage that signals infection in the wound, White said.

Such contamination is quite common, he added. "You use antibiotics locally 
during the process to kill as many [bacteria] as you can so there is no 
infection, but it's not a perfect science." If the tissue is healthy and 
the number of invading bacteria is low, the animal will fight off the 
infection and recover.

White, who has not participated in Barbaro's care, declined to speculate 
on the colt's chances for survival. "I've managed horses with this kind of 
[injury] that have survived, and I've had others that did not," he said.

One of the big questions Barbaro's doctors must be addressing now, he 
said, is whether, after weeks of antibiotic treatment, the bacteria in the 
animal's wound have grown resistant.

A less tangible question is whether Barbaro has the heart to keep 
fighting.

"They have personalities," White said of thoroughbreds. "Perhaps we're not 
perfect at reading their minds, but we get a feel for when they are 
hurting and not willing to give what they need to survive."

"There is something there that tells you when they want to quit," he said. 
"And you have to make that tough decision."

I have added a couple of sites to the fan 
media page.

Update 200: Spoke to Michael Matz this morning (Tuesday) as I was going 
onto the track, he was ponying Peter off the track. I asked Michael "how's 
your horse doing?"... he said Dr. Richardson had just called and reports 
Barbaro is holding his own. 

Also spoke to Kathy Anderson who visited Bobby last night at 6pm (Monday). 
She was relieved to see him in the condition he was in. He had just had a 
bath, mane combed, and was eating. 
Updated Tuesday 7:10am

Update 199: Trying to identify news stories that have information we have 
not already seen, so I apologise if I miss a good story!  The Daily Racing 
Form: Barbaro 
'comfortable' after more surgery (thanks Maria)  includes some 
insights from Dr. C. Wayne McIlwraith, a of Colorado State University's 
Equine Orthopedic Research Center, excerpt:

 "It's definitely a setback," said Dr. C. Wayne McIlwraith, a of Colorado 
State University's Equine Orthopedic Research Center. "When you get an 
infection, it's always a challenge. But the other thing to state is that, 
if you have stability, you can heal bone in the presence of infection. So 
there is still some reason for optimism."

McIlwraith pointed out that Barbaro's radiographs have reportedly shown 
knitting in the fractured areas.

"That means he already has some stability from bony union," he said. 
"That's one of the things that's positive."

The new locking compression plate that Richardson implanted Saturday may 
also aid with stability and allow bone healing, McIlwraith said.

"Ultimately, when you get healing, you can take out the implants and clean 
out the infection," he said. "If the infection persists and causes 
instability in the plate or the screws, that's difficult."

I added some new videos to the fan 
media page, thanks Jessica Franks.  You might also want to light a 
candle for Barbaro at gratefulness.org 
(thanks Melissa).

Update 198: Jeannine Edwards has posted a comment after her afternoon at 
New Bolton Center covering Barbaro for ESPN.  I copy it here in full 
(thanks Jeannine):

We spent the afternoon trying to get the latest info on Barbaro. I spoke 
with Michael Matz on the phone.... he was just leaving New Bolton around 
1:45pm. He said it was a long night Sat. night... Dr. Richardson later 
told me from start to finish the entire ordeal was about 15 hours. They 
both described Barbaro's recovery this time around as "long and grueling". 
Michael said they had put the longer, full cast on and that Barbaro wasn't 
handling it too well. (Thus the decision to remove it earlier today.) For 
the first time in all of this, Barbaro had been in a sling... they were 
taking no chances. Michael said it's been a long, trying week and that it 
was especially difficult for him to see Barbaro in pain, but that he was 
encouraged to see him feeling better and looking brighter today. After my 
conversation with Michael, Dr. Richardson came out for an inpromtu press 
"conference", I say it that way because there only 3 or 4 of us there. He 
said Barbaro had exhibited changes in his condition, that he had a 
persistent fever, and that his comfort had diminished in both hind legs. 
His pastern joint is infected (not good) but the primary fractures (in the 
cannon bone and sesamoids) are healing well. They decided to remove the 
16" plate and some of the screws because all of this hardware was 
infected. They put in 2 smaller plates and new screws, and did a new bone 
graft to aid in bone healing in the pastern... which didn't have much bone 
left after the injury (many smaller fragments had been removed.) They 
finally were able to drain the abcess from his left hind foot, so that 
should make him more comfortable. Richardson called these "serious 
complications" and that it's "definitely a setback". As I said earlier, 
Michael confirmed to me that the Jacksons have postponed a trip to Africa. 
When asked if the subject of euthanasia had come up at all over the 
weekend, Richardson said "We're nowhere close to that... we haven't even 
contemplated that... not even close to calling it a day with Barbaro." So 
that's a good sign. He did tell me the timing of the complications was 
unusual, as they would have expected infection soon after the original 
surgery, not 6 weeks later. His condition is "guarded", and he's still at 
50/50 for survival, although 2 weeks ago his chances were at least 60/40. 
It's a day to day situation and he's being monitored around the clock. We 
then did a live report for ESPN News at 4pm, then taped reports for 
tonight's SportsCenters and tomorrow's Wire To Wire. This coming Sunday we 
have a live show (the Delaware Handicap) so we will be including a Barbaro 
update then as well. Ok, it's 8pm, time to grab a bite for dinner. Let's 
all say a prayer and hope for the best.
Jeannine


Update 197: Just saw Jeannine Edward's coverage on ESPN.  She used some of 
the same footage we can see from the press conference noted in the CBS3 
video below (Richardson press conference).  She also spoke of Michael Matz 
and how hard is was for Michael to see Bobby in some pain again (I guess 
over the weekend) and that he was a little brighter today (Bobby, and I 
guess Michael!).  My somewhat educated guess, Michael is there now, as he 
seems to be camping out there lately other than training hours in the 
morning.  Jeannine also noted the Jackson's decision to cancel their trip 
to Africa.  I am hoping Jeannine will post a comment here later tonight 
noting her experience at New Bolton today.

Update 196: CBS3 has video footage of Dr. Richardson's press conference 
today: Dr. Dean 
Richardson Updates Barbaro's Condition (thanks Skyler)

Update 195: NBC10s coverage today: Barbaro Chances 50 - 
50 (thanks Cheryl)  If anyone wondered whether we cared for Barbaro, 
check the stats on this site today 5,190 visits 
by 6:06 pm

Update 194: Saw the NBC10 coverage, if you get a chance to see it at 6pm, 
it's well worth it.  It includes footage of Bobby, and commentary from 
Dean Richardson.  He is quoted "He is feeling reasonably good right now".  
Dr. Richardson noted they had 6 weeks with no problems,  then multiple 
problems in one week.   He noted Bobby remains 50 - 50, and clearly it's a 
day to day situation.  The piece was about two - three minutes and ran 
early in the newscast.

No recent update from Mike Rea, 
I assume that is not a bad sign, lets hope for an update soon!

Update 193: NBC10, for those in the local area are covering Barbaro today 
(thanks Danielle) along with Jeannine Edwards and ESPN:

For those in the NJ, MD, DE area, the local nbc10 news station will be 
airing the same footage as espn did at 5pm ( it was on at 4 as well) along 
with some other interviews of horse lovers.

ESPN article: Doctor: 
'Tough days ahead' for Barbaro (thanks Lynda) copied in full:

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was facing major problems for the first time 
since surgery to repair the right hind leg he shattered in the Preakness 
seven weeks ago, with Dr. Dean Richardson saying "we're in tough times 
right now."

Barbaro had the cast on the leg replaced for a sixth time Monday -- the 
fourth time in a week. The latest development followed many hours of 
surgery Saturday night when doctors replaced the metal plate and many 
screws and also treated an infection.

"I think we're in for tough times right now. I think we're going to have 
some tough days ahead," Richardson said at the University of 
Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center. "I'm being realistic about it. When a 
horse has a setback like this, it's a problem."

Richardson, the chief surgeon at the New Bolton Center, looked haggard 
during the briefing, and said it took more than 15 hours from the start of 
Saturday's surgery before Barbaro had fully recovered from anesthesia.

He said Barbaro was back in his stall in the intensive care unit, where 
he's been since the catastrophic injury occurred just a few hundred yards 
after the start of the Preakness.

"Right now, he's happier," Richardson said. "He's got a normal heart rate, 
normal temperature, he's eating like crazy. He's very hungry. He's making 
lots of manure. He looks actually pretty happy today. Now we have to see 
how he responds to what's going on."

The long cast applied Saturday night was replaced by a shorter cast 
Monday, and was done with Barbaro in a sling and under mild sedation, 
Richardson said.

"The long cast was used as extra support during the anesthetic recovery 
phase," Richardson said. "It is much easier for him to move around his 
stall and get up and down with a short cast. We also found and treated an 
abscess in his left hind foot that was bothering him."

Barbaro is receiving pain medication, antibiotics and other supportive 
care, Richardson added.


Update 192: New Bolton Press Release: Barbaro 
receives sixth cast (thanks Faye):

After evaluating Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro this morning, Dr. Dean 
Richardson, Chief of Surgery, replaced the cast on the colt's injured hind 
leg for a sixth time. "The long leg cast was replaced with a short leg 
cast this morning. This was done with Barbaro in a sling and only under 
mild sedation," said Dr. Richardson. "The long cast was used as extra 
support during the anesthetic recovery phase. It is much easier for him to 
move around his stall and get up and down with a short cast. We also found 
and treated an abscess in his left hind foot that was bothering him."

Barbaro spent a comfortable night and is eating well after surgery to 
stabilize the pastern joint this weekend. "We're continuing his pain 
medication, antibiotics and other supportive care," said Dr. Richardson. 
"He appears more comfortable today and has had a normal temperature, heart 
rate and overall attitude." 

I spoke to Peter Brette a little earlier.  He mentioned the new cast.  He 
also noted the second abscess in the good hind leg (left hind) which they 
can now deal with (I assume they already have).  This was good news as it 
revealed a source of discomfort.  Peter (who did visit) said Bobby was 
standing well and munching on hay when he was leaving.  I also spoke with 
Jeannine Edwards who attended a press conference at New Bolton.   I assume 
content from that will be used for her ESPN bulletins we noted in update 
191.


Update 191: ESPN's tentative schedule for today.  Jeannine Edwards sent me 
an e-mail which included the following:

right now i am going live on espn news around 4pm, live on sportscenter 
somewhere between 6-7pm, and then a taped report for the 11 and overnight 
shows.

Update 190: I am starting to look through some of the articles posted 
today, the Baltimore Sun (which continues to provide great Barbaro 
coverage) has an article: Barbaro's 
infection 'potentially serious' (thanks Anne) includes a quote from 
Michael Matz:

Yesterday evening Barbaro's trainer Michael Matz said the horse appears to 
be doing well.

"He looks fine," Matz said by phone as he left the facility. "He's on all 
four legs and, hopefully, that's the way he will stay. Everything was 
going very smoothly and it's always a setback when he has to go through 
something like this.

"Dean wasn't happy with how comfortable he was and it has really been a 
very long, trying week for Barbaro and for Dean."

I would add, a long trying week for Michael too!  The above quote is 
similar to the feedback Peter Brette provided us last night (update 187 end).

It seems ESPN is going to provide some coverage today, Jeannine Edwards 
left a comment that included:

I am heading up to New Bolton this afternoon to do an update for 
SportsCenter. Let's all hope this is just a bump in the road for Barbaro. 
Keep up the fantastic work, and thanks for keeping us informed!


Update 189: There has been quite a lot of media coverage as a result of 
the surgery late saturday night (and New Bolton's press release re: the 
same.)  Rather than rehash that content I wanted to highlight this 
article:  
New hope for Barbaro fans in 'kid brother'? (thanks Barbara) that 
provides some insights into the Jackson's breeding operation and Barbaro's 
brothers.  The following are a couple of excerpts:

Call him Kid Barbaro. Well, actually, the dark bay foal doesn't have a 
name yet. These days, he tags alongside his mother, La Ville Rouge, at 
Mill Ridge Farm in Lexington, Ky.

Born in mid-March, the colt was sired by Dynaformer. That makes him a 
full-brother to Barbaro. Could there be another Kentucky Derby champ in 
those genes?

"He's very confident and thinks he's special, just like Barbaro did when 
he was here," said Headley Bell, the bloodstock agent for Roy and Gretchen 
Jackson. "You're never quite sure where that comes from. He has good size, 
maybe not quite as leggy as Barbaro, but he's close."

That's the guy (and his mum) that we have pictures of, and 

While it will be two years before Barbaro's kid brother hits the track, 
his half-brother, Man in Havana, is gearing up for his racing career. His 
mother is La Ville Rouge. The colt is working out at the Fair Hill 
Training Center under the tutelage of Michael Matz and is slated to make 
his debut this fall.

Man In Havana and his sire, Quiet American, are named after books written 
by British author Graham Greene, a favorite of Gretchen Jackson's father.

"He's a big horse with a lovely shoulder," Gretchen Jackson said. "Unlike 
Barbaro, he might take some time to show what he has. But that's true with 
all of Quiet American's foals."

OK, now back to ride a few more horses.  Wanted to thank Jen Duffy (she 
took plenty of the pictures of Barbaro that are on this site, prior to the 
Preakness), she sometimes substitutes for me re: providing the early 
updates (I call them in!)

Update 188: Just spoke to Peter Brette this morning on the horse 
path...all things considered, it seems like Barbaro had a decent night 
last night (sunday night). Peter is planning to visit after work this 
morning so I'll try to get more details later today. Keep all your 
positive energy coming for Barbaro today; he will surely need it. 
updated monday 7:10am

Update 187: New Bolton Center's press release: Veterinarians 
treat Barbaro for infection, replace plate and screws in injured leg 
that discusses events over the previous 24 hours:

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."

While the main fracture is healing well, the pastern joint that doctors 
are attempting to fuse continues to be the area of concern. This joint was 
stabilized with new implants and a fresh bone graft.

"The recovery process from anesthesia took longer with this surgery, but 
Barbaro is now back in his stall in the Intensive Care Unit," said Dr. 
Richardson. "He is receiving pain medication, antibiotics and other 
supportive care."

Barbaro continues to be monitored closely in the Intensive Care Unit of 
the George D. Widener Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania's New 
Bolton Center. Dr. Richardson emphasized that the complications are 
potentially serious. Both Barbaro's owners and trainer continue to visit 
him at least twice daily.

Peter Brette had just left me a voice mail (I was on a work call) to let 
me know that Michael Matz had just called him (I gather Michael is almost 
living there lately), and Bobby was doing a little better, was brighter, 
standing on both hind legs, and looking for something to eat.  These next 
few days will remain very critical for Bobby I am sure.  

Update 186: No new news yet.  But as we all hope for better news, I 
thought I should highlight the original "fan media" sent by Debra Lopez: 
Our 
Prayer for Barbaro.  You might also enjoy Barbaro's best moment: Kentucky Derby 132.  As Lisa 
noted in the comments:

"..And here comes Barbaro! The undefeated Barbaro comes up on the outside 
and he takes the lead as the field turns for home in the Kentucky Derby 
and Barbaro turns it on and his stablemate Showing up is second, Bluegrass 
Cat is third, Brother Derek putting in a late run for the outside, 
Steppenwolfer is fifth and Sweet Northern Saint six by the rail, but there 
coming to the finish and it's all Barbaro in a sublime performance!


Update 185: Peter Brette just called (sunday 1pm).  Barbaro is not doing 
as well as he had been yesterday.  Peter had not visited Bobby, but had 
been talking to others.  He did not have any details, but I could just 
tell in his voice he was pretty concerned (it was a short conversation).  
Peter may call later if he hears more, but now is the time to channel 
all positive energy for Bobby.   If I hear more I will post.  

Update 184: No update yet today (sunday).  Will try to learn something and 
post before the day is over.  I think Peter may be visiting again today.  
Keep thinking positive thoughts for Bobby!

Update 183: Spoke to Peter Brette who visited Barbaro later today 
(saturday).  He was happy with Bobby, and expressed some encouragement 
that he was doing well (relative to the last few days).  Bobby received a 
massage today, and subsequent to the massage slept for a couple of hours.  
While we need to remain very cautious, Peter's "visit report" was a little 
encouraging.  

Update 182: Barbaro's condition today is similar to 
yesterday, which as we know was improved from wednesday and thursday.  
I asked Michael Matz this morning, and he had just heard from Dean 
Richardson.   Peter Brette, who again will be tied to the barn all day, is 
hopefully planning to visit after work which would be late afternoon / 
evening.  I will try to catch up with Peter later to get another status 
check.   As we know, these next few days are very important.

I asked Michelle (Matz) how her father was holding up under the constant 
"worry" of Barbaro.  Michael does visit everyday (along with his wife I 
believe).  She said he was handling everything as he normally does.  He is 
a true  hands-on horseman and clearly an integral part of Barbaro's 
"recovery team".  I noted to Michelle how fortunate we were that we were 
based so close to New Bolton which allowed Michael to play an important 
role in the process.

We had more visitors to Fair Hill today.  I believe it was a group 
associated with the local fire company (or at least that is what their 
trucks indicated).  It is nice to see people interested in coming out to 
visit.  Better Talk Now (Graham Motion) runs later today in the United 
Nations, of course so does Shake The Bank.  Gus (Brown, Shake The Bank's 
exercise rider) is convinced he will win.  Of course he says that 
everytime he runs!

Update 181: New York Times article: Barbaro 
Has Two Screws Replaced (thanks Gloria):

For the first time in a remarkably smooth recovery, Barbaro, the Kentucky 
Derby winner, has had a minor setback. Two screws were replaced in his 
shattered right hind leg this week, and his cast was changed twice.

He also has a minor abscess in his left hind leg that is being treated by 
a topical cream, according to veterinarians at the George D. Widener 
Hospital for Large Animals in Kennett Square, Pa.

