Barbaro - i still can't believe it

[Danzig]

i don't mind seeing the updates on barbaro, but my first thought on seeing the pimlico story was so what....what does it matter? maybe it was just their way of trying to steer any blame away, not that i felt very many were pointing the finger at them....

i am amazed at the fact the horse is still here. it's something many would call a miracle. hopefully he'll add to the story by making a full recovery. just glad that (so far) a horse is enjoying a happy ending to an injury. any good press is needed for the sport, when so many assume an injury automatically leads to euthanasia. glad that many are learning that isn't always the case. of course there are still a great many horses who do get put down due to economics. but any experience is a learning one.

[ArlJim78]

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.