Racing: Barbaro continues to improve

KENNETT SQUARE - The condition of Barbaro continued to improve after the Kentucky Derby champion suffered a life-threatening ankle fracture in the Preakness Stakeson on Sunday, the surgeon who operated on him said yesterday.

Dr Dean Richardson, of the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Centre for Large Animals, said the colt was showing encouraging signs he would survive a series of injuries that usually led to horses being put down.

"He is doing very well," Richardson told a news conference. "He is actually better today than he was yesterday, and he was pretty good yesterday. He is feeling very good, he has absolutely normal vital signs - temperature, pulse, respiration, attitude, appetite."

Richardson, who operated on Barbaro for more than four hours on Monday, was encouraged by the three-year-old's progress. "Every day, the risk diminishes," he said.

But he repeated his earlier warnings that the Kentucky-bred horse still had a long way to go before he was out of danger. "There are many, many things that could go wrong," he said.

Barbaro, the overwhelming betting favourite to win the Preakness, pulled up during Sunday's race, his right hind leg grotesquely splaying out. He was immediately slowed by jockey Edgar Prado and attended to by veterinarians.

The colt's stunning 6 1/2-length victory in the Kentucky Derby on May 6 had raised hopes that he would become the first horse in nearly 30 years to win the Triple Crown by sweeping the Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.

The best he can hope for now is a career as a stallion but that could be problematic because his injured hind leg may impair his ability to mount a mare, Richardson said.

Barbaro's owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, said they had been on an emotional roller-coaster in recent weeks. "We have run through the gamut of emotions from the Kentucky Derby euphoria to the devastation of the Preakness."

- REUTERS