Dr. Corinne Sweeney, the director of the hospital, said the surgeon Dean 
Richardson was "very pleased" with how Barbaro's ankle, which was severely 
injured in the opening yards of the Preakness Stakes on May 21, was 
healing.

"The radiographs were terrific; his healing is very good," she said. 
"Still, Dr. Richardson saw Barbaro was a little uncomfortable, and he 
decided to change the cast again."

Barbaro has a supporting shoe on the left leg to help protect against 
laminitis, a sometimes-fatal foot disease brought on by uneven weight 
distribution. Sweeney said it was merely a precaution. She also said the 
replacement of the two screws was expected.

A total of 27 screws were inserted in an effort to fuse Barbaro's back leg 
so he could live a pain-free life and perhaps become a commercial 
stallion. "It is the reason he put that many in, because he anticipated 
having to make adjustments," Sweeney said of Richardson.

Richardson has cautioned that it will be months before Barbaro's prognosis 
is known, and that his is vulnerable to infection. Still, Sweeney 
characterized this week as one of activity rather than of concern.

"These are things that we have anticipated, and he's doing very well," 
Sweeney said. 


Update 180: Kathy Anderson just called and had 
just finished visiting with Barbaro (8:00 pm friday).  Her assessment is 
that these are pretty critical days for Bobby.  Clearly he has improved 
today (as we know) and his attitude is quite good, but he is not as 
comfortable as he was a couple of weeks ago (as we know).  He is rallying, 
keep your positive thoughts for Bobby.  Today was a better day.

Update 179: Spoke to Peter Brette.  While he was at the barn all day (Fair 
Hill) he had heard from Michael (Matz) that Barbaro continued to have a 
better day today (than the previous couple of days).   Still hoping to 
hear from Kathy, but if not, I think we can be happy to know that Bobby 
continued to be a little more comfortable today than the last couple of 
days.

Update 178: No update yet but I will try to get another update before the 
end of the day.  I spoke to Kathy Anderson who was planning to visit.  She 
is still at Fair Hill (working) but hopes to go over later.  Mike Rea 
seems to be progressing well and it seems help has arrived from the The 
Delaware Horsemen's Assistance Fund.  Peter Alexander, the president, 
is a Fair Hill regular.

A couple of articles surfaced today as a result of New Bolton's press 
release yesterday.  Barbaro 
Experiencing Discomfort (thanks Lisa) includes the following:

If only horses could talk. In recent days, Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro 
has been having some problems with his right hind leg, shattered in the 
May 20 Preakness and then surgically repaired the next day. According to 
the colt's owner, Gretchen Jackson, Barbaro is "feeling some discomfort 
and they can't figure it out. Blood tests are good. Temperature is good. 
So they're just trying to figure what is causing the discomfort."

According to Jackson, the doctors don't think the discomfort is anything 
major, but, with these fragile horses - especially one with such a 
significant injury as Barbaro - every little thing has to be taken very 
seriously. Barbaro continues to be in intensive care at the New Bolton 
Center in Kennett Square.

and

That the colt is experiencing discomfort at this stage is no great shock. 
They just wish they knew exactly why.

"It's not anything to be scared about," Gretchen Jackson said.

I do know that the Jackson's had planned an Africa trip, I think starting 
this week.  They have cancelled.

The second article: Barbaro still not out 
of the woods (thanks Lynnette) simply asks us to have a kind thought 
for Barbaro as we watch racing this weekend.  We surely will.

Update 177: It is good to hear the news this morning has be received so 
well.  I do want to caution I used the phrase "a little more comfortable", 
so keep the positive energy coming, he still has a way to go to get to 
where he was comfort-wise a week or so ago I think.   Michael did mention 
that this could also change quite quickly, but anyway, this morning is 
great news and a relief for those close to him, but we need to remain very 
cautious at this stage.  To demonstrate the change in mood this news 
brought, Michael chatted for about five minutes with Judge (one of the 
trainers I ride for) and was being very open about the current Barbaro 
situation.  Anne Kelly (one of Michael Matz's longtime exercise riders and 
contributor to this site) thanked me this morning for yesterday's updates.  
(i.e. there really was no chatting yesterday amongst anyone about Bobby's 
condition).

A couple of people have mentioned the ESPY awards, details 
here: Velazquez, 
Gomez, Prado Compete for ESPY Award.  Voting ends midnight July 9.  
Each of these jockeys is fantastic.  Here are my three reasons to 
support Edgar Prado (in case you were wondering who to vote for):

1. He is considered the best.  I think many people would simply agree with 
that.

2. He may well have been a significant factor is helping get Barbaro to 
where he is today.  He alertly pulled Bobby up and did what he could to 
limit damage.  No doubt there was catastrophic damage, but it could have 
been much worse.

3. He has paid two visits to see Barbaro since the horrific accident (that 
we know of).  A cynic (sp ?) might suggest the first visit was for the 
media attention (although looking at the pictures you could dismiss this 
quickly.)  The second visit, with his family, was completely without media 
coverage (and media knowledge).  In fact to the best of my knowledge only 
this site reported on the visit (Peter Brette told us the next morning) 
and Bobby mentioned it himself in an exclusive interview with ESPN!  

Finally I did want to mention that Miraculous Miss visited the starting 
gate for the second time since her horrific gate incident in the Acorn in 
New York.  As a result of that incident she is considered on the 
"starter's list" which means she has to be approved by the gate crew (at 
Fair Hill) before she can run again.  I convinced Judge (trainer I ride 
for and noted earlier) that we should send our last horse to the gate so I 
could ask the gate crew how Miraculous Miss did today.  Judge obliged.  
Miraculous Miss was great.  She walked in, stood, they played around with 
her etc.   Brian (in charge, the "crew" comes from Philadelphia Park) said 
she has to come back one more time, but she should be fine.  Coming to the 
gate three times is a standard requirement for a horse on the "starter's 
list".  The horse I was on, a nice rangy 2 year old filly, galloped out of 
the gate very well, which was pretty cool because the last time she was a 
little slower to get going.  

And finally again, it seems Better Talk Now will get to run tomorrow: Last-minute diplomacy saves 
U.N..  I asked Lisa, his exercise rider, if he would win.  Of course 
she said "Yes".  Win lose or draw, this looks like it is shaping to an 
awesome horserace!  Good luck Graham et al! 

Update 176: Barbaro is a little more comfortable this morning! Just saw 
Michael Matz (who offered to pony me as I was stuggling to get a new horse 
on to the track)...Michael had already received a call from Dr. Richardson 
this morning giving the good report.
updated friday 7:10am

Update 175: New Bolton's press release confirms much of what we know: Barbaro 
receives third cast (thanks Lisa, I had been checking ALL day) and its 
copied below:

On Wednesday, July 5, Dr. Dean Richardson, Chief of Surgery, replaced the 
cast on Barbaro that he had received on Monday, July 3. "Barbaro was not 
comfortable with the second cast, so we decided it would be best to 
replace it sooner rather than later," said Dr. Richardson. "His appetite 
is healthy, and we are continuing to monitor him closely for an elevated 
temperature or other signs of discomfort."

New Bolton Center continues to receive requests for additional information 
on Barbaro's condition. Below are some of the most recent questions asked 
with responses from his medical team.

Q. Why was Barbaro's cast changed again?
A. For several days before the second cast change, Barbaro showed a slight 
elevation in body temperature and his hind legs appeared uncomfortable, 
which led to Dr. Dean Richardson's decision to reassess the leg and then 
change the cast. He was still not as comfortable as he had been so a new 
cast was applied on Wednesday.

Q. Why were two screws replaced and three new ones added?
A. Two previously implanted screws that cross the pastern joint were bent, 
so Dr. Richardson, who had predicted that bent screws in that area were 
likely, replaced them and added three new screws for additional support. 
Barbaro has been very active on his cast, and the repairs were needed as a 
result of force and motion in the affected area. The screws are bridging 
the pastern joint. They are not part of the repair of the primary 
fractures. The pastern joint needed to be fused because the proximal 
phalanx (long pastern bone) was so badly broken that the middle phalanx 
(short pastern bone) was needed to anchor the distal (lowest) part of the 
plate.

Q. What do the radiographs show about how well Barbaro is healing?
A. Barbaro's new radiographs show excellent progressive bone healing, a 
very positive sign.

Q. Were the repairs considered major surgery?
A. Barbaro was put under general anesthesia for the procedure. The repairs 
themselves were made under fluoroscopic control, which gives surgeons a 
live-X-ray view of the patient. This means that small one-centimeter 
incisions were made rather than any large incision.

Q. Did Barbaro have an abscess on his foot?
A. During the examination, doctors found a small infection on the sole of 
Barbaro's uninjured left hind hoof near the frog, a V-shaped cushiony 
growth that helps absorb shock. Dr. Richardson is treating the infection 
topically; in addition, Barbaro is on systemic antibiotics, which is 
common post-surgical practice. He also has a new protective shoe.

Q. What is laminitis and what are you doing to prevent it in Barbaro?
A. Laminitis is a painful condition in horses that can be the result of a 
number of causes, including excessive weight bearing in one limb. It 
occurs when laminae, the strong connecting tissues that attach the pedal 
bone and the inner hoof wall, are inflamed. Laminitis is very serious and 
can result in severe consequences. To reduce this risk, we applied a 
supportive shoe to Barbaro's left hind foot immediately following the 
surgery for the fracture of his right hind leg.

Q. How long will Barbaro have to stay in a cast?
A. Barbaro will remain in a cast until we believe that the fracture and 
joint fusions have developed adequate strength.

Q. How long will Barbaro remain in Intensive Care?
A. Barbaro will remain in the Intensive Care Unit at the George D. Widener 
Hospital as long as necessary. Even though he is progressing well and has 
not had major complications, he is not out of danger. Even if things 
progressed perfectly from this point forward, it is likely that he would 
be here two more months. 

Update 174: Just spoke to Peter Brette who visited Bobby today.  It does 
appear his level of discomfort has improved a little, but there is still 
some discomfort for which they are trying to determine the cause.  I asked 
Peter how he looked physically, and he said he looked well, was eating 
etc. so that is good.  Peter also reiterated that the bone-healing process 
is as good as they could possibly expect, if not better.   Please keep 
thinking your positive thoughts for Barbaro.  

I have updated the content for each of Tim's horses, Tim was 
around this afternoon.  I am also going to get a picture of Tim added to 
the site.  Tim had a pretty quick start to the year, but things have been 
quieter lately.  We are hoping for a good summer with Redaspen, Randy's 
Bullet and Gator Nation (unraced)  getting close to running, Something 
Wild getting back to his earlier form and Kielbasa Queen moving on from 
her debut.

Finally as I was jogging back on the main track with Tim today we passed 
the clocker's stand where Graham Motion was supervising his string.  I 
asked Graham if he knew whether they would be racing in New Jersey this 
weekend, and of course he did not.  There was no 
racing thursday.  He has Better Talk Now in the United Nations (Grade 
1 $750,000 race).  This is a race he won last year (I think), and a race 
he has targeted for Better Talk Now for this year.  His training program 
has been designed to have Better Talk Now in prime condition for saturday.  
Clearly Graham was not anticipating the potential for this race not 
running.  It is hard enough mapping out a campaign for a grade one horse, 
but when a race does not run, its not so simple to regroup and run the 
horse in another race the next week!  Lets hope they can resolve this odd 
situation very quickly and Fair Hill's Breeders Cup winner gets a chance 
to do what he does best, run them down in the stretch!
 
 
Update 173: Again, no real update this morning.   Given the current 
situation where Barbaro appears to have been more uncomfortable lately 
(yesterday anyway) it is harder to get updates.  This is not because 
people are not willing to provide them, but because I don't have the 
'energy' to ask them.  You can tell just passing Michael Matz's crew this 
morning that the same spirit of optimism is being tested.   I assume there 
will be something coming from New Bolton concerning yesterday's events at 
some point, but I am sure they are overwhelmed too.  We were warned that 
Barbaro would have good days, and not so good days.  Lets hope we are just 
experiencing a little of the latter and things improve quickly.  

I do plan to update Tim's horses on the site later today, we have let that 
lapse a little lately.

Update 172: Thanks for your patience today.  Barbaro did show some level 
of discomfort with his new cast.  They decided to replace the cast, change 
the angle slightly and see if that helps his comfort level.  During the 
change they were able to confirm things happening beneath the cast were 
fine (there was no obvious reason for the discomfort).  Dr Kathy Anderson, 
who had not seen the most recent radiographs until later this afternoon, 
said she was "thrilled" with the actual bone-healing process.   More 
updates will likely be forthcoming, but please, keep good thoughts for 
Barbaro, today was a tough day for all involved.

Dr. Thomas 
Brokken, President of the American Association of Equine 
Practictioners, is planning to visit Barbaro and Dr. Richardson tomorrow. 

Mike Rea does seem to be progressing well:  Steps 
Forward.

On other news, it was great to see Makybe Diva inducted 
into the Australia Racing 
Hall of Fame.  I was fortunate to be there to see her win her first 
Melbourne Cup!

Update 171: No update yet today.  This morning was crazy busy and I was 
not able to catch up with the right people.  I will endevour to get some 
news later today.  I did discover I used to ride point-to-points with the 
father of one of the exercise riders at Fair Hill (which I guess ages me a 
little).

Also, from the Baltimore Sun: Barbaro's 
owners happy to hear their horse's breaks are healing (thanks Sarah):

Roy Jackson, who with his wife Gretchen owns Kentucky Derby winner 
Barbaro, said yesterday he was relieved to hear Monday -- after Barbaro's 
cast change and the implanting of three additional screws -- that 
Barbaro's joints are fusing and the breaks healing.

"But it all takes time," Jackson said. "I'm hopeful that he will come 
through everything all right, but we've been through this before [with 
other horses] and we know things can go wrong in 24 hours. All we can 
really do is wait and see."

Yesterday, Barbaro was feeling good, said Dr. Corinne Sweeney, executive 
director of the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals at the 
University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa., 
where Barbaro is recovering in the intensive care unit from the multiple 
fractures in his right, rear leg during the Preakness. 

wednesday, 11:50 AM

Update 170: A must read article from the Daily Racing Form: Vet pleased with Barbaro's 
progress (thanks Kim)  that is essentially an interview with Dr. 
Richardson conducted today.  He details yesterday's events, the current 
prognosis, and notes the 'problem' with the foot of the good hind leg.  
The following are a couple of excerpts, but it is good to read the entire 
article:

"This is about the time we expect to see good evidence on radiographs of a 
degree of healing, and the X-rays that were taken yesterday, they look 
very, very good," Richardson said Tuesday in a phone interview. "As far as 
the major fracture, basically, it could not look better. He's really 
progressing well as far as the fracture goes. All in all, it was a 
reasonably satisfactory day."

and

"The reason we changed the screws is that he had two broken screws that 
crossed the pastern joint," he said. Richardson said that the screws he 
replaced were in "the least important part of the fixation" and that 
veterinarians knew bent screws in that area would be fairly likely.

"That is an area that we knew was going to be vulnerable to have the 
implants break, because there's a lot of force and motion that's occurring 
at the pastern joint, because everything is locked down above it. The end 
of the plate is there, and it's tending to move, and he's been very, very 
active on his cast.

"This doesn't affect his fracture per se, but it does affect how quickly I 
would be able to get him out of the cast if his fracture continues to 
heal, because we need to have the pastern stable as well as the fracture. 
Because of that, we put these additional screws across the pastern joint 
to try and help stabilize it more."

The following article: Cast change for 
Barbaro, and new screws (thanks Lynette) is the first article to cite 
this site as a source :)  In fact, I e-mailed them last night to let them 
know of the cast change (I saw their site referenced in the wikipedia entry of Barbaro).  I was pretty 
excited to see this site's reference, all the way from New Zealand!

Update 169: The Baltimore Sun has a nice article: Barbaro 
gets cast change (thanks Barbara) that has a good explanation for the 
additional screws:

"Dr. Richardson was pleased with what he saw," Sweeney said. "He's 
continuing to heal, and the bent screws are not a setback. It's why you 
don't put one or two screws in to hold the stresses. It's no different 
from you or I healing from a broken leg, walking around, getting up and 
down. It's normal. And Dr. Richardson simply thought three [additional] 
screws would work better as a proactive measure."

So now Bobby has 30 screws, lets hope he does not plan to travel, how will 
he explain that to the security people!

Update 168: Just passed Michael Matz on the track (Tuesday morning) and he 
tells me Barbaro is doing well. He had a good night after his busy day 
yesterday. Everything is looking good. Relieving news!
Updated 7:50am, tuesday.

Update 167: Four 
new pictures from New Bolton from today.  The first of Barbaro, you 
have to admit, he does look sharp!  And Mike Rea is doing well, thanks to 
a bit of sisterly 
intervention.

Update 166: Peter Brette just called, and confirmed what we had heard from 
Kathy Anderson.  You can imagine there is a sense of relief surrounding 
those who are close to Bobby (or at least I got that impression from each 
of the conversations I had with Peter and Kathy).  Michael (Matz) is 
visiting Barbaro.   The Bloodhorse is running a copy of the New Bolton 
Press Release: Barbaro Gets New 
Bandages, Screws; Radiographs 'Look Great'

Update 165: New Bolton's press release today:  
Barbaro's cast changed for second time; new screws added includes:

Doctors at New Bolton Center's George D. Widener Hospital have changed the 
cast of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro for the second time since his hind 
leg was shattered at the Preakness on May 20. "Barbaro is back in his 
stall and is doing well," said Chief of Surgery Dean W. Richardson, who 
replaced the cast he had put on Barbaro on June 13. "Also, we replaced two 
bent screws and added three new ones across the pastern joint. His 
radiographs look great, and he had another successful pool recovery."


