Get well Barbaro...

A champion racehorse breaks a leg in his would-be moment of glory. It's like... Scratch that, no simile can enhance that scenario. A champion racehorse breaking his leg at the Preakness is the end of the metaphorical line.

Barbaro's recovery hangs in the balance now. The sad fact is that these unbelievable animals are designed to move, like a Ferrari (ahh there's the simile). There is no such thing as a bedridden racehorse - they can not remain still long enough to heal. Barbaro wanted to finish the race yesterday despite his catastrophically fractured hind right ankle. That's the psychology you're dealing with.

Here's the medical diagnosis ...













I enjoy the track, but honestly, I'm not someone who enthusiastically laps up the throngs of gambling-addicted, broken old men with gray skin, who drink and smoke all day, alone with their greasy windbreakers and farty pants and folded-up papers. I know that's very un-Bukowski of me. But as zombified as that crowd can appear, I assure you that the breaking of those cannon and long pastern bones triggered a collective breaking of 118,000 hearts in Pimlico yesterday. To witness such a noble creature take such a tragic turn is a re-humanizing experience I imagine.

As I write this, Barbaro is in surgery at The University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center for Large Animals. If the surgery is successful, Barbaro will be lowered into a large pool before he is awakened - part of New Bolton's renowned recovery system that minimizes injury risk. The horse is fitted with a sling on the operating table, placed on a raft and lowered into the water, allowing it to safely flail until fully conscious. After about an hour the horse is transported via monorail back to the stable. A chief surgeon anticipated the horse would have "a pool recovery," which I'm assuming means that he will be spending the next few weeks underwater. Godspeed Barbaro. Get thee well.







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