By Tom Pedulla, USA TODAY
KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. — To see ailing Kentucky Derby champion Barbaro graze in a backyard at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center is to barely recognize him.
The coat that gleamed at Churchill Downs in Louisville the day after he dominated the May 6 Kentucky Derby is blistered near his left shoulder, a complication of surgery. His tail is half its normal size because he ripped it as he struggled to wake up from anesthesia. His right hind leg, shattered into more than 20 pieces when he took a misstep in the Preakness Stakes two weeks after the Derby, is protected by a fiberglass cast.
His left hind leg, which in early July developed laminitis — a painful, deadly disease caused by putting excessive weight on one leg because of injury to another — is bandaged for support.
And yet the horse many feared would have to be euthanized walks almost every day. Once viewed as a Triple Crown threat, he now takes deliberate steps as Dean Richardson, the surgeon heading the fight to save his life, leads him outside the intensive care unit to graze in a field. His appetite is good, and he grazes voraciously. He has been closely monitored since a police escort rushed him from Baltimore to New Bolton on Preakness night.
This scene is brightened when Barbaro attempts to rear up and is kept on the ground only by Richardson's secure hold. The boundless spirit that enabled Barbaro to rattle off victories in his first six career starts remains strong, convincing owners Gretchen and Roy Jackson that he can overcome huge odds in his fight for survival. "Barbaro is going to be a miracle when he makes it out because the odds were so stacked against him," Gretchen Jackson says.
The Jacksons considered euthanasia after the onset of laminitis, which causes inflammation and usually devastating structural damage to the tissue that bonds a horse's bone to the inner wall of the hoof. Most owners would've likely chosen that option in May at Pimlico Race Course, where the sight of Barbaro's dangling right hind leg caused some racegoers to scream and cry.
"We discussed that maybe this was it," Gretchen recalls of their mid-July conversation. "Dean felt he had a 10% chance of making it. That's terrible." But the surgeon felt he had a very good chance "of controlling the pain," she says. "If he failed in that regard, the horse would be put down."
A surgical resection was done July 12, resulting in the removal of 80% of the hoof wall from Barbaro's left hind foot. That also explains the white sign with blue lettering that greets visitors at the entrance to the facility: "Grow Hoof Grow." Support has been amazing The sign is the first indication, but hardly the last, of an unwavering show of support for Barbaro. The New Bolton lobby is filled with tributes, including 12 oversized cards from Churchill Downs. Beneath the heading "Once a Derby winner, always a Derby winner" are greetings from scores of fans:
"Hi, Barbaro. I hope you get well soon. Love, Mia." "Best wishes, Barbaro. You're a winner and you'll pull through. Much love, Jim." Then there was this note, signed by all of the children from Kelly Sumner's second-grade class at Furry Elementary School in Sandusky, Ohio. "Barbaro, you have the world behind you, praying for a complete recovery," it reads. "You are an inspiration to us." Says Sumner: "We were hoping to uplift Barbaro. Everyone at the school thought I was crazy." The card makes all the sense in the world to Lauren Goff, one of the children involved in sending it. "We were sad because he got hurt," she says. "I hope he gets better."
There have been other tributes:
• Soldiers presented the Jacksons a U.S. flag that had flown in the Middle East. They asked not to identify their Special Forces unit.
• A Bermuda teenager received permission to visit the equine star before she went to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore this summer to be treated for leukemia.
• The Barbaro Fund has raised more than $1.2 million for New Bolton.
Corinne Sweeney, associate dean at New Bolton, suggests the Jacksons' willingness to stay the course with the high-profile case will aid the fight against laminitis. Increased attention should encourage more research funds, she says. The hospital website has received more than 4 million views since its famous patient was admitted. Well-wishers include a couple from Edinburgh, Scotland, who repeatedly e-mail the colt simply to say, "Good morning." Of Barbaro's stature and popularity, Gretchen Jackson says, "I think there's a crying need for some high standards to live up to. There've been so many disappointments among our human athletes."