Update 164: Phew!  OK, Kathy Anderson just called and she had just heard 
from Dean Richardson.  Barbaro has recovered and is now back in his stall.  
The injured leg looks good, the radiographs were very good.  They did 
replace a couple of screws (please don't ask me any details, it is beyond 
my domain).  

There was an absess in his left hind foot, in the heal.  This had been a 
recent cause of discomfort (and hence the cast change I guess).  It is 
great they could identify this, as apparently that's not an issue for them 
to work on.   Basically, as far as I can tell with my brief conversation, 
the cast change was as good as they could have hoped for.

Update 163: Just spoke to Kathy Anderson (Barbaro's Fair Hill vet) at 
12:50 pm and Barbaro is currently having his cast changed.  

Update 162: Confirmation from the Baltimore Sun that Dr. Richardson noted 
yesterday Barbaro may have his cast changed this week (we now know it is 
today).  Barbaro 
could have cast changed (thanks Sarah).

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro had a visit with his surgeon yesterday.

Dr. Dean Richardson said the horse, who is attempting to recover from a 
broken rear, right leg suffered in the Preakness, could have another cast 
change this week.

Barbaro has been doing fine since his first cast change June 13, a little 
over three weeks after the original surgery. At that time, Barbaro was 
X-rayed and found to be healing properly.

Now nearly three weeks after that first change, Richardson said this cast 
"is beginning to show signs of wear." On the day the cast is changed, 
Richardson is expected to X-ray Barbaro's leg. 


Update 161: It seems the cast change is planned for today, and this 
morning.  I will try to get any updates through the day.  Via the process 
of the cast change they will be able to take more pictures to see how the 
healing process is coming along (note, they can take pictures with the 
cast on, but apparently, and as one may suspect, the cast does muddy the 
quality of the images).  

I think this is an important day for Barbaro in the entire recovery 
process.  While I am not privy to the reasons for the cast change, one can 
speculate it is simply due (one day shy of three weeks), or he is less 
comfortable with the current cast at this point (we noted in update 153 he is likely to have better days and not 
as good days).  If the latter, it may simply be due to the fit of the 
cast.  Anyway, no good speculating, lets just hope today is a good day, 
and I am sure we will know more later.

Update 160: Just saw Michael Matz out on the track...he says there's a 
possibility today is the day for Barbaro's second cast change. It's not a 
definite yet so will try to confirm when able to later. If it does happen 
today, let's hope all goes well and xrays show continued healing for 
Bobby!

Update 159: Barbaro wins!  That was the poll result: Barbaro: 272; Jazil 
1; Other 1 (for 3yo of the year).  I have taken the poll down as it was 
delaying the 'performance' of the site.  I will need to relook at how to 
use polls without compromising overall site performance.  

Update 158: Peter Brette was unable to visit today, but assumes Barbaro 
continues to do well.  He did see an update on HRTV at 3 pm which said the 
same.  The update also reminded us that while everything has gone very 
well thus far, Barbaro is a long way from being 'out of the woods', so we 
must remain cautious, there are complications that can still occur.  (I 
knew HRTV had planned to do updates each day, as reported by the Bloodhorse, 
but I have not seen any for myself, I will try to tune in tomorrow.)

The Baltimore 
Sun's Digest today included the following:

Barbaro is having a lazy weekend, enjoying his air conditioning at the 
George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals at the University of 
Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center, where he is recovering from a broken 
right rear leg. Yesterday, Dr. Corinne Sweeney, director of the facility, 
said Barbaro is fine and was chowing down on horse treats that arrived in 
Friday's mail. ... Dance in the Mood won the $750,000 CashCall Mile by 1 
3/4 lengths at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, Calif. Victor Espinoza guided 
Dance in the Mood, a daughter of 1989 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner 
Sunday Silence, over one mile on the turf in a stakes-record 1:33.33.

I was surprised, when I tuned into ESPN yesterday to see Graham Motion 
(Fair Hill Trainer) being interviewed by Jeannine Edwards (who also lives 
locally), at Hollywood Park.  Graham's horse, Sweet Talker, actually finished second to 
Dance in the Mood.

Six weeks have now passed since Barbaro's horrific accident, so while we 
understand things can still go wrong, we should be grateful Barbaro has 
done so well in the six weeks.  I assume the next 'event' will be the 
second changing of the cast.  I have no current insight into when this 
might happen (we had heard it might have been last week, that changed).  
Lets hope the cast change occurs uneventfully, and the pictures they can 
take during the cast switch show continued healing!

Mike Rea's updates continue to show 
good progress. 

Update 157: Just spoke to Peter Brette (sunday morning) and as far as he 
is aware all remains well (he of course would be informed otherwise if 
that was the case).  Bobby had another good day yesterday. 

I mentioned to Peter the poll we are currently running (Barbaro 211 votes, 
Jazil 1 vote, zero votes for others) which of course has no survey bias 
etc!  We discussed what it might take to dislodge Barbaro from 3yo of the 
year, perhaps Bernadini winning the Travers and the Breeders Cup Classic 
(there is not a Breeders Cup race strictly for 3yos).  

Peter said he may visit later today, if so I will try to catch up and get 
a quick report.

Update 156: We are experimenting with online polls to get some answers in 
terms of how everyone is thinking with respect to Barbaro, horse racing, 
and other horse related concerns (funding ideas etc).  You can see the 
current poll question on the left hand column.  I hope this first question 
is not difficult to answer, but it serves as a test to see that the polls 
work.  (Edit: forgot Jazil, just added, and also, thanks Eliza for 
creating the polls)

England lost (end of world cup coverage here).

 
Letter from the Editor: Magnificent Barbaro is no one-trick pony is an 
older article but for some reason I did not link to it.  Its a cool 
article, including the following excerpt:

Barbaro had blown away the field at the Kentucky Derby. It was the largest 
winning margin in years. For a newspaper editor, Barbaro made a great 
story. Just like Smarty Jones and Afleet Alex, he was dripping with local 
connections. The owner grew up in Delco. His wife worked here. Their farm 
was in West Grove. Barbaro raced at Delaware Park early in his career. And 
he was based, along with his trainer, at Fair Hill, Md.


Update 155: Seems like the Baltimore Sun is getting some good updates 
recently.  Today's (July 1) is from Barbaro's 
skin rubs 'all quite healed' (thanks Gloria).  It is below:

The skin rubs that occurred on Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro's left side 
during transportation in a sling to and from the intensive care unit have 
"all quite healed" now. Dr. Corinne Sweeney, director of the University of 
Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center, said yesterday that Barbaro's side "is 
looking good." She also responded to a question from a concerned fan 
concerning alternative treatments for laminitis, should that become a 
problem in his rear left foot from overuse. The fan said she hoped doctors 
at the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals were aware of 
"herbology" and homeopathic remedies. Sweeney said: "Alternative methods 
of treatment are not pooh-poohed here. ... Should treatment become 
necessary, the veterinary team is fully aware of traditional and 
alternative remedies."


Update 154:  Barbaro continues to do well.  I spoke to Peter Brette this 
morning (saturday morning).  The Jackson's were actually at Fair Hill 
watching their horses train.  They were in the clocker's stand just after 
the (renovation) break.  As I was jogging back past the clocker's stand I 
thought I would put my interview 'cap / helmet' on and ask them a couple 
of questions.  Well the Waquoit two year old I was on thought very 
differently, as we darted to the inside rail!  The weather has been great 
here the last couple of mornings riding out.  Now the focus is back on the 
world cup, England are playing today at 11 am, half of Fair Hill will be 
in the Hill Top (they do a fantastic english breakfast).   I asked Peter 
if he was stopping by. He may, but it is also Kim's birthday, so perhaps 
he may have other things to do (sorry, I cannot imagine doing other things 
when the world cup is on!)
update, 10:00 AM, saturday morning

Update 153: I just had a quick chat with Kathy 
Anderson (Barbaro's Fair Hill vet).  She did not have an update, she asked 
me if I had heard today.  (Kathy, like some others directly connected to 
Barbaro, is operating under the assumption that no news is good news.  
Obviously if there was a problem, Kathy would be one of the first to be 
contacted.)   We did discuss the current state and it seems his status has 
now shifted from a day-to-day situation to a week-to-week situation.   

He will likely have better days (which it seems he is currently 
experiencing) and perhaps not as good days, in terms of his overall 
comfort on his injured leg, but until the cast is changed they are not 
really able to determine the status of the healing process (this is what I 
understand, not directly from Kathy).  Obviously the  longer they can 
leave the cast on (and Bobby remains comfortable) the more likely the 
healing process will continue unabated.   We will continue to provide 
updates as we have them (i.e. we have no intention of shifting to 
week-to-week!)

On other news, I saw Man from Havana (is that his name ?) on the track 
this morning (he is pretty cute!) as I was coming onto the track to breeze 
a horse.  As I was leaving after the breeze Better Talk Now had arrived on 
the track.  Better Talk Now is (I believe) Fair Hill's biggest earner and 
of course a Breeders Cup winner.  I think he is being pointed for the 
United Nations a week tomorrow.  It also appears Mike Rea continues his 
long recover process: After 
Evening Visit.

Update 152: Another good night for Barbaro last night (Thursday night). I 
was passing Michael Matz on the way to the track for my third set this 
morning (6:35am) and before I could ask my inevitable question...he said 
with a broad grin "he's doing excellent." 
Updated Friday morning 7:10am

Update 151: No official update tonight.  Had a quick chat with Kim 
(Brette), and there did not seem to be any new news.  We discussed that if 
there was news to report they would know, so I think no news is good news.

Update 150: A lighthearted interview with Barbaro: In 
recovery, Barbaro still has plenty of horse sense.  I of course loved 
this bit:

Well, the governor of Pennsylvania stopped by. And the Jacksons are here a 
lot. Sometimes they bring friends. And the media doesn't know this, but 
Edgar and his family sneaked in last week to see me.

Given we noted this visit in update 
117 Barbaro, at least, does not consider us media, we are just 
friends!

Update 149: The article Trainers, 
owners hold dream of discovering another Barbaro (thanks Barbara) 
includes some information on Barbaro's new little brother, the co-star of 
our new pictures:

The Jacksons also own a full brother to Barbaro. He was born on March 15 
this year and is growing up and stretching his legs at Mill Ridge Farm in 
Lexington, Ky.

"He has a little more white on his face than Barbaro does," says Roy, 
adding that La Ville Rouge is again in foal to Dynaformer. The Jacksons 
hope that the same bloodlines might produce another wonderful result but 
also realize that pedigree never guarantees anything.

Update 148: The following are other insights I gleaned from my 
conversation with Michael (Matz) this morning.  Gretchen Jackson is 
heavily involved in getting support for the (anti-) horse slaughter 
legislation that has been heavily discussed here.  I believe time to call 
your representitives is very soon.  He mentioned he believes the Barbaro 
Fund is now over $600k.  He also talked about a school teacher, who used 
to work for Michael back in his show jumping days, had her students follow 
Barbaro's career as a class project.  She used elements of Barbaro's story 
as teaching aids etc.  Anyway, apparently the kids really got into the 
project, and once it was complete sent it to Michael.  Michael past it on 
to the Jackson's who were very impressed (as was Michael).  They are now 
looking to turn it all into a Children's Book!  Pretty Cool.  Lastly, 
Michael noted that when Dean Richardson visited Barbaro this morning he 
was lieing down, he saw the doc and got up without trouble at all.  It 
seems he is pretty comfortable getting up and down, and that is a great 
thing.

In all this let us not forget fellow Fair Hill horse trainer Mike Rea who 
has been moved to 'step 
down', apparently a step up!

Update 147: Another good night for Barbaro (wednesday night).  I walked 
back from the wood chip track with Michael Matz and he had heard from Dr. 
Dean Richardson.  It also appears they are no longer planning to change 
the cast this week.  Michael mentioned when he went to see Barbaro 
yesterday, and was grooming him, he was standing on his injured leg while 
using the other hind leg to scratch his ear (I know we have heard this 
before, but it is a good example of his current comfort on the injured 
leg).  Michael gave me some more information, which I will update later 
(have four or five more horses to ride.)  I did also see Miraculous Miss 
out training this morning, she is looking good.
update: 7:40 am, thursday, Fair Hill clocker's stand.

Update 146: The new pictures are uploaded to the gallery.  They are of 
Bobby's baby full brother and his mother, La Ville Rouge.  Thanks Kim 
(Brette) for acquiring the pictures, and Eliza for getting them on the 
site.  His baby brother is pretty cute!  The following comment was left by 
a vet, S. McC. which sounds just like a conversation I have had with vets 
at Fair Hill, it appears to summarize well the role of the hardware, and 
the 'race against time' Barbaro faces:

I do have a comment regarding the internal hardware. (I am an equine vet, 
though not an orthopedic surgeon.) Under ideal circumstances, it will all 
remain in place. If some portion of it were to become problematic, it 
would not be difficult to remove individual screws, etc. This is done with 
some horses after condylar fracture repair. Most horses who undergo 
fetlock arthodesis (fusion) which was the primary part of Bobby's more 
complicated surgery, have the plates and screws left in place. Once fusion 
takes place the plate could in theory be removed but ordinaarily would be 
left alone.

Right now Bobby is in a race between the ability of the bones to fuse, and 
the ability of the hardware to withstand the stresses of use. As healing 
makes the bones more stable, there is progressively less stress on the 
plates and screws. Until then, metal fatigue is still a worry. 

Update 145: Just got a voice-mail from Peter Brette.  While he was unable 
to visit today he has heard Barbaro had another good day (wednesday). 

Update 144: I have created a separate section for those interested in 
brainstorming fundraising ideas: Barbaro: 
Fund Raising Ideas.  I thought this might help focus some of the great 
fund raising discussions (I am all for discussion, but too often I have 
seen great internet discussion disipate into the ether before action takes 
place, I hope this helps maintain the focus / enthusiam). 

I did catch up with Barclay again this morning and told him that I was now 
a member of the media, and asked him for a quote re: Showing Up.  
Barclay's response: "Its a pleasure leading him over each time".  (Note: 
Barclay is notorious for not being overly comfortable with the media, I 
hope he can make an exception for me in the future!)  Given I am media, I 
felt I should ask him more questions, so I asked him what it was like to 
gallop Ruffian.  He responded that he really only rode her when her main 
rider was not available.  He reminded me she was never headed in a horse 
race.  I also asked him about the comment he made about Barbaro after 
seeing him win in Laurel last year (Barbaro's second race).  He had 
mentioned to a friend of mine at the time it was the most impressive thing 
he had seen since Secretariat.  Today he confirmed it was truly 
impressive.  Interview over!  (Note, it is pretty cool that at Fair Hill 
this morning, there were two Kentucky Derby winning trainers at the track 
training their respective strings, Michael on Messaging, Barclay observing 
things from the 'gap'.  In previous years Barclay would also be on a pony, 
I presume they do not have one yet for his Fair Hill string.)

I am hoping later today to get some new pictures up on the site.  They are 
not Bobby, but I think they will be popular (how's that for some 'buzz'.)  
I don't have any more information on the cast situation at this point (I 
know people have been asking, I have not been able to catch up with Kathy 
Anderson etc.)

Update 143: Another good night for Barbaro last night (tuesday night).  
Caught up with Michael Matz on the wood chip track this morning.  The dirt 
track is closed due to the excessive weather we have had.  Barclay Tagg is 
also here today (he has a string at Fair Hill, Showing Up was here last 
year).   Barclay is in great form after his big win the other day.  He 
asked me what I was up to work-wise.  I used to freelance (exercise rider) 
for him a couple of years ago.  I should have told him I had joined the 
media and asked for a Showing Up quote from him!
update 7:50, wednesday morning, Fair Hill clockers stand.

Update 142: I thought I would copy Kim's comment verbatim re: their visit 
this afternoon to Barbaro:

As Alex mentioned Peter and I visited Bobby today, Peter gave him a good 
currying which he loved his eyes had a sleepy look in them and he was 
curling his lip so I think all in all he enjoyed a little pampering, I was 
the hair lady and got to detangle his tail..

Of course he had loads of carrots, mints, pats and kisses.

He really did seem happy and comfortable, I hope he knows how much we all 
love him, I'm sure he does.

Thanks again for all your prayers and good wishes, with re to the 
retirement fund thing I was thinking more along the lines of supporting an 
existing organisation, will try to get a list of reputable ones and go 
from there.


Update 141: Just spoke to Peter Brette and he and Kim visited Bobby today.  
Peter said he was in great form, they groomed him etc.  Hopefully Kim will 
be able to provide a first hand report in the comments later (when I 
called I could hear their young son in the background, so I assume it was 
busy family time!)  I asked Peter if he knew the day for the cast change, 
and he was not sure yet.

Update 140: New Bolton Center's press release today (tuesday) confirms 
Barbaro is doing well.  It includes:

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro is pleasing his veterinarians with his 
progress, as he recovers from a shattered hind leg sustained at the 
Preakness on May 20. "Barbaro continues to improve; he is maintaining his 
weight and his coat looks good," said Dr. Corinne Sweeney, associate dean 
of Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine and executive hospital director of 
the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals. "I would say he is a 
happy, healthy horse."
 

Update 139: A couple of articles recently have questioned the public's 
ongoing concern for Barbaro and whether he is really missed and the merits 
of following a horse who no longer races.  The first:  
Maybe Barbaro won't be missed after all seems to have incensed many 
with the following ending quote:

This victory by Showing Up has the potential to reinvigorate interest 
among even the casual racing fan. Showing Up may not run in the 
traditional summer events for three-year-olds, but it will be interesting 
to follow him in his future endeavors.

Let's hope that thoroughbred racing does not drop the ball in promoting 
this potentially new star. It will be great to write about an active horse 
and his accomplishments, instead of medical updates on a retired 
thoroughbred.

