Interesting Article on Barbaro

[weazel079]

"The Gate Incident": Did Anyone See A Vet Check Barbaro?
Human speech is the best indication of human thought. "Yea!"
Humans frequently say something different from what they are thinking. "Boo!"

I have my answer. Dr. Larry Bramlage of the American Association of Equine
Practitioners is quoted in our local rag as saying that Barbaro's breaking
through the starting gate prior to the race "had nothing to do with the injury."
So there. Barbaro took a bad step in front of the grand stand and that was it.
Hmmm?
In the Post Parade, to my mind, not all seemed "right" with Barbaro.
Gary Stevens was surprised that Prado had warmed him up so much.
Then there was the gate incident that I've since viewed several times.
The bust through appears like a very violent lunge.
Also, Prado seemed to have surprisingly little difficulty getting him to stop.
Tom Durkin said "Barbaro's broke through the barrier and that does not bode
well for the favorite here....This is not a plus."
Gary Stevens replied:"No it's not a plus..in a normal race let alone a Classic.
The gates are held together by strong magnets..There's a very strong current going
through the gate.It takes a pretty good force to open those gates....".
Gary Stevens- viewing a replay of the gate bust went on to say:
"He gets it with his knees a little bit...It doesn't look like anything too serious..
They're very, very lucky that the assistant starter did let this horse go like he did
right there. They're getting him back in..no harm, no foul it doesn't look like."
Now I could be wrong. But did anyone see a Track Vet or even Dr. Bramlage
examine Barbaro before putting him back in Post Position 6?
I certainly didn't.
To me it looked like gate crew just brought him around to the rear of the gate and put
him in. Or do vetinarians wear gate crew outfits at Pimlico?
It also crosses my mind that most track vets that are interviewed are highly unlikely
to say "The gate incident and the later breakdown are connected." That would
be akin to an admission of negligence, right?
Many thanks to Gapfire member Steve R. for sending along Rick Needham's comments.
Needham claims that after Barbaro broke through the gate "There was bleeding
on his upper thigh, on his rear right leg." His comments can be seen at The Better Bettor.

[winner]

It's Bush's fault!!!

[Kaptain]

thanks for sharing that write with us.....interesting----kapt

[BettorsChat]

""The gate incident and the later breakdown are connected." That would be akin to an admission of negligence, right?"

It would also be a Lawsuit.

If the horse was bleeding why didn't they check him out?

[weazel079]

""The gate incident and the later breakdown are connected." That would be akin to an admission of negligence, right?"

It would also be a Lawsuit.

If the horse was bleeding why didn't they check him out?

Lets say the vets check him out and pull Barbaro out of the race. They later find nothing is wrong with the horse. The vet will be searching for a new career. It's really a sad situation.

[cd329]

I would bet a million bucks if i had it, that the horse suffered a hairline fracture when he busted thru the gates, which the horse could still appear okay. When you watch the video, you can see that the horses legs buckled down. 1300 pounds being forced down on a horses legs in that confined space, doesnt take a genius to figure out something has got to give. I think what happened next is, when he started running in the race, that hairline fracture turned into a fullblown shattering of the bones. Sure horses break their legs when their running, but if you just use a little bit of common sense and say, what are the odds that a horse buckles his legs in the starting gate, then runs 100 yards and shatters his leg? Really what are the odds of these 2 things happening?
Without a doubt at least in my mind, the horse was already injuried when they put him back in the gate, but nobody involved with this horse will ever in a million year admit that and say they probably should have scratched him and had xrays taken, no way no how. Also no vet checked that horse, they were all just in a hurry to load him back into the gate and get him running, pretty sad. They wanted a triple crown winner so bad, they overlooked the obvious. They should have sided with the side of safety. Hopefully he can pull thru and live out his life on the stud farm.