Trainer: Barbaro in 'good frame of mind'



Assistant trainer Peter Brette said doctors are still worried.
KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. (AP) -- Barbaro had another good night in the intensive care unit, and the Kentucky Derby winner's assistant trainer said Sunday the colt "is in a good frame of mind."
Although Sunday's official medical update has not been released yet, assistant trainer Peter Brette visited Barbaro at the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals.
"He had another good night, " Brette said. "He's doing fine. He's in a good frame of mind."
Brette, who exercised the colt daily for trainer Michael Matz, has been visiting Barbaro almost every day since the colt shattered his right hind leg a few yards after the start of the Preakness Stakes on May 20.
Barbaro's condition was stable through Saturday, and Brette seemed more upbeat than he was last week.
"He was bright," Brette said. "He sort of at least had a bit of sparkle in his eye."
Problem
The 3-year-old colt has the painful and often fatal condition laminitis in his left hind leg, and 80 percent of his hoof wall was removed Wednesday.
Barbaro has casts on both rear limbs. The cast on the colt's right rear leg has been changed at least four times in the last two weeks. A smaller cast is on the left rear hoof, and the bandages protecting it were changed Saturday, and are likely to be changed again in the coming days.
"We're still very worried," Brette said, "but it's very good for me to go in see him like this."
On Saturday, Dr. Dean Richardson reported that Barbaro was in stable condition -- a few days after he said the colt had laminitis "as bad as it gets" and termed his chance of survival poor.
"His heart rate and pulse are normal, and his appetite is good," Richardson said Saturday in a statement issued by the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center. "He continues to respond well, looks good and has a positive attitude."
Quiet weekend
While Barbaro's condition is being constantly monitored, it was a relatively quiet weekend around the New Bolton Center. Residents and interns tended to their rounds, checking on the many other animals in their care. One resident said he's treating two goats in the stall next to Barbaro's.
The weekend brought an outpouring of sentiment from Barbaro fans. Baskets filled with apples, carrots, mints and packages of sugar cubes and several flower arrangements were delivered for the third straight day after Richardson said Barbaro had laminitis.
A couple from Hershey, Pa., made a side trip to the hospital and left a get-well card at the front desk before heading to the races at nearby Delaware Park.
"So many people are rooting for Barbaro to make it -- he was going to be our Triple Crown winner," Dawn Templin said a few minutes after admiring the get-well cards, flowers and fruit baskets on display in the lobby. "We came here to leave a card, and just see the place where they're trying to save his life."
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