I guess insensitive would be an understatement here.  All that aside, 
while Barbaro has clearly run the most impressive performance so far this 
year (I think even Don Agriss would agree to that); and Showing Up has the 
same owners as "Bobby" (so we were rooting for him); one cannot forget 
Bernadini when considering other performances by top three year olds.  I 
also think main stream media (like Agriss) has dropped the ball by not 
realizing that Barbaro has the potential to engage even the most casual 
racing fan as he progresses through his recovery.

The second article Barbaro Trots 
Back Into Obscurity appears similarly insensitive and clueless.

These are countered by this piece from the Daily Racing Form: If Eclipse Awards came 
out now . . . which includes the following excerpt:

And who is my 2006 Horse of the First Half of the Year? Barbaro, purely 
because of the way he captured the public's imagination in the days 
between the Derby and his ill-fated Preakness.

On another note, Tim received an e-mail from Mike Rea's sister when she 
saw our initial link to Mike's site here.  It included the following:

I love what you had to share about him and his conversation with Matz.  It 
sounds just like my little brother!  I recall his reaction to Barbaro's 
injury clearly - he cried as if he had just lost his best friend.  His 
family and friends were all very aware of his pride in a horse from Fair 
Hill with Barbaro's accomplishments.  In fact, one of the happiest days of 
his career was when he began training there. 

Good luck Mike in your long road 
to recovery.  We are all rooting for you.

Update 138: Another good night for Barbaro.  Just spoke to Michael Matz 
who had heard from Dean Richardson.  Dr. Richardson also noted that they 
have a patient with more 'hardware' than "Bobby", a Thompson's 
Gazelle.
update tuesday, 9:30 AM

Update 137: Barbaro continues to do well.  I just spoke to Peter Brette.  
He mentioned they may change his cast again later this week.  Peter is 
planning to visit tomorrow, and I think Kim (his wife) may also join him.  
Kim also posted a comment, which includes the following excerpt:

Just to let you know Barbaro is doing well, a little bored as to be 
expected, Peter hasn't been able to see him as much as he would like but 
we are going to try go see him tomorrow.

There is something I have been thinking of ever since this whole thing 
happened and was wondering what everyone else thought.

This is of course my "Kim Brette ",s personal thoughts which have not been 
discussed with the Jacksons, New Bolten etc etc but I have a very strong 
belief that Barbaro should have a fund of his own to help retired, 
injured, maybe even re schooled racehorses for the rest of the time they 
are here.

I think this sentiment is shared by many who frequent this site.  (Her 
comment is posted under the "Your overwhelming Response" post).

I also wanted to update you briefly on Mike Rea (freak training accident 
June 16).  His latest blog entry shows that Sunday was a 
good day for Mike.  I spoke to one of his sister's today who noted 
that today was also a good day.  I volunteered to help a little with their 
web site (I was sooooo impressed they started a blog I could not help but 
'get in the way').   Anyway, I am glad Mike seems to be progressing in the 
right direction!

Update 136: A nice article from the Baltimore Sun: New 
Bolton director cautions against Barbaro complacency (thanks Lynnette) 
reiterates some of the issues we noted in update 
134, and makes it clear that we do still have a long way to go.  The 
following is an excerpt:

Sweeney said that while the prospect of infection drops dramatically the 
further down the road Barbaro gets, laminitis, an infection that can occur 
in Barbaro's left foot due to overuse, "is always a concern."

Though it, too, lessens every day, it doesn't totally go away until 
Barbaro is back, solidly on all fours.

"His whole good health and the way he's bearing his weight is 
encouraging," she said. "But hearing good news about him every day can 
give the impression that nothing more can go wrong, and that's not the 
case."


Update 135: Just spoke to Michael Matz.  I asked him "Everything good 
[with Barbaro] Michael", his reply: "So far".  Thus our update for this 
morning, Barbaro continues to do well.  It has been five weeks since the 
surgery, very cool, but clearly we have a long way to go yet.  The key 
issues are described below (update 134).
updated 10:50 am, monday

Update 134: I have not yet had a chance to catch 
up with Michael Matz's barn yet this morning (but will return to Fair Hill 
once 'training' is over to get an update).  The weather this morning was 
very wet, thus many barns stayed dry by not going out to the racetracks.  
I did get a chance to talk to 'Chuck', a Fair Hill vet and associate of 
Kathy Anderson's. (Chuck actually was the vet kind enough to call me as 
soon as Barbaro was out of surgery (Update 
5) so I could post that update ASAP.)  He confirmed the two key things 
at this stage are the need for the bones to heal and take over the work 
currently being done by the 'hardware'; and the potential for Laminitis.  I imagine 
the former is the bigger concern (the cast replacement process indicated 
this was progressing in the right direction); the potential for the latter 
would increase if Barbaro is not comfortable putting weight on his injured 
leg (so far this does not seem to be the case); and if Barbaro was not 
comfortable getting up and down.  Chuck mentioned the best thing for 
Barbaro is the ability to lie down and sleep for a couple of hours.  The 
process of getting up, however, puts the most pressure (torque was 
mentioned) on the injured leg.  Chuck explained to me the cause of 
Laminitis, but it was a little technical for me, so I have linked to the 
wikipedia entry.

Update 133: Michael Matz showed up at the local bar halfway through the 
England game to buy his lunch to go.  (I am not sure he was expecting half 
of Fair Hill to be at the bar watching the world cup.)  Anyway, he said 
things remain the same for Barbaro as of this morning, so that is good 
news!  Of course England winning is good news too, although Michael did 
leave before Beckham scored the only goal (and what a goal it was)!

Update 132: I spoke to Michael Matz this morning, and no updates yet from 
New Bolton (sometimes the call comes in later than other times).  He did 
mention he visited yesterday afternoon and all was well, so saturday 
afternoon is our latest update.  I will try to get more information later, 
but it may be a tough day for updates (England are playing etc!)

A nice win for Showing 
Up, the Jackson's and Barclay Tagg.  Although I missed the race, I am 
told he was impressive.  Also noteworthy is Film Maker's nice return to 
the races, winning a grade 3.  When the time was right I did want to 
mention how well Better Talk Now ran in the race before the Preakness, I 
guess now is as good a time as any!.  Both these horses (Better Talk Now 
and Film Maker) are trained by Graham Motion, who is another fantastic 
trainer at Fair Hill.  I don't know how old each horse is but they seem to 
have been running at a very high level for a long time!

On a more sombre note, when I was in San Francisco last weekend, Fair Hill 
was reminded what a dangerous sport we participate.  All things can be 
going so well one minute, and then distaster strikes (well Barbaro does 
remind us of that everyday for sure).  Anyway, trainer Mike Rea was 
involved in a horrific accident, and is currently in the ICU in Baltimore.  
His family have created a blog:  
Mike Rea's Recovery Info & Updates.  Mike was actually the "exercise 
rider" (he is actually a trainer) cited in the article we posted a while 
back: Matz: 'I'm just sad 
for racing':

Matz said that an exercise rider who works for another trainer at Fair 
Hill rode past Matz on the track the other morning and offered 
encouragement.

"I think he's a born-again Christian," Matz said. "He was shook up. He 
said, 'The Lord doesn't give you anything you can't handle.' Then he rode 
away a couple of strides, stopped, looked back and said, 'He must think 
you're an awfully tough guy.' "

Matz chuckled, probably for the first time in a week.

I asked Mike Rea about the quote shortly after the article appeared, and 
while he confessed to the quote, he hoped it was the journalist, and not 
Michael (Matz), who confused him for an exercise rider and not a trainer!

Update 131: A couple of nice articles from the comments.  We should start 
by wishing the Jackson's good luck:  Showing 
Up Center Stage at Colonial (thanks Lisa).  The article further 
highlights the Jackson's, Babaro's prognosis and a quote from Barclay 
Tagg.  The following are excerpts:

The feeling is mutual. Tagg trains about 20 horses for the Jacksons and 
was impressed with the way they coped with Barbaro's breakdown.

"I was there when he got hurt, and I was there when they loaded him on the 
ambulance," said Tagg, who also trained 2003 Kentucky Derby winner Funny 
Cide. "I talked to the Jacksons, and they were very upset and very nice. 
They're understanding people, and they know what kind of game they're in. 
We all fall in love with the horses, I don't care what anybody says. If 
you didn't, you'd be crazy to be in the game seven days a week."

and 

At the New Bolton Center intensive care unit, reports on Barbaro's 
progress are uniformly positive, but no one should assume he is out of 
danger, said Corinne Sweeney, the hospital's executive director.

"I think it continues to concern us that the public might not be aware 
that he still has a way to go," she said. "Dr. [Dean] Richardson and the 
whole team are extremely pleased with his progress, but they are also 
realists and he has weeks ahead that contain potential complications. It's 
a fine line. It's realism, not pessimism. If you're in the field of 
medicine or veterinary medicine, it's the animal body and there are many 
elements to healing. It's not like changing a spark plug."

Lets hope Showing Up can prevail at Colonial Downs for the Jacksons, it 
would be a nice distraction.  Showing Up was actually trained at fair Hill 
last summer / fall before Barclay's horses left for the winter.  

The second article: Barbaro 
wearing new cast well; remains 'grand patient' (thanks Daphne) 
highlights some of Barbaro's new skills:

"To amuse him, besides feeding him some snacks, some of the nurses on the 
ward line peppermints up on the edge [of his stall], and he's gotten very 
clever at being able to get to each one between the bars before they fall 
off the edge," Sweeney said. "Any patient that is there for an extended 
period of time, all of the staff here forms a good relationship with. He's 
now been a resident of the hospital for almost five weeks, and he 
certainly has endeared himself."


Update 130: Barbaro continues to do well.  Just spoke to Peter Brette this 
morning (saturday morning).  He may visit later today, in his words: "If I 
can get finished here in time" (I spoke to him as he was working in the 
barn).   Peter was actually holding court to some visitors visiting Fair 
Hill and Michael Matz's barn this morning, answering many questions (well 
I just arrived as it was finishing).  It is nice to see people visiting 
Fair Hill during training hours, even on a gloomy morning as we 
experienced today.  I would have got this update completed earlier but it 
was a busy morning's work (rode nine horses).
update: saturday, June 24, 10:50 AM

Update 129: A few nice articles have been posted in the comments.  Broken-down 
and busted but with something left in the tank is further illustration 
of the 'reach' of Barbaro, this article coming from Australia.  The 
following excerpt signals this:

Prof gives Barbaro a "good chance" of recovery. "It's always hard," he 
went on, "because it was a monumental traumatic injury. They have put a 
bucketload of hardware in. That's not always the complete answer, but I'm 
sure it's been done by capable people. The longer he goes the better 
chance he has."

Not sure how many vets in the states would use the term 'bucketload' to 
describe the amount of hardware involved.  

As many already know, Barbaro is joining the Breyer line of model horses: 
 
Barbaro becomes a model.  What is perhaps less known is this is not 
the first of Michael Matz's horses to join the Breyer family:

Barbaro's trainer, Michael Matz, also has a prior connection to Breyer, 
which made a model of his Olympic show jumper Jet Run in the 1980s.

Ten dollars from each sale will be donated to the Barbaro Fund.

Finally, a nice article on the New Bolton Center itself: Now known 
for Barbaro, Pa. vet hospital has other patients, tasks which 
describes the work NBC does for many types of patients:

Some are more cooperative than others. On one recent day, it took at least 
three veterinarians to coax a bull back into the barn after it had 
undergone a castration operation.

And then there was the curtain-chewing colt, a patient in Widener's 
neonatal intensive care unit. The horse's feistiness seemed to please 
veterinarian Jon Palmer, who had recently performed surgery to correct an 
intestinal problem.

Earlier that day, Palmer finished treating an alpaca with a newborn that 
did not know how to nurse. He also was monitoring one mare's high-risk 
pregnancy while keeping an eye on another who had just given birth.

Palmer sees about 180 animals a year in the neonatal ICU, including goats, 
pigs, sheep and cattle, with the occasional deer, camel, zebra and 
antelope. 

Update 128: Another good night for Barbaro last night (thursday night).  I 
spoke to Peter Brette this morning who let me know.  I also asked Peter 
whether there was padding in his stall (this question has come up in the 
comments) to protect Barbaro from doing further damage from kicking the 
stall walls etc.  The answer is no.  Peter had previously asked Dr. 
Richardson about this (clearly it would seem to make sense to have 
padding) but apparently the padding is much harder to keep clean and thus 
could raise the likelihood of infection etc (its nice to know the reason).  
Peter said it can be frightening to watch Barbaro get up and down!
update friday, June 23, 7:50 AM

Update 127: Another good day for Barbaro (thursday).  Just spoke to Peter 
Brette who provided the news.  Keep the good thoughts coming, its a long 
road ahead.

Update 126: As we noted in update in update 117, 
the Jackson's are pleased that Barbaro has highlighted issues close to 
horsemen's needs.  One such issue cited is the horse-slaughter bill.  
According to recent comments this bill is coming up for vote sometime in 
the next several days.  You can access: Home 
Stretch for Horses to learn more about what you can do.

Update 125: A very nice article on our Fair Hill vet (and sometimes 
contributor to this site) Kathy Anderson: 
Barbaro her best bet: U of S grad shares close relationship with Derby 
winner (thanks Lynette).  I mentioned to Kathy this morning this 
article had been published, it was from a phone interview yesterday (it is 
amazing how news and the internet work).  The article includes the 
following excerpt:

Anderson will never forget watching Barbaro's life change on that Saturday 
afternoon which, she says, "vacillated between blustery threats of rain 
and tranquil sunshine." Anderson and a crowd of more than 200 settled in 
to watch the Preakness on television from Barbaro's home base at Fair 
Hill.

Their hero was hobbling less than one-eighth of a mile into the race.

"Shock became horror as we realized the seriousness of Barbaro's gait," 
Anderson wrote in her journal. "The race was run but we did not see it, 
for our hearts were crying out for Barbaro to stay upright and be able to 
leave the race course in one piece." Soon after, Anderson's cellphone 
began ringing . . . Dr. Dean Richardson called from Florida . . . Dr. 
Scott Palmer phoned from the Preakness track in Baltimore . . . and 
trainer Michael Matz called for Palmer's number.
  
Much of the above is from an e-mail Kathy sent to her friends sunday 
night, which she kindly let us reproduce as update 
14.  It remains my favourite article on this horrific incident, 
although I am not yet prepared to reread it!  As one of the 200 or so 
present at the party I can recall vividly the moment of the tragedy, Kathy 
was positioned just to the right of the TV, her head dropped to her hands.  
I left the room (I don't think or certainly recall watching the finish of 
the race) and remained outside for the next hour or so, talking to others 
who were in shock.  Kathy walked by, I asked her if she knew the current 
status of Barbaro (I think she knew that we were covering Barbaro's 
Preakness preparations on this site).  I was amazed at her openness to 
share exactly what she knew at the time, based on the phone calls she had 
received / made.  

We still have a long way to go, lets hope the news continues to remain 
very positive!

Update 124: Barbaro had another good night last night (wednesday night).  
Just spoke to Michael Matz who had the phone call from Dean Richardson.

I am sitting here with Fair Hill regular Kathee Rengert, who was cited in 
the article from the Baltimore Sun yesterday which we included in update 120.  Kathee (in conjunction with Walnut Green) 
was the bloodstock agent for the purchase of La Ville Rouge (Barbaro's 
mum).   

I asked Kathee to tell me a little bit about the Jackson's, friends of 
hers.  

Kathy: "They are very compassionate people, and Gretchen noted the fact 
the situation with Barbaro has elevated her awareness of the unique nature 
of each individual horse.  She herself said that her awareness of the 
horses other than Barbaro has been elevated, as to their unique 
personalities and varying needs.  She is heavily involved in the care and 
awareness of retired racehorses."  

"Gretchen was asked by the reporter of the Baltmore Sun what the plans 
were three months out for Barbaro, but she defered and considered this a 
day to day situation."

Kathy also went on to note: "The horse looks fabulous, I was amazed at how 
well he looked when I visited."
update 7:45 am, Clockers Stand, Fair Hill

Update 123: Just spoke to Peter Brette who visited Barbaro today 
(Wednesday afternoon)...he remains in great condition. So it looks like 
another good day for Bobby. 

Update 122: For a little light relief I wanted to do some exploring on 
google to see how popular Barbaro has been in the last month or so.  I 
compared Barbaro 
with "Paris Hilton" and it is good to see that for six days at least, 
Barbaro was a more popular search query!  Unfortunately for June 
this is not the case (despite the continued press references).  There 
does not seem to be a scale that lets you know the volume of queries.  We 
did run a google adwords campaign to alert people of this site beginning  
the sunday after the Preakness.   We received 3k visits in one hour, much 
of the traffic coming from google (when Bobby came out of surgery).  The 
site crashed and Eliza has been adding bandwidth ever since.

Update 121: Confirmation that Barbaro is feeling comfortable in his new 
cast from New Bolton Center's press release today: Barbaro 
adjusting nicely to new cast.  It includes:

One month after his life-threatening injury at the Preakness, Kentucky 
Derby winner Barbaro is adjusting well to his new fiberglass cast and life 
in the Intensive Care Unit of the George D. Widener Hospital for Large 
Animals. "He's a lively, bright, happy horse," said Chief of Surgery Dean 
W. Richardson, who replaced the cast on Barbaro's hind leg on June 13. 
"He's enjoying carrots and other treats, and is friendly and frisky. I'm 
very pleased with the progress he's made in the last month."


