I think that it does matter and that it would be a good thing to know the true cause of the breakdown, if it were actually possible to know. In the aftermath of the Preakness there was a flood of demands that were put forth that were intentioned on preventing such tragedies. There were calls to revise the TC event schedule, demands that breeders stop breeding such fragile horses, training practices were questioned, calls to install poli-track everywhere, etc.
If it could be demonstrated conclusively that Barbaro and Bro Derek had some contact at the moment just prior to the breakdown then it would help to put everything in perspective. No amount of well intentioned changes would have made any difference if it was just due to contact and therefore we wouldn't have to rush to reinvent racing because of this one accident.
With that said I'm sure that some of these changes or others may be good for racing in general and should be looked at in an effort to ensure safety of horse and rider. I'm just saying that I don't think it's correct to use Barbaro's breakdown as a vehicle to push through someones pet reforms especially if it could be proven that the reform would not have prevented this accident.
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