Colt still in limbo despite surgery

It's still 'a coin toss' that the strapping 3-year-old horse will survive.
KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. (AP) -- Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro underwent more than five hours of surgery Sunday to repair three broken bones in his right rear leg and afterward "practically jogged back to the stall," the colt's surgeon said.
At this moment "he is extremely comfortable in the leg," said Dr. Dean Richardson, who stressed before the marathon procedure that he's never worked on so many catastrophic injuries to one horse.
Barbaro sustained "life-threatening injuries" Saturday when he broke bones above and below his right rear ankle at the start of the Preakness Stakes. His surgery began around 1 p.m. Sunday at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center for Large Animals.
Operation's outcome
Although the operation was successful, Richardson warned that Barbaro was far from home free. He said it was still "a coin toss" that the strapping 3-year-old colt would be able to survive what had been termed catastrophic injuries.
"I feel much more comfortable now," trainer Michael Matz said afterward. "I feel at least he has a chance."
Unbeaten and a serious contender for the Triple Crown, Barbaro broke down Saturday only a few hundred yards into the 13/16-mile Preakness. The record crowd of 118,402 watched in shock as Barbaro veered sideways, his right leg flaring out grotesquely. Jockey Edgar Prado pulled the powerful colt to a halt, jumped off and awaited medical assistance.
Barbaro sustained a broken cannon bone above the ankle, a broken sesamoid bone behind the ankle and a broken long pastern bone below the ankle. The fetlock joint -- the ankle -- was dislocated.
Richardson said the pastern bone was shattered in "20-plus pieces."
The bones were put in place to fuse the joint by inserting a plate and 23 screws to repair damage so severe that most horses would not be able to survive it.
Recovery room
When he came out of surgery, Barbaro was lifted by sling and placed on a raft in a pool so he could calmly awake from the anesthetic. When he went back to his stall, he was wearing a cast from just below the hock to the hoof.
"He's a real genuine athlete, there's no doubt about it," Richardson said. "Even the way he woke up from anesthesia, he was very much the athlete waking up from general anesthesia."
Matz, who attended the briefing, looked fatigued, but relieved.
"From the last time I saw him to now was a big relief," Matz said. "They did an excellent job. It's just an amazing thing to see him walk in like that."
Richardson again stressed that surgery was just the first step on a long road to recovery.
"Getting the horse up is a big step, but it is not the last step by any means," he said. "Horses with this type of injury are very, very susceptible to lots of other problems, including infection at the site."
Horses are often euthanized after serious leg injuries because circulation problems and deadly disease can arise if they are unable to distribute weight on all fours.
Richardson said he expects Barbaro to remain at the center for several weeks, but "it wouldn't surprise me if he's here much longer than that."
Inside: Jim Litke writes about Barbaro's injury. C6
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