Equine insurance industry ailing from capacity crunch.

Had he won the Preakness Stakes, the famously injured thoroughbred Barbaro would have been so valuable his owners wouldn't be able to fully insure him.

The reason is that the worldwide insurance capacity for any one horse, without accessing nontraditional markets, is less than $30 million and the undefeated Kentucky Derby winner's value, easily $20 million to $25 million when the gates opened May 20, would have bolted into the $40 million range had he won, said Michael Levy, president of Muirfield Insurance, a Lexington, Ky.-based agency that's among the largest equine insurance brokers in the country.

Unfortunately, the top Triple Crown contender shattered his right hind leg seconds into the race and is recovering at the New Bolton Center in Pennsylvania.

Barbaro is heavily insured, experts say, although the amount is hard to gauge. "Sometimes, when you get to such an elite horse, some people don't even insure," said Marla Moore, an agent with Independent Equine Agents, based in Louisville, Ky.

It all depends on the appetite for self-insurance, said Peter Bance of Toronto-based Jones Brown Inc., a broker that concentrates on high-end thoroughbreds.

Presently, there are four major carriers that provide insurance for thoroughbreds: Lloyd's of London, Swiss Re, Great American Insurance Co., and XL Capital.

"Each one of these markets can do a round of up to about $8 million to $9 million per horse," said Bance.

It's unlikely, however, that insurers are footing the bill for Barbaro's expensive medical treatment, the experts said.

GOING STRONG: Barbaro heads down the stretch at the Kentucky Derby. Weeks later the heavily insured thoroughbred suffered a major injury at the Preakness.