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Originally Posted by Cajungator26
For me, I accept that he wasn't injured in the gate like that, but I DO believe they should have taken a little more time in evaluating the horse before throwing him back in the gate like that. JMO. I think it was mere coincidence that he broke down the second time out of the gate, but they should have checked him more thoroughly because if they had, there wouldn't be as much controversy regarding it...
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he WAS checked out!!
"The stewards always ask me to look at them (when they break through the gate)," said Zipf, a state veterinarian since 1965 and chief veterinarian for the last 20 years.
"I went through the stall he was in and followed him back around. Once he was gathered up (by an outrider) and turned around, the first thing I looked for was head trauma or abrasions or cuts. I then walked behind him as he trotted back to make sure, leg-wise that there was no problem. I could see nothing that would insult his performance; saw no problems with his head or legs. I'm certain there was nothing that would predispose to the injury that occurred in the race."
Zipf has heard the speculation that Barbaro's injury may have occurred in the gate and feels it is important for the racing public to know safeguards were taken. "We want people to know the circumstances," he said, "so we can eliminate speculation that isn't warranted. I don't want there to be any gray areas about what we do."
that's from bloodhorse. also read elsewhere the vet said it may have appeared to tv viewers that he was rushed back, but that wasn't the case. he checked him out just like any other horse who breaks thru.