Update 120: Another good night for Barbaro last 
night (tuesday night).  Michael Matz informed me this morning on the 
track.  A nice article from the Baltimore Sun: Barbaro 
making healthy steps (thanks Lisa) which also highlights the progress 
Barbaro is making at this stage of the recovery.  It includes the 
following excerpt:

Just before Jackson left Barbaro yesterday, the exit door beside Barbaro's 
stall was opened for another horse, and Barbaro was obviously ready to go, 
too. He came to attention and moved swiftly toward the outdoor light.

When freedom didn't come, he let his irritation be known, bucking and 
slamming his good hooves and his bad one on his stall floor. Jackson says 
she was glad to be there to calm him, and talked soothingly to her horse.

He is clearly feeling well enough to want to get out!
update, thursday June 21, 8:50 AM

Update 119: Another good day (tuesday) for 'Bobby'.  Just spoke with Peter 
Brette and they continue to be very happy with his progress.

Update 118: If you ever wonder the reach of concern Barbaro has generated 
just consider his updates are appearing in New Zealand media: Barbaro's odds 
improving every day.  This piece also includes a great picture of his 
new cast.

Update 117: Another good night for Barbaro last 
night (monday night).  Spoke to Michael Matz this morning who had heard 
from Dr. Richardson.  Peter (Brette) also mentioned that Edgar Prado and 
his family visited Barbaro yesterday.  On another note, Miraculous Miss 
(Acorn filly for Steve Klesaris) is also doing well.

And finally, this article from Daily Local News (Philly):  
For the love of Barbaro (thanks Lisa) demonstrates the impact Barbaro 
is having:

New Bolton recently was presented a check for $13.5 million from 
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. The state funds are earmarked for new 
medical facilities at the center, including a new 
isolation/gastrointestinal facility and a chemical digestion building. 
Donations to the BarbaroFoundation now total $560,000.

The Jacksons are pleased Barbaro's story has spurred a closer look at the 
horse-slaughter bill in Congress and better housing for workers on the 
backstretch, a debate on increasing the time between Triple Crown races 
and installing safer, synthetic racing surfaces.

update tuesday June 20, 8:20 am

Update 116: Looks like another good day for Barbaro (monday).  His 
visitors today  included Michael Matz (who I think visits most days, 
either coming to or from work, given how close to New Bolton Center 
Michael lives) and Kathy Anderson.  Peter Brette called me to let me know 
everything looks good for the day (he spoke to Michael).

Update 115: We have added a new movie to the Fan 
multimedia page.  Thanks Karen!  Penn has added some new Barbaro 
pictures from June 16, thanks Superfecta.

Update 114: I asked Kathy Anderson (Barbaro's Fair Hill vet) about the 
'hardware' and what happens in the long run.  She said it would most 
likely remain with Bobby, but would essentially no longer be serving any 
function.  It is all necessary until the bones reknit together etc.  Of 
course I did not really know that it was the bones that were going to take 
back over.  That is good to know, having ridden many horses with some kind 
of 'hardware' added.

Update 113: Another good night for Barbaro last night (sunday night).  I 
caught up with Michael Matz and Peter Brette on the way to the track this 
morning.  We are now four weeks post surgery!.
update 9:20 am, monday morning

Update 112: Excellent article from Sports Illustrated: 'Everything 
right so far'
Doctors are thrilled with Barbaro's steady progress which notes many 
aspects of Barbaro's recover and prognosis (thanks Lisa).  Here is an 
excerpt:

Today, Richardson is guardedly optimistic. He says the odds are "going 
up," and adds: "Until he actually walks out of the hospital with no cast 
on, the radiographs look normal and he's bearing full weight, it won't 
even jump to 75 percent.

"If and when that happens, it will probably creep up ... and when I decide 
it's time to leave the hospital, maybe I'll finally admit that something 
worked," he said.

The next major concern is the healing process: Will the bones heal before 
the hardware begins to loosen?

"He's a large active horse and the metal really isn't meant to bear the 
weight for a very long period of time," Richardson said. "There's always 
this race between healing the fracture and continued structural support 
from the implant. If they start to fail, that could be a problem, so that 
is a continued concern."
  
New York Times is carrying the same 
article (thanks Lynda) as is the Bloodhorse.

Update 111: Peter Brette visited Barbaro this morning (Sunday morning). As 
previously, he's looking very good. Dr. Richardson was there. They walked 
him around and he continues to progress very well. 
Updated Sunday 11:40am.

Update 110: A nice piece of humour as Barbaro responds to his mailbag: Barbaro 
Responds to Fans (thanks Ernie)   Here is an excerpt from one of 
Barbaro's letters as he discusses his retirement plans:

But don't expect Barbaro to disappear into the sunset! I can command a 
pretty hefty speaker's fee. I'm actually already in discussions to host a 
Dr. Phil-style talk show, and I've been invited to speak at the Women's 
Health Forum at the Chicago Convention Center later this summer. But as 
for everything else, your guess is as good as mine.

It seems the original updates page is suffering from size issues (or 
something more technical).  Further updates will be posted to this new 
page.  Any comments, thoughts are very welcome as usual.  Thanks toMSNs 
cache for being most current with data to enable me to recover all the 
"missing" updates!



Update 109:  Barbaro continues to please everyone with his progress.  Just 
spoke to Peter Brette this afternoon (saturday afternoon).  He may visit 
tomorrow morning, so if so will try to get an update before leaving San 
Fran.  I asked Peter about the origin of his name (someone asked in the 
comments).  Apparently Barbaro is named after a foxhound of Roy Jackson's 
family.  There is a painting of the hounds that includes Barbaro, and 
apparently his new full brother may be named after another of the hounds.

Update 108: Just spoke to Peter Brette who reported that Barbaro had 
another good night last night (friday night).  He continues to do well, of 
course with a long road ahead.
update saturday, 8:40 am PST

Update 107: Just spoke to Peter Brette who has just visited Barbaro (after 
morning work friday).  He is doing well, and apparently listening to some 
country music!

Update 106: a couple of nice articles have been posted in the comments. 
The first: Trainers, 
owners hold dream of discovering another Barbaro (thanks Ernie) notes 
the enormous loss the tragedy is to the Barbaro team. The following is an 
excerpt:

Brette, who rode the son of Dynaformer every morning, is equally convinced 
of that. "Unfortunately, people really didn't get to see how good he was," 
he says. "The Kentucky Derby was just the start, not the end for him. He 
was just going to get better and better."

Brette says the regular visits he and Matz make to Barbaro as he recovers 
at New Bolton Center in nearby Kennett Square, Pa., help to ease their 
pain only somewhat.

The second article discusses the visit of two soldiers from Fort Benning: 
FORT 
BENNING: Soldiers visit Kentucky Derby winner (thanks Edie) which I am 
assuming is the same visit we noted in update 52. 
It includes the following:

Why a flag?

Because both women felt that the fact Barbaro tried to continue racing 
despite his obvious pain reminded them of the wounded soldiers they see 
every day, many of them severly injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Update 105: No news yet for Barbaro this morning. Tim spoke to Michael 
Matz's crew and they had not heard anything yet, which seems to be coming 
more of the 'trend' lately (aside from yesterday morning). I will endevour 
to get a more concrete update later when I call Peter Brette.
update 9:00 am, friday

Update 104: Spoke to Peter Brette late this afternoon (Thursday). Barbaro 
is continuing to do well and is getting more comfortable in his new cast.

Update 103: Knowing Barbaro had another great night last night, and be 
able to report such before leaving for San Fran. is great. I will try to 
get in touch with Peter Brette once I get to San Fran. so hopefully will 
have another update late in the day. I am amazed at the persistent public 
interest in Barbaro (which is brilliant), and as some have noted in the 
comments, he is becoming an inspiration for many and possibly a 'platform' 
for change. Keep the conversation going!

Update 102: Another good night for Bobby last night (wednesday night). Dr. 
Richardson called Michael Matz's early this morning, who then let me know 
as I was coming to the wood chip track. I also ran into Kathy Anderson 
this morning (while on another horse) and asked her about whether a horse 
could live a "pain-free" life with the type of "hardware" Barbaro has in 
place. The short answer was yes! (then I had to disappear on my horse).
updated wednesday, 8:35 AM

Update 101: Just spoke to Peter Brette who visited Barbaro this afternoon 
(wednesday afternoon).  All looks well.  They are all very happy with him, 
he looks bright and well.  Phew, took a while to get that update today.  
On that note, I am traveling to San Francisco tomorrow (coming back on 
sunday), so while I will endevour to get updates as I have them (and will 
be busy on my cell phone trying to get them), the timing might be off a 
little bit.  Another good day!  Many more days to go.  

A little necessary humour (thanks Ernie)

Update 100: The following philly.com article: Barbaro gets 
new cast on shattered leg provides a little more detail on the cast 
change of yesterday (thanks Lisa).  It includes the following excerpt:

Richardson decided to change the cast yesterday, he said, because 
Barbaro's temperature had risen "half a degree" and the horse was showing 
signs that the cast was causing itchiness. It turned out Barbaro had two 
very small rubs on his heel, which wasn't surprising, Richardson said, 
because he has been so active in his stall. The rubs aren't "of any 
consequence," the surgeon said.

Barbaro's overall prognosis remains the same. There is optimism at New 
Bolton, but the crucial indicator is whether the horse can walk pain-free 
when the cast comes off for good, probably several months down the road.

Caught up with Kim Brette in the local shop this morning.  We talked about 
the relief of yesterday's process.  While all visible and outward 
indicators were positive prior to yesterday's removal of the cast, 
problems could have been revealed once the cast was removed.  This was not 
the case of course.  

Update 99: No new news yet this morning at Fair Hill, so like other 
mornings without news we are assuming no news is good news.  Peter Brette 
may get to go and visit Barbaro later today, so if that happens I will get 
an update from Peter.  Miraculous Miss (flipped in the gate in the Acorn) 
is back at Fair Hill and recovering.  It does not appear she sustained any 
long term physical damage, but a few cuts and bruises.
update wednesday, 10:10 am

Update 98: Given the focus on Barbaro today, with his cast replacement, I 
thought I would highlight this article on Dr. Richardson who has clearly 
been in the spotlight lately:  
New Bolton's Dr. Fix-It (thanks Daphne).  A short excerpt:

"He knew it was a very bad injury and he knew immediately it was Barbaro," 
Reid said. "The feeling was indescribable. Being so far away from New 
Bolton, that bothered Dean. He knew the horse was coming his way."

Calls to Richardson's cell phone flooded in. First the equine vets at 
Pimlico, then Roy and Gretchen Jackson. 

Here is an excerpt of a comment from Erica re: the 'power' of Barbaro:

I was so upset, wondering how I'm going to keep from getting depressed and 
how I was going to be ready for my marathon. Then... I thought of Barbaro 
and his great spirit. I thought of how well he has adjusted to a new life, 
a life of no racing. I thought of the messages that have been posted on 
this site describing how Barbaro's attitude has been such a big plus for 
his recovery. Thinking about this made me less sad and less upset.

Finally just to "re highlight" two of the "movies" created by you: Our Prayer for Barbaro and Beautiful 
Barbaro.

Update 97: "Slightly groggy, but happy", as Kathy Anderson said to me in a 
brief call this afternoon.  As far as everyone is concerned, today has 
gone as well as could be hoped for.  Kathy visited with Barbaro this 
afternoon, and she gave him a good scratch (he was apparently a little 
itchy).  She also viewed the radiographs etc. and as noted in the press 
release earlier things are starting to do whatever it is they are supposed 
to do (I am not a vet)!    

Update 96: Out of the Pool!  New Bolton's Press Release: Doctors 
change Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro's cast notes the procedure 
Barbaro endured today.  The following is an excerpt:

Today Chief of Surgery Dean W. Richardson replaced the cast that had been 
on Barbaro's hind leg since surgery on May 21. "His leg looks excellent," 
said Dr. Richardson. "The incision has healed well and judging by the 
radiographs, the graft is opacifying ("taking"). Callus is forming nicely, 
and all of the implants (plate and screws) look unchanged." The cast was 
replaced under general anesthesia, and Barbaro had a very smooth pool 
recovery.
 (thanks Edie!)
To "celebrate", we have just posted a new "movie" Beautiful 
Barbaro on our Fan 
Media page.  Thanks Jayne!

Update 95: The cast replacement did happen today.  A friend called who had 
just spoken to Kathy Anderson, who confirmed that Barbaro had the cast 
replacement this morning.  Everything looks good (radiographs, skin etc.) 
and he is now in the recovery pool, where they will wait for him to come 
out of the anesthesia. 
update 11:30 am

Update 94: It looks like today (tuesday) might be the day they are 
planning to replace Barbaro's cast.  A couple of people close to Barbaro 
have mentioned this, and given the timeline (3+ weeks) it makes sense 
given previous conversations.   Lets keep our fingers crossed for this 
process, as we know there are potential risks with this  necessary step in 
the recovery process (the need for anesthesia, the exact fit of the new 
cast etc).  The process will also allow the vets a much closer look at the 
healing process.
update: 7:50 am, tuesday

Update 93: Just spoke to Peter Brette, who visited Barbaro today (monday).  
Barbaro is doing well, so his status remains the same.  I asked Peter if 
he could investigate the source of the blanket Barbaro was wearing (when 
filmed on ESPN / ABC) with the signatures etc.  It is a blanket from the 
Kentucky Derby.  It has printed on it: 132 Kentucky Derby Winner Barbaro.  
It includes signatures from many people working at Churchill Downs.  

To answer a couple of questions that have come up in the comments lately:
a. We will continue to provide updates as we have them, we hope that is at 
least once a day
b. Barbaro will not be returning to Fair Hill, simply because Fair Hill is 
a training center for horses that are running races etc.  While I am not 
privy to plans for the future, it would not make sense to return to a 
place like Fair Hill.  It makes better sense to return to the owner's 
farm, and then hopefully to a 'stallion station'.

Update 92: Added links to the 'sidebar': Barbaro 
Photo Album, which includes the latest photos from New Bolton, taken 
on Saturday (June 10); and Good luck, 
Barbaro! (Barbara Livingston), many shots from Fair Hill, some simply 
great photographs.

Update 91: The following Thoroughbed Times article: Barbaro 
adjusting to life of constant attention at New Bolton does a good job 
of illustrating how at ease Barbaro is with his injured leg and supporting 
cast.  We know about the early  ear scratching episode, we have heard 
about him rearing up for the state Govenor, but it also appears he likes 
to buck too:

"He's got a big personality, he's feisty," said George D. Widener Hospital 
Executive Director Corinne Sweeney, D.V.M. "I saw him in the stall 
[Thursday morning] with Dr. Richardson [chief surgeon at Penn's veterinary 
school] and he actually was bucking for fun--you know those kind of 
horses--and he is moving around his stall all the time.

ESPN has an article : After 
Triple Crown, Barbaro is still the one to beat (thanks Lisa) where the 
connections of the Preakness and Belmont winners presume Barbaro remains 
the number one three year old, excerpt:

The day after saddling Jazil to victory in the Belmont Stakes, trainer 
Kiaran McLaughlin believes the injured Kentucky Derby winner most likely 
will end up the 3-year-old champion.

And Tom Albertrani, who trains Preakness winner Bernardini, agrees -- at 
least for now.

"Barbaro didn't do anything wrong," McLaughlin said Sunday after watching 
several promising 2-year-olds train over Belmont Park's main track. "He's 
undefeated except for one race. It would be hard to top him, but we'll 
give it our best."

We, of course, would agree!

Update 90: New Bolton's release notes: Beginning 
today, updates on Barbaro's condition will be made weekly, unless there is 
a significant change to report. The release also speculates as to why 
Barbaro has attracted so much public attention, the following is an 
excerpt:

Why do heroic animals inspire such intense emotions? Partly, I think, 
because they perform their acts of heroism for us, and not of their own 
volition. While we may feel intense admiration and concern for human 
warriors and athletes who put themselves at risk of injury or death, our 
sympathy is always tempered by the belief that they were aware of the 
risks and were willing to face them. With animals we cannot shelter 
realistically behind this assumption.

 We will continue to provide updates as we have them from people visiting 
etc.  

Update 89: Much like update 77 we have no official 
word yet this morning re: Barbaro, but presume that since we have not 
heard anything that things are OK. (I asked Michael Matz and his team this 
morning and as of 7:30 am they had not heard anything.)  Would rather post 
this than not post anything, but will endevour to find at least one update 
per day going forward, as things progress.
updated: monday, 8:45 am

Update 88: Just spoke to Peter Brette and he reported Michael (Matz) 
visited Barbaro today (sunday) and all remains well.  Another good day.

Update 87: Great article from mercurynews: A 
tough day for Barbaro's inner circle and followers that offers great 
details of Barbaro's status and routine, his cast, fondness for his 
neighbour, and some skin abrasions caused by the sling used in the surgery 
process.  A few excerpts:

Three weeks after the catastrophic injuries to Barbaro's right hind ankle 
during the first furlong of the Preakness Stakes, the medical team at New 
Bolton is aware of potential setbacks, knowing that decisions on his 
future will be made only after his cast comes off for good. But the mood 
of the place, while still cautious, indicates that Barbaro keeps clearing 
every hurdle.

"He continues to make remarkable improvement, walking in his stall with 
his cast," co-owner Gretchen Jackson said last week.

and

"He's using his cast really well," Adams said. "We're all really thrilled 
with that. It's dry. It's not cracked. It's not worn through at the 
bottom. All of the staining you see is purely superficial, because it's 
about 7 or 8 millimeters thick. Nothing's gotten through."

and

Roy and Gretchen Jackson, who live just down the road in West Grove, come 
by each day to see the horse, as does Matz, who arrived after running a 
horse at Delaware Park on Saturday afternoon.

"I changed a bandage in there, groomed him up a little," said Matz, 
standing just outside the ICU. "It's something that makes him happy."

And that can work both ways. Matz does some grooming each day.

