BARBARO'S GRIM CONDITION SADDENS MANY.Byline: KEVIN MODESTI HORSE RACING INGLEWOOD - In the Hollywood Park box seats Thursday, Carla Gaines was watching a maiden gelding gelding castrated male horse. named Artaxman walk into the starting gate before the first race, but the thoroughbred trainer was thinking about an out-of-action 3-year-old a continent away. ``I'm sitting here getting tears in my eyes In My Eyes was a Boston straight edge band that spearheaded the 1997 youth crew revival along with Ten Yard Fight, Bane, The Trust, Fastbreak and Floorpunch. The band and its members were a part of the hot bed that was the Boston music scene in the late 90's and early 2000's. ,'' Gaines said. They ran the Hollywood Park races as usual on this hot and quiet day, but don't let the business-as-usual approach fool you. These horsemen and horsewomen, who have seen it all at the racetrack, were upset about the worsening news on Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro's fight for life. Since there was no mind-reading going on here, let's put it this way: If these people weren't upset about the developments with Barbaro, they were doing a heck of an acting job. Carla Gaines was misting up as the gate opened for a $26,000 sprint in which Artaxman rallied but couldn't catch John Sadler-trained winner Weekend Tiger. ``He's lasted this long,'' Gaines said after a reporter gave her the downcast down·cast adj. 1. Directed downward: a downcast glance. 2. Low in spirits; depressed. See Synonyms at depressed. downcast Adjective 1. update on Barbaro. ``I don't want to hear that.'' Barbaro's veterinarians in Pennsylvania held a news teleconference Thursday morning to report that the colt, who shattered his right hind leg in the May 20 Preakness Stakes, is a ``long shot'' to survive a case of laminitis laminitis (lăm'ənī`tĭs), also called founder, inflammation of the lamina, the innermost layer of the hoof wall in horses, ponies, and donkeys. Although the condition usually affects only the front feet, it may involve all four feet. that has damaged the hoof hoof, horny epidermal casing at the end of the digits of an ungulate (hoofed) mammal. In the even-toed ungulates, such as swine, deer, and cattle, the hoof is cloven; in the odd-toed ungulates, such as the horse and the rhinoceros, it is solid. wall on his other hind foot. Dr. Dean Richardson said at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine’s New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, is one of the busiest large animal teaching veterinary clinics in the nation. said that if the condition becomes so painful that Barbaro doesn't want to put weight on the left leg, the veterinarians and owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson will have no choice but to euthanize euthanize see euthanatize. him. At Hollywood Park, people who have been through less-public episodes like this were sensing the worst. ``That's the beginning of the end,'' said Dr. Steve Buttgenbach, the track vet. ``I mean, I hope I'm wrong ...'' Said Sadler, in the paddock before Thursday's first race: ``He was an undefeated horse (before the Preakness), a charismatic horse, a beautiful horse. I think people have been captivated cap·ti·vate tr.v. cap·ti·vat·ed, cap·ti·vat·ing, cap·ti·vates 1. To attract and hold by charm, beauty, or excellence. See Synonyms at charm. 2. Archaic To capture. by the heroic effort (to save him). Even if (Barbaro dies), I think they've shown how much more the veterinarians have available to them to treat horses with injuries like this than they used to.'' Laminitis, which killed 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat in 1989, can be caused by a horse distributing his weight unevenly. Thus, in Barbaro's case, the problems in his left hind leg are a byproduct of the catastrophic injuries in his right hind sustained in the opening furlong of the Preakness, just as the 6 1/2-length Kentucky Derby winner was being touted as a Triple Crown cinch cinch a saddle girth on an American stock saddle. Tightens with a knot on a ring instead of with straps and buckles. . Barbaro had 27 screws and a titanium plate put in his right hind ankle in an operation the day after the Preakness and seemed to be doing well even as vets cautioned that it would be two months before he was out of danger. The hope was to save the horse, whose breeding value breeding value the sum of gene effects of a breeding animal as measured by the performance of its progeny. aggregate breeding value see true breeding value (below). reached into the tens of millions of dollars. The prognosis turned increasingly ominous in the past week, as three operations were needed to relieve discomfort in the right leg. Then, Thursday, the mood turned grave. ``The left hind foot is basically as bad a (case of) laminitis as you can have,'' said Richardson, who in May had given Barbaro a ``50-50'' chance. ``I really thought we were going to make it two weeks ago. Today I'm not as confident.'' The only unusual part of Barbaro's injury is the extraordinary effort to repair it. Yet his case seemed to touch people beyond the racetrack turnstiles. The emotions have gone a little over-the-top, but they have been real. ``It's pretty sad,'' Samantha Layton, 9, told the Associated Press in Kennett Square, Pa., on Thursday. ``Barbaro is a great racer. He's the only horse I really loved.'' Most racetrack regulars came to grips long ago with the game's dangers and humanitarian issues. Barbaro's injury is unlikely to cost the sport its devoted fans. But unlike non-fans, the regulars appreciate an accomplished racehorse racehorse refers usually to thoroughbred but may also include standardbred, trotter. and stallion prospect. That's Barbaro. ``I think we might process it (a horse's misfortune) worse than the general public,'' Gaines said. ``Any horse is important, but an incredibly talented athlete like that, it's so terribly sad. He was brilliant. We just don't get that many like him. Poor baby.'' Said Eddie Delahoussaye, the Hall of Fame former jockey, who was at Hollywood Park on Thursday: ``All you can do is hope he makes it.'' Buttgenbach said he hopes the public sees the racing industry trying to do more to prevent and treat injuries. ``All of (Barbaro's) connections have been fantastic,'' said the Hollywood Park vet. ``They've done everything right. (If Barbaro dies), it's just a tragedy for racing, up there with Ruffian.'' The morning newspapers had said Barbaro faced long odds after the further surgeries on the leg he originally injured. Since then, the report of laminitis turned the news from bad to worse and set a grim tone for a sunny day at the races At The Races is a British television channel, originally co-founded with Channel 4, but now owned by a partnership between British Sky Broadcasting, Arena Leisure PLC and 28 (out of the 59) UK racecourses. 2,500 miles away. ``Everybody has been kind of mumbling mum·ble v. mum·bled, mum·bling, mum·bles v.tr. 1. To utter indistinctly by lowering the voice or partially closing the mouth: mumbled an insincere apology. about it, looking at the papers,'' Sadler said. ``It doesn't look good.'' heymodesti(AT_SIGN)aol.com (818) 713-3616 CAPTION(S): 2 photos, box Photo: (1 -- color) Veterinarians say Barbaro has a severe case of laminitis, an equine foot ailment. (2) Barbaro stands in the intensive-care stall with the help of a sling Thursday at the University of Pennsylvania (body, education) University of Pennsylvania - The home of ENIAC and Machiavelli. http://upenn.edu/. Address: Philadelphia, PA, USA. . Sabina Louise Pierce/Associated Press Box: OUT OF THE GATE - Kevin Modesti |
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