Barbaro: Changing the Horse Race Forever

May 20, 2006 may well do down in history as one of the most important days in racing history. Strange because the day is not remembered so much for the winner, but for the one that did not finish.

A race horse is a big and powerful animal, and yet just a single misstep can cause a broken leg and disaster. And that is what happened that day to Barbaro, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and the odds on favorite too win the Preakness that day and to go on too win the Belmont and become one of the few in history to be crowned a Triple Crown Winner. When he stepped wrong and broke his leg, I thought instantly of another time and another horse,

The time was July 7, 1975 and the horse was Ruffian. She won the Filly Triple Crown and was in a two horse match rase against Foolish Pleasure, the Kentucky derby winner. It was a special day at Belmont Park match races are few and far between and only arranged between special horses. It took longer for it to happen to Ruffian. They were a mile into the race when she broke her leg. Unlike Barbaro, who broke down before he could hit full stride, she was going full out and was much harder to stop.

Today as then most horses with this type of injury are put down right at the track Fixing a horse’s broken leg is one of the most difficult procedures to perform But Ruffian and Barbaro had one special thing going for both of them Owners who were willing to try anything to help their animals. They could have taken the easy way, had the horses put down and collected insurance and be done with it. Lets face it, a lot of the owners might not have the resources to do it. It does not come cheap, but theses two were able to and they did.

In Ruffian’s case, they tried everything that veterinary medicine of 30 years ago could do. Unfortunately it was not enough. Ruffian was scared when she came out of the anesthesia and thrashed about, broke the cast and at the same time broke her other leg. Ruffian is the only horse buried at Belmont. She is buried in the infield with her nose pointing toward the finish line.