"He was good to us," Matz said, "and we're just trying to return the 
favor."
  

Update 86: No official update this morning (I was not able to catch up 
with the Matz's barn this AM).  I will catch up with Peter Brette later, 
so should have something later in the day.  He did look great yesterday on 
TV.  He appeared bright, happy, and not lame as he was moving about.  I 
really think the coverage of Barbaro yesterday was very good. 

We are now looking at three weeks since the horrific accident, and it 
seems all has gone exceptionally well in those three weeks.   I was 
talking with Kathy Anderson yesterday about the critical issues going 
forward. It seems the next critical 'event' to consider is the changing of 
the cast, which will likely be in the next week or so (my guess based on 
our conversation).  This will allow the vets a closer look at the healing 
process, and will also create some risks itself (replacing the cast; 
Barbaro will need to be anethetized etc.)   So perhaps we should celebrate 
the progress of the three weeks, but wait cautiously for the cast 
replacement process.  

As far as I am aware, Miraculous Miss is on her way back to Fair Hill.  
Some scrapes and bruises are known, but it may be a few days before they 
really know if there are any ill effects from the gate incident in the 
Acorn.
update, Sunday, 9:25 AM

Update 85: Peter Brette decided not to visit Barbaro today given all the 
media at New Bolton.  We, of course, have benefited from the media 
coverage thanks to ESPN and ABC.  He looks great today!

Update 84: If you can, tune into the Belmont TV coverage (ESPN and then 
ABC), they are doing a fantastic job of providing Barbaro updates.   Some 
great shots of him today, rolling in his stall, getting a bath and more.  
I am sure they will repeat this later.  The horse does look great.

Update 83: The ESPN 2 broadcast yesterday included a story on Hoist The 
Flag, and comparisons to Barbaro.  The story noted Hoist The Flag's 
spectacular early career (undefeated, his jockey Jean Cruguet noting he 
was the best he had ridden, and he rode Seattle Slew) and horrific 
accident, prior to the triple crown.  His injuries appear to be similar to 
Barbaro's catastrophic injuries, and the decision to try to save the horse 
was going to involve the need for  truly ground breaking work.  He went on 
to become a (very) successful sire.  The following article (thanks 
Lynette): The 
Dream Lives On  notes the story in the context of War Emblem's 
preparation for the Belmont (2002).  The following are excerpts:

In March 1971, thoroughbred racing was preparing for a coronation. A 
magnificent colt named Hoist the Flag was blazing toward the Kentucky 
Derby, conjuring up images of his grandsire, Triple Crown winner War 
Admiral. "I don't think he'll ever get beat," raved his jockey, Jean 
Cruguet, "unless he falls down." As Hoist the Flag scorched through 
workouts at Belmont Park, onlookers watched with giddy anticipation.

and

Jenny and Reed had done the impossible. Hoist the Flag survived. He would 
become an exceptional sire, bequeathing his talent to generations of 
offspring.

Update 82: Belmont Day which obviously reminds us all of the horrific 
accident of three weeks ago.  Lets hope the Belmont afternoon is great 
racing without incident. I am sure there will be plenty of Barbaro 
coverage this afternoon on ESPN and ABC so we will keep an eye out for it.  
If anyone reading this is attending Belmont today, it would be great to 
post your 'reports' in the comments section, especially surrounding the 
get well card and other Barbaro stuff.   While Fair Hill is not 
represented in the big race, Miraculous Miss, trained by Steve Klesaris, 
is running in the Acorn, so we will be rooting for her.   

Peter Brette is planning to visit Barbaro this afternoon so we will try to 
catch up with an update later.  (Note, Kathy Anderson did not end up 
visiting yesterday, hence no 'report', although she did talk to someone 
who did visit Barbaro, and he was fine.)
`
Update 81: Another good night last night for Barbaro (friday night).  Just 
spoke to Michael Matz who had just received word.  More updates later, but 
have to run and get on two more horses and (hopefully) watch england win 
our first world cup game!
update: saturday, 8:40 am

Update 80: Just saw the Fox News piece, which turned out to be an 
interview with Michael Matz.  The most important aspect of the interview 
(I think) was the first question ... how is Barbaro doing ?  The answer: 
looks good, appropriate weight on the injured leg, vital signs good etc. 
(so that is our most recent update).  I think Michael did a great job, 
especially the answer to the question of whether a horse other than 
Barbaro would have received the same treatment.  It was a short interview, 
but glad to get the update!  

Other quick things: the Bloodhorse has an article: Dr. Bramlage Looks 
Back on Barbaro's Preakness that notes the importance of keeping 
people up to date with the news as it unfolds, which has been an ongoing 
aspect to this entire story:

"I think our ontrack vet program worked great that day," Bramlage noted. 
"The worse thing for viewers is not to have any information. I think we 
were accurate, gave the best information we had, and made people as 
comfortable as possible. It was a bad injury and we had to tell people 
that.

Finally TimesUnion.com has a story: 
Barbaro still on Prado's mind  that highlight's Edgar Prado's 'state 
of mind' as he rides the Belmont:

"When I am in the jockeys' room before the Belmont, my thoughts will be 
with Barbaro," Prado said. "But when I go out and do my business, he will 
stay here, in the jocks' room. After the race I will think about him 
again."

Update 79: New Bolton's press 
release today confirms Barbaro's continuing good progress (its good to 
know no news this AM did mean good news).  It begins:

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro continues to please veterinarians at the 
George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals with his progress on this day 
before the running of the finale of horse racing's triple crown.

The release also notes that TV coverage of the Belmont tomorrow will 
include footage of Barbaro recuperating in his stall at New Bolton.

On another note, I was talking to a friend this afternoon who noted that 
Barclay Tagg (Funny Cide fame, also trainer for the Jackson's, past 
exercise rider of Ruffian in her very early career) mentioned, shortly 
after seeing Barbaro win his first stakes race in Maryland, that he 
considered it the best performance he had seen since Secretariat!

Update 78: Just spoke to Kathy Anderson (Barbaro's Fair Hill vet.)   She 
had not heard anything yet today (Dean Richardson is away) but she is 
visiting this afternoon, so I will call her again later (Kathy assumes all 
is well).   She did mention a few things of interest:

a. Barbaro was actually rearing up during the Pennsylvania Governor's 
visit yesterday (the cast must really work!)
b. The gift yesterday was a gift that was in the works, but certainly 
Barbaro's presence helped 'close' the transaction
c. There is whisper of another gift, thanks to Barbaro (need to explore 
this)

The Fox News piece is still planned for later today (5:45 pm east coast) 
but Kathy is no longer being interviewed for the piece.

Update 77: No official update yet this morning.  I 
spoke to Michael and others, and we suspect Dean (Richardson) may actually 
be away for a couple of days, hence the reason he did not call.  As Anne 
Kelly said, we are assuming no news is good news. (Obviously cannot 
confirm that).  Will update once I hear something more definitive.  On 
another note, more than a few people at fair Hill were excited to see the 
Barbaro piece by Debra Lopez : Our 
Prayer for Barbaro.   Anne  and I were discussing it as we were 
walking to the track (she loved it); Penny (Tim Woolley's wife) asked me 
if I could imagine what it was like watching four women cry (she was 
viewing it from her office I think).  Tim was very impressed (should this 
not be on TV ?) and Kim (Brette) left a comment after watching it with her 
family.  Thanks Debra, your work has touched many people.

Update 76: Just spoke to Peter Brette who visited Barbaro after work today 
(and thus after Ed Rendell).  He reports Barbaro is in great shape, Dr. 
Richardson is very happy with him, and apparently he performed very well 
for the cameras earlier in the day.  Another good day in a long journey.

Update 75: Some new pictures 
of Barbaro from the Governor Ed. Rendell visit.  A nice article from 
The Kennett Paper:  
Barbaro has brought worldwide attention to New Bolton Center notes the 
impact Barbaro has had at New Bolton and the overwhelming response he is 
receiving worldwide:

"I don't think we've ever seen or imagined having a patient that the whole 
world cared about in such a unique way, and I don't think we'll ever see 
it again,' said Corinne R. Sweeney, associate dean for the New Bolton 
Center and the hospital's executive director.

The article notes the types of gifts Barbaro has received, and also the 
openness to sharing his recovery updates,   that has been the approach 
adopted by his owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson.  (We certainly 
appreciate that!)

Update 74: I know many of us have been waiting for the official word from 
New Bolton, here is their latest 
release, June 8, confirming what we heard this morning.  The following 
is an excerpt:

Barbaro's medical team reported that the colt is doing extremely well, and 
has been especially frisky today, displaying interest in nearby mares that 
are also at the Hospital.

The release also includes information about his special visitor (Ed 
Rendell) and a gift:

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell stopped by this morning to give Barbaro 
his good wishes and to personally present Jim Riepe, president of the 
University of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees, with a check for $13.5 
million for the New Bolton Center. The funds will be used toward the 
completion of new medical facilities at the Center, including a new 
isolation building, a colic barn and a chemical digestion facility.


Update 73: Another good night for Barbaro (wednesday night).  Spoke to 
Michael Matz this morning, who then had to check his messages to see if 
Dean (Dr. Richardson) had called.  With the visit of Ed Rendell today, Fox 
News coverage tomorrow and the Belmont on saturday, I am sure there will 
be plenty of (mainstream) media updates, which we will aggregate and post 
here (as well as reports from Peter etc.)  Just a quick 'reminder' about 
our new Barbaro 
Multimedia page.  Debra Lopez's work has already solicited five 
comments, including this:

OMG, that was so beautiful. I had to watch it twice, since the first time 
I had so many tears I couldn't see it.I was wondering who sings that song, 
it's so touching and says everything we are feeling.

update thursday, 8:38 am

Update 72: We have added a Barbaro 
'multi media' page.  We hope to include a variety of media about 
Barbaro on this page, created by his fans.  Thanks Debra Lopez (Wisconsin) 
for the first solicitation.

Update 71: Spoke to Peter Brette this afternoon, and while he was unable 
to visit, the reports seem to remain the same (very positive at this early 
stage).  He plans to visit tomorrow, as does Pennsylvania Gov. 
Ed. Rendell.   Received a cool 'slide show to music' file (not sure 
how best to describe it) of Barbaro.  Will attempt to post it online in 
the next day or so.

Update 70: I caught up with Dr. Kathy Anderson (Barbaro's Fair Hill vet) 
this morning and quizzed her on the cast situation.  I was curious to know 
the 'risks' to the cast replacement and when it was likely to happen, as 
well as the rationale for leaving it on for this length of time.    This 
is what I learned from our conversation:

a. its great the cast has been on so long,  it enables the healing 
process, so the longer he can remain in this cast the better, but its 
likely that after about 3 weeks it may need changing.

b. the risks to the change in cast include the need for the second cast to 
be an exact fit, thus allowing the current healing process to continue, 
and avoiding the potential for rub marks appearing (if the fit is not 
good) which may in turn cause infection.

Kathy also mentioned that Fox News will be doing a story on Barbaro this 
friday, 5:45 eastern.  Kathy will be interviewed for that story.

The following Mercury News story: Barbaro's 
injuries are deja vu for one Kentucky veterinarian notes Nureyev's 
paddock accident which was similarly catastrophic.  Dr. J.D. Howard, the 
surgeon for Nureyev, discusses many of the issues they needed to overcome 
as he discussed the recovery of Nureyev, the following is an excerpt:

But as Howard knows all too well, Barbaro's journey will be a long and 
trying one. He just hopes the colt's connections can witness the same 
miraculous comeback he was a part of some 19 years ago.

"It's going to be a long deal and hopefully there won't be any setbacks," 
Howard said of Barbaro. "One day you think you've got it beat and the day 
after, you want to vomit. You just never know what the next day will 
bring.

"Hopefully, this horse won't have to experience that."

Update 69: Another good night for 'Bobby' last night (tuesday night).  I 
called over to Michael Matz's barn this morning as I was leaving our barn 
and Annie gave the thumbs up.   Barbaro continues to do well.
update: wednesday, 8:35 am

Update 68: Spoke to Peter Brette, after he had just finished evening feed.  
He was unable to visit Barbaro today but spoke to Michael earlier and 
things seem to remain positive.  Its been a week since they stopped the 
antibiotics, which seems to be very positive.  I saw Kim (Brette, Peter's 
wife) in the local shop this morning (Prizzios) and while we discussed how 
positive things are to this point, we also concluded that there really is 
still a very long way to go.  Lets hope things continue as they have 
progressed thus far!

Update 67: The Thoroughbred Times has an excellent article: Matz 
groom Orozco recalls harrowing moments at Preakness that highlights 
the immediate reactions of those at Pimlico at the time of the horrific 
incident.  Clearly we make decisions in fleeting moments that make have 
long term consequences, and perhaps Rafael Orozco's decision to get to 
Barbaro soonest may have helped significantly in the recovery process.  
The following is an excerpt:

"I want to help," Orozco said. "I see that when he passed in front of me 
that his rear right leg was broke and I said, 'Oh my God' and I [ran] out 
there.

"The jockey tried to pull him up, you know, and my only reaction was to 
help Barbaro. I don't want him to fall down and hurt his leg more or 
something."

People doing what they do because that is what they do.

Update 66: The Bloodhorse notes Belmont Patrons 
Can Sign 'World's Largest Get Well Card' for Barbaro.   If you go to 
the Belmont I assume you will be signing the card.  I had planned to go, 
but have since decided to stay at home.  It seems Edgar Prado will be 
kicking off the signing at 10 AM.  In 'opinions' Joe Clancy (who is often 
seen at fair Hill) writes a wonderful piece: More Than We 
Know (thanks Chris) which includes the following excerpt:

Thanks to Barbaro, they know more now. They realize the training center, 
situated within a 5,600-acre state property, houses Thoroughbreds worth 
millions. They also get why the training center succeeds. Who wouldn't 
want to live, work, and play at Fair Hill? Horse, human, deer, bird, 
groundhog, it doesn't matter. When Matz extolled the virtues of open 
fields, hills, and places for a Thoroughbred to train, a reporter asked if 
the workouts were timed.

It is certainly a great place to ride horses, and Joe forgot about the 
Foxes!

Annie (Michael Matz exercise rider) also left a comment last night, which 
included the following excerpt:

Life at the barn still goes on, but we wait every morning for the report 
from New Bolton. At around 6.30am Its always a welcome relief to hear he 
is doing so well. I know it makes my job a little easier knowing the Big 
Horse has gotten another night under his belt [so to speak].

Update 65: Another good night for Barbaro last night (monday night).  Took 
me a while to get the update this morning, but thanks to Annie for helping 
me get it (from Michael, from Dr. Dean Richardson).
update tuesday, 8:35 am

Update 64: Just spoke to Peter Brette, who visited Barbaro again today 
(monday afternoon).  Another positive report, so it looks like another 
good day for Barbaro!  This is good news for all of us, but specifically 
those who are finding it hard to focus on anything else ... even their 
pending wedding (Shannon: comment 139)

Update 63: The new Bolton Center press release confirms that Barbaro 
is continuing to do well.  The release also discusses gifts from 
unlikely sources:

Concern and support for Barbaro continues to pour in, often from 
unexpected sources. After seeing a photo of Barbaro lowered in our special 
equine recovery pool last month, the Notre Dame Masters Swim team --in 
support of a fellow athlete--made a donation for maintenance of the pool.

The release then goes on to discuss the importance of the recovery pool in 
the process of bringing a patient out of anesthesia without injury.
Yesterday, the Bloodhorse provided an update: Barbaro Walks 
Stall, Munches Huge Carrots which included the following excerpt:

The colt remains on stall rest and spent parts of Sunday walking around 
the stall, peering out the window and eating carrots that were sent as a 
gift.

"Each carrot was almost equivalent to that small bag you buy in the 
grocery store," said Dr. Corinne Sweeney, executive director of the 
hospital.



Update 62: Barbaro continues to do well, he had another good night last 
night (sunday night).  I met Michael Matz's 'set' coming back from the 
track this morning, and received the good news.   On a (somewhat) 
unrelated note, as I was jogging by the 3/16ths of the main track first 
set (6:05 am) I saw a fox (vixen) and what appeared to be three cubs 
playing.  
update: monday, 7:15 am

Update 61: The Bloodhorse has a nice article on Peter Brette: Assistant Trainer 
Brette Maintains His Composure in Triumph and Tragedy.  The article 
discusses Peter's career before working for Michael Matz (via Dubai), and 
the special relationship he and Michael have developed.   The following 
excerpt notes the story of the two soldiers who delivered the american 
flag to the wounded warrior, we mentioned in update 
52 as well as the special relationship between Peter and Michael.

Brette still can't believe all the attention the colt's injury and 
recuperation has received around the world. "It's unbelievable how many 
people he's touched," he said. "Some soldiers came the other day with an 
American flag that was sent for him from Iraq. And that's over at New 
Bolton now. They flew 19 hours from Iraq and drove another three hours 
just so he could have this flag."

It is rare to find the kind of relationship Matz and Brette have had in 
only a little over a year together. During that time they have formed a 
special bond and trust that has enabled the soft-spoken and low-key Matz 
to go about his business with the serenity and peace of mind that befits 
his personality.

Update 60: No new news to report for sunday evening.  Spoke to Peter and 
Kim Brette late afternoon, and they were busy painting their deck.  They 
had not visited Barbaro today, but certainly would have heard something if 
there was different news to report.  Two weeks have now passed since the 
surgery, lets hope things continue as they have done so thus far.

Update 59: Barbaro had another good night last night (saturday night).  I 
spoke to Martine (exercise rider of Michael Matz) on the track this 
morning, who gave me the good news;  that Michael had received another 
positive report from Dr. Richardson.  I later saw Michael who confirmed 
the news.
update, sunday 8:10 am

Update 58: Peter Brette visited Barbaro again today (saturday afternoon) 
and reports that he is doing very well. 