Barbaro knows he's special While the son of Dynaformer cannot understand the meaning of the thousands of get-well cards or of the gift baskets of carrots and apples that are still delivered regularly, his body language suggests he is aware that he is something special.
"He loves pushing people around. He absolutely knows he's the big boss horse," Richardson says. "He's got lots of star power — and he knows it." Barbaro has not required pain medication for close to six weeks. His right hind leg, with 27 screws used to repair fractured cannon, sesamoid and long pastern bones, is becoming increasingly stable. His cast was changed Monday. His left hoof is growing gradually.
If it's too soon to declare Barbaro a medical marvel, his comeback is further evidence of the fortitude that helped him to the largest Derby winning margin, 61/2 lengths, since Assault's 8-length rout in '46. "I've had plenty of horses with the same types of problems who pretty much gave up," Richardson says. "This horse has never shown anything like that. He's always been trying." Barbaro seemingly never broke a sweat in the 1¼-mile Derby in storming home the final quarter-mile in 24.37 seconds, the most powerful closing kick since Triple Crown winner Secretariat in 1973. "I patted him, and he wasn't wet," marvels Gretchen Jackson, recalling the moment before leading Barbaro into the winner's circle.
Sadly, Barbaro sweated so profusely during his initial six-hour operation that the blistering on his left side resulted. White hair will eventually fill in. The part of the tail he lost just after surgery will regrow, the doctor says. Laminitis is biggest problem Cosmetic issues are insignificant compared with dreaded laminitis. "If he did not have laminitis," Richardson says, "at this point I'd be relatively confident we were going to get him out the door ... because the fractured leg is at the point where nine times out of 10 we could manage it." Laminitis can be compared to the human loss of a nail. The key difference: The nail of a human being regenerates with relative ease. A horse's hoof does not. "You don't walk on your nail. He walks on his leg," Richardson says. "So it's much, much more serious."
More than two months after he characterized the long-term prognosis as "poor," he is upgrading that to "pretty guarded." Larry Bramlage, an equine surgeon from Lexington, Ky., emphasizes that the beloved 3-year-old is exceeding most expectations. "For most horses, when they lose the hoof wall, it's usually fatal," Bramlage says. "But he's exceptional in many ways, and that's why people hold out optimism. "There are some individuals, just like people, who heal better than others. You have to be encouraged by a strong individual who should be the pinnacle of healing."
Trainer Michael Matz knows of that inner strength firsthand. "He's obviously come a long way. Each day is a day to the good," he says, adding, "I always thought he would make it."
While there is still hope Barbaro can eventually support himself on his hind legs well enough to serve as an extremely valuable stallion — and he would surely be valued at millions of dollars if that happens — everyone involved insists that possibility does not drive them.
"If gelding this horse would save his life, they would have me castrate him in a heartbeat," Richardson says of the Jacksons. Says Gretchen Jackson: "Our focus has just been on getting him back to being a horse. I can't stand to see him in a stall like this. ... I can't wait for him to get out and be himself."
If Barbaro cannot make it to the breeding shed, the Jacksons say they would be delighted to add him to the 18 horses stabled at their 190-acre spread near West Grove, Pa. Doctor bills not an issue The Jacksons say they have yet to receive bills for the hospitalization, for which there is no end in sight. New Bolton's daily housing rate of $72 only scratches the surface of what they'll owe in veterinary and surgical costs. Their financial commitment is extraordinary, even to those in the veterinary community. "We're all in this business because we love these animals and want to do what's right for them," says Gregory Beroza, chief of staff at the Long Island Equine Medical Center in Huntington, N.Y. "But there's always a point where that financial number comes into it." Even in a best-case scenario, Richardson estimates Barbaro must remain hospitalized for at least another six months or even a year.
Roy Jackson, 69, is not shaken by that prospect. He knows all about adversity in sports.
Jackson used to own minor league baseball teams in Arizona and Pennsylvania. He also was president of Convest, a company that represented professional baseball players, from 1983 to 2000. "We're both pretty positive," Roy Jackson says of himself and his wife. "There is nothing to be gained by asking what might have been or feeling sorry for yourself."
Posted 10/10/2006 9:47 PM ET
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