HORSE RACING Barbaro faces difficult odds

Despite a successful surgery, the horse's chances for survival are still 50-50.
KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. (AP) -- Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was "bright and appropriately frisky" Monday after surgery to repair his broken hind leg, even showing an interest in mares, but the colt still faces a long and perilous road to recovery.
Dr. Dean Richardson, who performed the intricate five-hour operation, was satisfied with the result, but was blunt about the future for a horse who was unbeaten before breaking down in the Preakness Stakes.
Richardson, who operated on Barbaro at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center for Large Animals on Sunday, said the horse's chances for survival were still 50-50.
Michael Matz, who trained the 3-year-old colt to six straight wins before the grotesque injury ended its unbeaten run Saturday, paid the horse a visit Monday and was encouraged by what he saw.
"He looked pretty bright just now," Matz said. "You can't ask for anything more. He was very alert and seemed fine."
Barbaro, fitted with a fiberglass cast, was standing in his stall at the center's intensive care unit earlier Monday and showed interest in several mares in the vicinity.
"He got through the night very well, day one and into day two is going as well as expected," Corinne Sweeney, a veterinarian and the hospital's executive director, said Monday. "He is standing on the leg, and with the appropriate amount of weight on it.
"He also showed appropriate interest in the mares, which means he's acting like a young colt should."
Better mood
After his afternoon visit Monday, Matz smiled often -- an improvement over the evident fatigue of the night before.
Sweeney said there are two major concerns in the first days of recover:, the possibility of infection from the surgery and laminitis, a potentially fatal disease sometimes brought on by uneven weight balance.
"A lot of possible problems that could occur have not," Sweeney added.
Earlier Monday, Richardson emphasized that the horse would never race again.
"Realistically, it's going to be months before we know if he's going to make it," Richardson told CBS' "The Early Show." "We're salvaging him as a breeding animal."
Successful surgery
It wasn't long after surgery to repair three bones shattered in his right rear leg at the Preakness when Barbaro began to show signs he might make it after all.
After a dip into a large swimming pool before he was awakened -- part of New Bolton's renowned recovery system that minimizes injury risk -- Barbaro was brought back to his stall, where he should have been calmly rested on all four legs.
Barbaro had other ideas.
"He decided to jump up and down a few times," Richardson said, smiling.