 It seems there have been three significant 'events / decisions' this 
week, Barbaro's second week post surgery:
1. He was taken off antibiotics early this week (reportedly tuesday). 
2. The decision to remove his cast early this week has been postponed to a 
day-to-day situation.  This is a positive sign.
3. He has had at least two baths this week!

We have added a couple more Barbaro pictures, 
taken (by Jennifer Duffy) the saturday after the Kentucky Derby.  They 
show Peter Brette observing Barbaro, after he had trained. 

Update 57: A couple of recent stories touch on the impact Barbaro is 
having on many people.  Author J Carson Black wrote this story: The Hero's Journey 
which starts with the story of the American soldiers delivering their flag 
to Barbaro which we reported in Update 52.  
Clearly that story has impressed many.  The Hero's Journey includes the 
following excerpt:

Nothing was spared in saving this horse. People waited and watched and 
prayed and hoped and cried.

The story is far from over, but we are more hopeful every day. Why? 
Because this horse is creating a miracle with every day he lives and 
thrives. By being the individual he is, by accepting his fate with grace 
and a good nature, by taking care of himself. 

This story is also included as one of the comments below.  

Randy Moss, writing for the NTRA has a story: Barbaro 
injury reveals racing's heart that includes the following excerpt 
while trying to analyze the public's overwhelming response to Barbaro:

The outpouring of support for Barbaro has been dramatic and even 
perplexing to some.

One newspaper columnist wrote that Barbaro briefly became the world's most 
popular sports figure "who is not a female racecar driver named Danica."

Another theorized that Barbaro's plight resonated more powerfully than if 
Barry Bonds had stumbled and broken his leg while rounding the bases after 
hitting home run No. 715.

Update 56: Barbaro had 
another good night last night (friday night).   I spoke to Michael Matz who had 
heard from Dr. Dean Richardson this morning.  It seems he is doing very 
well at this stage, and everyone is very happy with his progress.
update: 7:55 am, saturday morning

Update 55: Just spoke with Peter Brette who visited Barbaro today (friday 
afternoon).  He is still doing very well, they are all very pleased with 
him.  He is in good form and had another bath today (which he enjoyed).  I 
was hoping to go with Peter today (as noted earlier) but some things came 
up so hopefully sometime later next week.

Update 54:  The Bloodhorse has a nice story on Dr. Dean Richardson: With Famous Equine 
Patient, Barbaro's Vet Gains Celebrity Status, while Delaware Online 
covers his Fair Hill vet, Dr. Kathy Anderson: Fair 
Hill vet pulls for Barbaro.  A quote from each:
On Richardson:

He knew without asking that he would be the surgeon to repair Barbaro. He 
had worked before with trainer Michael Matz, who lives down the road, as 
do owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson. He also knew he didn't have to rush 
back.

"Roy Jackson offered to send a chartered jet to pick me up," he said. "I 
told him he didn't have to."

A suddenly lame horse needs time to figure out that something is wrong, so 
it doesn't panic after surgery when confronted with being unable to stand 
normally, Richardson said. He operated the next day.
Jackson credits Richardson with saving his horse's life.

"I just don't know if any other doctor could have done the same thing," 
Jackson said. "He's done a lot of good things over the years. He just 
didn't get this kind of recognition." 

On Anderson:

Matz and Brette value Anderson's role in their racing operation.

"She is just very good and always on the same page with us," Matz said. 
"She takes care of all our horses and was wonderful with Barbaro."

The Anderson article refers to a journal at the end, that is reproduced 
here as update: 14

Update 53: New 
Bolton Center's release today confirms Barbaro continues to do well:

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro continues to improve daily as he recovers 
from a shattered hind leg sustained at the Preakness on May 20. "I'm very 
pleased with the progress Barbaro is making," said Chief of Surgery Dean 
W. Richardson. "Everything is fine."

They also include a q and a, with the following questions:

1.  In addition to hay, what, if anything, is he being fed?  Do you have a 
special diet for cases like his?
2.  How do you keep water from entering the cast while a horse is 
awakening from anesthesia?
3.  Can he be groomed, or would that be too stimulating?
4.  What size is his stall?
5.  If he survives this ordeal and it is eventually deemed safe for him to 
be in a paddock, how would his leg be protected and supported? Will his 
hoof touch the ground in the normal position?

Update 52: Barbaro has clearly touched many people, 
you only need to read a few of the comments on this site to realize this 
(and please keep them coming).  The following story is further testament 
to the reach of those who really care.  

Kathy Anderson (Barbaro's Fair Hill vet) was visiting Barbaro on wedneday 
at New Bolton Center.  As she was hanging out with him she heard an 
'entourage' coming.  It was two soldiers, from Fort Benning, GA (or at 
least that is where she thinks they were from) coming to present Barbaro 
with an American flag.  This flag had been flown in Iraq for nine hours 
and eleven minutes.  It was then flown over to the US for these soldiers 
to present to Barbaro: to honour the wounded warrior Barbaro!

Update 51: Another good night last night (thursday night) for Barbaro.  
Spoke to Michael Matz and others in the barn this morning. 
update: Friday 7:40 am, Fair Hill Clockers Stand 

Update 50: Great article from twincities.com: Derby 
winner is just a horse in a stall which includes a really interesting 
timeline to Barbaro's day (thanks Gloria).  A quick excerpt:

9-11a: Visitors show up, including owners Gretchen and Roy Jackson, Matz 
and Brette. Prado visited Tuesday.

10 a.m. - Visual check.

11 a.m. - Grooming.

12 p.m.: Receives abbreviated exam - heart, lungs, GI tract, and legs 
checked ... walks around stall ... fresh straw and wood shavings put down 
in stall ... Antibiotics were given first two weeks, but were stopped 
Tuesday ... medications administered as needed.

It appears another milestone was reached on  tuesday, ending the 
antibiotics.
We have also added a couple more Barbaro pictures.

Update 49: Spoke to Peter Brette late afternoon, and while he did not 
visit today, presumes all is well based on what he had heard for the day.  
There is a chance, all being well, I may get to visit Barbaro tomorrow 
with Peter.  

Last year I was in the starting gate schooling a horse, when the trainer 
of the horse I was riding (Chloe Carroll)  turned to Michael Matz and 
asked him if he had any Derby horses.  He said he might have a couple, a 
Fusaichi Pegasus and one running at Laurel that following weekend 
(November 19).  Can you guess the latter ?

Update 48: A nice article about Peter Brette from the Thoroughbred Times: 
Visits 
with Barbaro good therapy for anguished Brette (thanks Lisa).  We have 
been fortunate to hear directly from Peter after his Barbaro visits.  A 
couple of excerpts from the article:

Regular trips to the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center and 
Barbaro's continued progress on a long, perilous road to recovery have 
been therapeutic for Brette, whose attachment to the stable star grew 
stronger as they traveled on an extended road trip from their home base at 
Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Maryland to Southern Florida to 
Central Kentucky.

and...

"Hopefully, we have a happy ending," Brette said. "He certainly captured 
the hearts and imaginations of many people."


Update 47: New Bolton Center's press 
release today confirms Barbaro's excellent condition:

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro's condition is excellent today, according to 
Chief of Surgery Dean W. Richardson, "He looks great and everything is 
fine."

The press release also goes on to discuss his breeding prognosis if he 
does recover from this tragic accident.  Many have asked if we plan to 
continue providing updates.  The short answer is: absolutely.  As 
long as we are able to get direct access to updates from those close to 
the situation, we will publish them as we know them.

Update 46: Barbaro had another good night last night (wednesday night.)  
Dr. Richardson called Michael Matz with the news as usual this morning.  
update: 7:35 am thursday AM, Fair Hill Clockers Stand

Update 45: Neat video from NBC10.com 
that shows Barbaro moving around and his comfort putting weight on his 
injured leg.  The article also discusses the "plans" for the cast:

Dr. Dean Richardson said Wednesday that he is continuing his daily 
assessment of Barbaro's cast on his right hind leg. Barbaro continues to 
do well, and his vital signs and appetite remain good.

Richardson will decide each morning whether to change the fiberglass cast 
that runs from Barbaro's right hock to hoof. It could happen soon, or in 
several weeks.


Update 44: Just spoke to Peter Brette and Barbaro continues to do very 
well.  He visited him again this afternoon (wednesday afternoon) and said 
Barbaro is in great form, he looked really well and is very happy.  He 
could not be doing better at this stage.  Please continue to leave your 
thoughts, comments and wishes.

Update 43: We have added more Barbaro pictures, 
taken the tuesday before the Preakness (Jennifer Duffy).  I wanted to take 
this chance to thank Eliza at Olive Tree Media for her work 
on this site.  She designed the site, is supporting it while we are 
covering Barbaro (which has meant changing servers and other technical 
things while the traffic has 
increased substantially), and uploads all our images (way beyond the 
tech. capabilities of me).  I also wanted to mention that ESPN was at Fair 
Hill this morning.  I think they were doing some coverage on Barbaro's 
little brother, but certainly they were covering Michael Matz's string.

Update 42: Sheila asks (in the comments) when the recovery moves  beyond a 
day-to-day situation.  Part of  answer seems to appear in the Daily racing 
Form's coverage of 
yesterday's visit of Edgar Prado.

"Catastrophic infections usually occur within 10 to 14 days," Richardson 
said. "Laminitis, or a failure of fixation, could occur at a later date. 
There's no question that things are much better, but he's still a long, 
long way from being discharged.

"To be perfect, you have to fuse the fetlock and pastern. There has to be 
no infection. All these bad things could still happen. But bone is the 
only tissue in the body that can heal and be truly stronger. He won't have 
normal mobility, but the bone will be very strong."

Thus it seems we are still in the former period (10 days post surgery) but 
with only a few days to go.   

Update 41: Another good night for Barbaro (tuesday night).  I galloped 
past Michael Matz on the track and asked him how Barbaro did last night, 
and he replied: "Everything is excellent".   
update 7:40 am, Fair Hill Clockers Stand.

Update 40: Spoke with Peter Brette tonight (tuesday evening).  He decided 
not to visit Barbaro today given how busy things were likely to be with 
Edgar's visit and the media conference.  We chatted about the current 
state of Barbaro and the importance of remembering that while everything 
thus far has been very positive, it is still a 50 - 50 sitiuation 
(or 51 - 49 as noted in the press conference today.)  Clearly the decision 
not to remove the cast today is very positive, but there is still along 
way to go.   I also saw Peter on Barbaro's little half brother, by Quiet 
American, this morning on the horsepath coming back from the track.   

Update 39: Photos of Edgar 
Prado with Barbaro.(thanks Lisa) from his visit today (tuesday). Also,  
I keep meaning to add a link to the photos, taken by Barbara Livingston, 
of 
Barbaro training at Fair Hill.   We met Barbara during her brief visit 
to Fair Hill.

Update 38: The Bloodhorse (Steve Haskin) has an excellent update on his 
condition from today: Barbaro 
Recovering; Jockey Prado Visits.  As we noted earlier, the cast has 
yet to be removed.  From the Bloodhorse article:

Richardson said May 30 that the first nine days have gone incredibly well. 
"He's actually done far better than we could have ever hoped, so far," 
Richardson said. "He's perfectly comfortable and all his vital signs are 
normal. His blood work is good, and basically, at this moment, he could 
not look any better in terms of his medical condition. His prognosis is 
much better than it was, but he still has a long way to go.

"When we change his cast will literally be a day-by-day decision. Right 
now, this horse is walking so well on his limb, he willingly rests his 
left hind, and he he's very active walking around his stall. So, my 
inclination at this point is go day-by-day. There's no compelling reason 
to remove the cast. If he continues to look as good as he does he can 
continue to wear this cast for several more weeks. It has been a 
surprisingly good-fitting cast considering I felt there would be a little 
bit of loosening or swelling above the cast, neither of which occurred."

Originally, Richardson had stated that Barbaro's chances of recovery were 
50-50. He jokingly said it is "now officially 51%. "Seriously, every day 
that goes by is a big day. In terms of some of the complications, certain 
ones are more likely to rear their head in the earlier stages of the 
convalescence, such as infection. Laminitis or failure to fixation both 
can occur at later dates. There's no question that things are much better 
now in terms of prognosis, but he's still a long, long way from being 
discharged from the hospital."

The article also notes the special shoe that Barbaro now has, as well as 
his mental condition as follows:

As for Barbaro's mental condition, Richardson said the colt "couldn't look 
a whole lot better in that regard. He's very active in his stall, and when 
a horse walks by the outside window, he's peeking out there trying to see 
who it is. If you were to look at this horse, I believe an objective 
person would not believe that this horse looks depressed. Michael Matz and 
(owners) Roy and Gretchen Jackson have been here every day and have looked 
the horse over, and I think they'd agree that he's bright and happy."

The article also includes some speculation as to the cause of the injury.   
Edgar Prado is also quoted in the article, some of his quote follows:

"I'm still heartbroken, and I will be for a long time, but I definitely 
feel a lot better after seeing him," Prado said. "It's been tough to 
concentrate on anything this past week, but I had to go forward. I just 
wanted to come visit him to show him I still care for him. He looks very 
bright and strong. He even wanted to get out of his stall. All we can do 
now is pray for him to have a speedy recovery and for him to enjoy the 
rest of his life.


Update 37: Another good night (monday night) for Barbaro.  I spoke briefly 
with Michael Matz this morning who had spoken with Dr. Dean Richardson.  
As I remarked how remarkable it is to another of his exercise riders, he  
commented how if any horse could pull through this, it would be Barbaro 
... he mentioned he was like a 9 year old jumper in terms of his 
temperament, which obviously bodes well.  It seems they may not remove and 
replace the cast today as previously thought, but this will be confirmed 
no doubt via the press conference scheduled later this morning.  It seems 
he is doing so well at this point, it only makes sense to keep the cast on 
for a while longer.   As we mentioned yesterday, Edgar Prado is on his way 
to visit Barbaro.  While we won't be attending the press conference (of 
course) we will link to the media reports as soon as we see them.
update 7:40 am, Fair Hill Clockers Stand.

Update 36: Around the media:  the following article from The 
Baltimore Sun: Journey longer than 1 3/16 miles is a vivid description 
of the events that followed the Preakness  through to Barbaro's surgery.  
It reminds me a little of Kathy Anderson's e-mail we published in edit 14 
(below).  The Daily 
Racing Form: Matz: 'I'm just sad for racing' describes what we might 
have missed as a result of this tragic incident.  It also covers the 
overwhelming response the Jackson's have received from well wishers 
everywhere (I know Peter Brette showed them a print out of this site); and 
a comment from an exercise rider at Fair Hill:

"He was shook up. He said, 'The Lord doesn't give you anything you can't 
handle.' Then he rode away a couple of strides, stopped, looked back and 
said, 'He must think you're an awfully tough guy.' "

Lastly Lisa Leach posted the following comment below:

From the Barbaro page at horsehats.com

Dear Barbaro Fans and Supporters:As his owners we would like to be able to 
reply personally to each of you for your kind messages and thoughts. There 
have been so many good wishes that it is impossible for us to do so. We 
want you to know that your thoughts have been a strength to Barbaro, 
Michael Matz, Peter Brett, Edgar Prado, his groom, the whole vet staff 
that is caring for him, and ourselves. The out pouring has warmed all our 
hearts and we thank all of you. Please continue your thoughts and prayers 
for Barbaro as he continues to heal. Sincere thanks:, Gretchen & Roy 
Jackson

Update 35: The Bloodhorse confirms what we have already reported: Prado Scheduled to 
Make First Visit to Barbaro; Horse Continues to do Well.  They also 
note the planned removal of the cast this week:

Surgeon Dean Richardson expects this week to remove Barbaro's cast long 
enough to examine the colt's shattered right hind leg, which is being held 
together with a plate and 27 screws.

"Changing the cast ... is significant because then he'll be able to take a 
look at the leg and see how it's healing," said Gail Luciani, spokeswoman 
for the University of Pennsylvania's veterinary school.

Update 34: Peter Brette just called, and visited Barbaro this afternoon 
(monday afternoon).  He reports that they remain very happy with Barbaro's 
progress at New Bolton.  Peter says he is in really good form, and 
basically just everyone is really happy.  The cast may or may not come off 
tomorrow (and be replaced).  It seems there will be a press conference 
about 9 am tomorrow at New Bolton Center, coinciding with the visit of 
Edgar Prado.  

Update 33: We have added more Barbaro pictures all 
taken the tuesday before the Preakness, by Jennifer Duffy.  As with any of 
the other images, feel free to take them if you like.  I think these new 
pictures are the best we have.  I spoke with Edgar Prado's agent this 
morning who confirmed Edgar's visit with Barbaro for tomorrow (tuesday).  

Update 32: Another good night (sunday night) for Barbaro.  Michael Matz 
heard from Dr. Richardson this morning.  As Anne Kelly (one of Michael's 
exercise riders) said this am, he's truly amazing, truly truly amazing (or 
something like that, we were passing each other on the horsepath at Fair 
Hill).
posted monday, 7:10 am

Update 31: Spoke to Peter Brette later today (sunday) and all looks good 
for the day.  Just wanted to thank Michael Matz, Kathy Anderson, Chuck, 
Peter Brette, Kim Brette, Anne Kelly and Michelle Matz (and likely I have 
missed someone) who have been very willing, in these very tough times, to 
provide timely updates when I have called, met them on the horse path at 
Fair Hill, or met them by their truck as they are at other barns examining 
horses (vets).  Their efforts to provide 'transparency' to this situation, 
which seems to have captured the imagination of many throughout the 
country, has been awesome.  Only with their support, are we able to 
provide timely updates.

Update 30: Another good night (saturday night) for Barbaro.  Spoke with 
Michael Matz this morning who had spoken with Dr. Dean Richardson.  I also 
spoke with Michelle Matz, Michael's oldest daughter, who works for 
Michael.  She visited Barbaro yesterday afternoon at about 3 pm and said 
how well he was doing.   It has now been a week, lets keep hoping the news 
continues to be positive.  It does still remain very much day to day at 
this point. 
posted sunday, 8:20 am.

Update 29: Adding a few more pictures of Barbaro.  
A few more will be added tomorrow (sunday).  These were taken the tuesday 
before the Preakness by Jennifer Duffy.

Update 28: The Jackson's visited Barbaro today (I think likely everyday 
actually) and then visited Michael Matz's barn.  Peter (Brette) reports 
that they said how well Barbaro is doing, so today looks like another good 
day (saturday).

Update 27: Barbaro had another good night last night (friday night).  I 
spoke with Michael Matz and Kathy Anderson this morning.  It seems Edgar 
Prado is planning to visit him tuesday next week, all being well.  He 
received a visit from the President of the University of Pennsylvania  
yesterday (of course along with Peter, Kim, Eduardo and whoever else 
visited).  New Bolton Center is part of UPenn.  
update: 8:41 am Friday morning

Update 26: Kim Brette, Peter's wife, reports on their afternoon visit to 
Barbaro (Bobby) the 
fifth comment.  A quick excerpt:

After meeting with Dr Richardson, he took us to see the champ, he looked 
great, happy, in no pain at all, I asked him how many mints he was allowed 
he said as many as he would like, we didn't go overboard, no sugar 
overload...he is a three year old and those of us with the human version 
know what too much sugar does.

One of the most touching things was how Eduardo and him were, Eduardo 
quietly walked in and looked every part of his body over, started picking 
the straw out of his tail, brushing his mane and stroking him, he truly 
cares about him and I think he loves going there to make sure his boy is 
okay.

Update 25: Peter Brette just called after visiting Barbaro again today 
(friday afternoon).  He reports that Barbaro is doing as well as can be 
expected, great appetite, looks bright, perhaps a little bored.  Obviously 
we still have a long way to go, but Barbaro continues to do as well as can 
possibly be expected.

Update 24: The Bloodhorse's report today again confirms Barbaro is doing 
well.  They also added some information about a special shoe applied 
to the injured leg, quote:

The latest report about Barbaro's condition included information about a 
special three-part, glue-on horseshoe, designed and patented by the 
Farrier Service at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary 
Medicine, that was applied to the hoof on Barbaro's injured leg.

"One of the complications that can occur following leg fractures in horses 
is the risk of developing laminitis in the opposite foot from bearing 
extra weight," said New Bolton Center farrier Rob Sigafoos. "To reduce 
this risk, we applied a supportive shoe to Barbaro's left hind foot 
immediately following the surgery for the fracture of his right hind leg."

Sigafoos explained that the shoe is designed to reduce the risk of 
laminitis in several ways:

By supporting the sole of the left hind foot;

By containing materials that minimize weakening and possible infection of 
the sole;

By being built up to extend the length of the left hind foot, which 
compensates for the additional length of the right hind limb created by 
the cast.

Update 23: New Bolton Center's press 
release confirms what we heard this morning:

As of 11:00 a.m. EST, Barbaro's condition is excellent. "He looks good, 
everything is fine and his appetite is particularly good," according to 
Dr. Dean Richardson, Chief of Surgery.

Thanks Janet for the update.  Also, to ensure we keep all the comments we 
have received (I have no idea what this system allows) we have created a 
separate blog entry with the first 240 comments, its at Barbaro: 
Your Overwhelming Response.  It makes GREAT reading.  Please continue 
to add comments, thoughts and good wishes to the comments 
section of this entry.

Update 22: Barbaro had another good night last night (thursday night).  It 
does remain a day-to-day situation.  As far as we know (from a couple of 
conversations with those close to the situation) they will plan to remove 
(and replace) the cast sometime early next week, all being well (lets 
hope!)  This will give them a chance to take some radiographs and make 
some assessments.  Your thoughtful 
comments are a relief for all those following the situation, thanks 
for sharing, and please continue to do so.
posted friday morning, 7:40 AM

Update 21: Peter Brette (Barbaro's exercise rider) visits Barbaro each day 
after the morning work.  He just called (thursday afternoon) to report 
Barbaro is in good form.  Everybody is happy with him.  He is bright, was 
glad to eat the grass Peter fed to him.  All in all everything is as well 
as it could be expected.

Update 20: New Bolton Centers 3 PM update reiterates 
what we learned this morning.  As it states:

According to Dean Richardson, Chief of Surgery, Barbaro is progressing 
nicely, has totally normal vial signs and is in excellent condition.

Jennifer Duffy took  
these Barbaro pictures the saturday between the Derby and the 
Preakness at Fair Hill.  Feel free to take what you may want.

Update 19: Barbaro had another good night last night (wednesday night).  I 
saw Michael Matz this morning who had just received a call from Dr. 
Richardson.
from the clocker's stand, Fair Hill, 8:30 am thursday.

Update 18: Peter Brette (Barbaro's exercise rider and Michael Matz 
assistant trainer)  has added a comment of thanks for all your support 
(comment 217) ... and you will see Barbaro has a nickname: Bobby!  We have 
also added some pictures of the good 
wishes displayed outside the New Bolton Center (we took these today).  
Feel free to take these and any other of the Barbaro pictures.

Update 17: Dr. Kathy Anderson (his Fair Hill vet) went to visit Barbaro 
this afternoon (wednesday) with Eduardo, Barbaro's groom.  True to form, 
they witnessed Barbaro attempting to scratch his left ear with his left 
hind.  He is very comfortable, and for the most part resting his injured 
leg (which is appropriate).  His stall is surrounded by good wishes, most 
of which come from the neighboring school, Upland Country Day School, 
where Muchael Matz's children, Lucy, Robert and Alex attend.  There was a 
bag of freshly cut grass by his stall which Kathy and Eduardo could use to 
feed Barbaro.  Of course Barbaro was very happy to see Eduardo.  The 
bottom line --- all we have heard has been confirmed first hand, he is 
doing very well.

Update 16: The New Bolton Center press release today, 3 pm states 
Barbaro's condition 
is excellent. He is stable and happy, according to Chief of Surgery, Dean 
W. Richardson. 

Update 15: The bloodhorse reports Barbaro is continuing to do well, napping, laying 
down etc.  NTRA has a complete transcript of the May 23 press 
conference.  Ann Kelly, an exercise rider for Michael Matz, left a 
comment below (number 210) which describes the mood of the barn.  Here is 
a quick excerpt:

The thing about Barbaro is that he loves all the attention. You will 
notice in his photographs he is always looking at the camera. He knows he 
is a big handsome horse and he knows how to work it to his advantage. I 
rode him a few times when he came to the barn first as a 2 year old. He 
always had that great spirit he shows in this races. Jig jogging out of 
the barn before he trained.

We plan to try to get others involved with Barbaro to comment.  Finally 
here is another Barbaro web-site: GetWellBarbaro.  Keep the 
comments coming!

Update 14: The following is an e-mail Dr. Kathy 
Anderson (Barbaro's Fair Hill vet and source for much information we have 
been releasing) sent to her friends sunday night about the events 
surrounding the Preakness.  She has given us permissions to reproduce it 
here.  Apologies for any typos, they are mine, not Dr. Anderson's.

Thank you to all of you for your empathy and concern.  Thought I would 
summarize the events of the day from my perspective at Fair Hill ...

Saturday dawned a beautiful crisp sunny May day and in schizophrenic style 
vacillated between blustery threats of rain and tranquil sunshine for the 
remainder of the day.  Anxious anticipation prevailed at Fair Hill as 
people went about their work in order to be done to enjoy an afternoon of 
quality racing and what would be another page in the history of the quest 
for the Triple Crown.  We at EVC had been cajoled into another "party" at 
the office to ensure the luck that had prevailed for the Derby --- 
naturally we agreed to do our part ... plus some --- this time we would 
have satellite coverage and better sound.  About 200+ Fair Hill horse 
people crowded into the area in the late afternoon bringing their own 
refreshments and a pot luck array of edibles.  We watched proudly as Fair 
Hill Training Center's best was brought to national television--- great 
film footage and interviews with Michael Matz, Peter Brette and Barbaro 
filled our hearts with pride.  Post time arrived --- Barbaro's premature 
break from the gate surprised us --- with another horse that would have 
cost him the race but we believed that our Barbaro could overcome this 
altercation.  Surprise turned to shock as our hometown hero bobbled and 
hobbled not 1/8th mile into the race --- shock became horror as we 
realized the seriousness of Barbaro's gait.  The race was run but we did 
not see it for our hearts were crying out for Barbaro to stay upright and 
be able to leave the racecourse in one piece.

Those close to Barbaro's team circled together for moral support --- Peter 
Brette's wife Kim and 2 yr old son Nicholas, Sue Danner --- Michael's 
right hand person for many years, Grey --- new to the team, grooms and 
riders alike not able to believe that history had taken this turn.  My 
cell phone begins to ring incessantly ... Dr. Dean Richardson calling 
within minutes from Florida, Dr. Scott Palmer calling, Michael Matz 
calling for Dr. Palmer's cell phone number --- and so it went.  Barbaro 
transported off course back to the barn, the press reprimanded and forced 
back to allow digital radiographs to record the damage.  Dr. Palmer 
reviewing the rads and discussing with the Jacksons and Michael the only 
viable treatment option of immediate transport to the New Bolton Center 
--- 1.5 hours away.  A police escort up Rte 95 w/ helicopter media 
coverage overhead (reminiscent of OJ Simpson's famous drive) --- banners 
hung from 95 overpasses "God Bless Barbaro" "Pray for Barbaro"

Sue Danner and I left the deflated and rapidly departing group at Fair 
Hill to meet the ambulance at the ICU at New Bolton.  The media had 
arrived before us --- security wrestled with order.  Barbaro's approach 
was signaled by the helicopter overhead.  Dr. Nunamaker (hospital chief) 
and Dr. Barb Dollap Greeted us and showed me the radiographs that had been 
e-mailed ahead --- the fractures were catastrophic ... a lateral condylar 
fracture that teetered on the verge of breaking the skin, a fractured 
sesamoid indicating significant soft tissue disruption to the attached 
suspensory, and a completely shattered pastern bone (P1) --- clearly it 
would take a miracle for Barbaro, the warrior, to survive this.

The ambulance backed right up to the ICU and Barbaro carefully maneuvered 
his way from the trailer to the stall --- he had been bandaged and 
splinted from above the hock down to his foot to encase the injury in the 
Kimsey brace.  Careful examination indicated that he could benefit from 
longer splints over the cannon bone region --- these were promptly applied 
as he was hooked up to IV fluids and offered feed and water.  Dr. Palmer 
and his wife arrived and continued their moral support and veterinary 
consultation.  Within the hour Barbaro had urinated, had a drink and was 
eating "voraciously" (as described by Dr. Dollap).  Barbaro was alive and 
probably as well as could be expected under the circumstances.  Michael 
made a release to the press regarding his condition and the evening drew 
to a close.  I took Barbaro's groom Eduardo back to Fair Hill, Sue took 
Michael home to rejoin his family and Peter returned to his waiting 
family.  

Sunday --- a call from Dr. Dallap set the hopeful tone of the day.  
Barbaro had been eating "voraciously" all night and managed to lie down 
and get up several times without further damage to his leg.  He appeared 
stable and ready to go to surgery.  Dr. Richardson arrived late morning 
and surgery commenced --- many hours later I get the call from Dr. 
Richardson that Barbaro is in the recovery pool and the surgery has been 
completed utilizing bone plates, screw fixation, cancellous bone implants 
and a cast over the entire repair to protect and support the injured area.  
I sob tears of relief that Barbaro is still with us and tears of sadness 
for what might have been ... then I start the task of letting all his 
concerned human friends know the "good" news --- tomorrow is another day.  

Update 13: Barbaro had another good night last night (tuesday night).  All 
signs are positive, although we have to keep in mind these are still very 
early days.  Its good to see the 'ear scratch' from yesterday, putting 
weight on the right hind has to help reduce the chances of Laminitis.
udated 8:15 am wednesday, clockers stand, Fair Hill


Update 12: New Bolton Center's 3 pm press release confirms Barbaro is 
progressing well.  They will release a press release each day at 3pm, 
or when conditions warrant.  We will blog them here.   This press release 
also includes some links for donations, and 
an e-mail form to send well 
wishes to Barbaro.  We do encourage you to add your comments and 
thoughts below.  Sharing your thoughts and reading others' thoughts on 
this tragedy can be very helpful for all (and we will endevour to get them 
all to the Barbaro team.)

Update 11: Bloodhorse confirms our earlier report that Barbaro is doing very 
well.  Snippets from Dr. Dean Richardson include:
"Barbaro is doing very well. He's actually better today than he was 
even yesterday, and he was pretty good yesterday," 
...
"He's walking very well on the limb. He's got absolutely normal vital 
signs today: his temperature, pulse, respiration attitude, and appetite. 
We have no shortage of volunteers to handpick him grass, so he's grazing 
at a distance. He's doing very well."

Update 10: Kathy Anderson (his Fair Hill vet) asked me if I wanted the 
good news this morning ... so that was a welcome relief.  Barbaro ate well 
last night (monday night), his temperature is normal and he is a little 
'fiesty' (he is trying to scratch his left ear with his left hind leg)!  
Its a long road ahead for sure, but these are positive signs. 
update: from Fair Hill Clockers stand, 7:43 AM. 

Update 9: Well it seems Barbaro has survived the first 24 hours post 
surgery, which has to be a critical mile stone.  While we have not heard 
anything official, it is good to know that this 'mile stone' has been 
passed.  Recovery is fraught with risk, but here's hoping he can make it 
work.  New Bolton Center are 
offering updates, the most recent from today 
rehashes what has already been reported.  Their next update will be 3 pm 
tomorrow, May 23.

Update 8: Bloodhorse reports Barbaro is Bright 
and Frisky One Day After Surgery.  This is clearly a good sign, but as 
Richardson emphasized in the article, he is 50-50 at this point to make 
it.  The article highlights the two issues of concern: infection from the 
surgery, and laminitis.   It will be 
a long road ahead before we know whether he can make it.

Update 7: Dr. Richardson visited Barbaro at 5:30 am.  He is hosting a 
press conference at 8 am.  Seemingly all is well so far.  He is 
comfortable, is eating well and did well through the night.  One thing not 
picked up by the press yesterday, Barbaro literally dragged his handlers 
back to the stall after surgery yesterday.  If attitude and disposition 
have anything to do with it ...  All at Fair Hill are in a very sombre 
mood.  We are hoping, keeping our fingers crossed etc.  Keep the comments 
coming, I will make sure they get to Barbaro's team.  (7:50 am)

Update 6: The surgery has been considered a success, as reported in the Bloodhorse.   
The surgery is clearly the first step in a long road ahead for Barbaro, 
but it is great to hear that this first step has been successful.  It 
appears that Dr. Richardson is more favourable about Barbaro's chances of 
recovery than was first thought (from reading the article, not from any 
other source).   Dr. Richardson is quoted:

I feel much more relieved after I saw him walk to the stall than when I 
was loading him into the ambulance to come up here," he added. "That's for 
darn sure. It was an unknown area that we were going in. I feel much more 
confident now. At least I feel he has a chance. Last night, I didn't know 
what was going to go on.

 Will blog once at Fair Hill and having talked to the vets here.
BTW, apologies for the site crashing late last night.  This site had about 
6 visitors per day before Barbaro won the Kentucky Derby.  Yesterday, 
during one hour, early evening, we had 3,000 visitors.  We ran out of 
bandwidth apparently.  This has been fixed!

Update 5: Barbaro is now in the recovery pool (7:40 
pm). He has a bone plate fusing his ankle and pastern and a caste has been 
placed over this. Dr. Richardson described the surgery as one of the 
toughest he has performed. He is awakening from anesthesea in the pool, 
and once he completely comes around, he will be transported via sling back 
to his stall later this evening (it usually takes an hour from when they 
are placed in the pool to when they are able to return to their stall.) 
Bloodhorse has a great mid surgery report (6 pm) that outlines the 
catastrophic nature of the injury. Also, we have some pictures of Barbaro 
in our gallery 
taken at Fair Hill last saturday. Feel free to download them.

Update 4: Barbaro's surgeon, Dr. Richardson, was flown up from Florida 
this morning. The procedure after the surgery is designed to have Barbaro 
'wake up' in a swimming pool. He will be placed on a sling and transported 
to the pool. This is to help ensure that when he does wake up he does not 
cause himself further damage. When a horse comes out of anesthesea there 
is a chance they would start thrashing around, this environment limits the 
chances of causing further trauma from the thrashing. As he is already 
'stood up' by the sling in the pool, he won't need to get up, which could 
obviously cause further harm to the leg. It is anticipated that this will 
occur sometime early this evening.

Update 3: Barbaro's surgery was scheduled for 1 pm EST today (sunday).

Update 2: Barbaro seemed to have a good night last night at New Bolton 
Center. He ate up and had a restful night. He was able to get up and down 
on his own power. These are all positive signs. Reported from Kathy 
Anderson, his Fair Hill vet.

Update 1: according to the Bloodhorse 
Barbaro will have surgery this afternoon (sunday). He has a fractured 
cannon bone and pastern on the right hind leg.

All at Fair Hill are devastated by the Preakness, which has left Barbaro's 
life in the balance. He is being vanned to New Bolton Center to work on his 
'shattered' hind pastern. It will likely be a few days before we really 
know the outcome of the injury. Lets hope he recovers. As we learn more we 
will blog.

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