A broken right hind ankle ended Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro's bid for American horse racing's Triple Crown here Saturday, casting a gloom over Bernardini's Preakness victory.
The previously undefeated horse departed Pimlico in an equine ambulance with what x-rays showed were fractures above and below the ankle. Barbaro was taken from the track for surgery at a nearby equestrian medical center.
"This will require pretty major surgery," Pimlico veterinatrian Larry Bramlage. "We're analysing now if he did damage the blood supply to the area."
Should that have happened, the injury would be life threatening.
"Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer," Bramlage said.
Barbaro crashed through the starting gate moments before the planned beginning of the race. He was led back into the gate and the second starting attempt went fine.
But jockey Edgar Prado pulled up Barbaro midway into the front stretch of the 1 3/16th-mile race, the horse limping in pain.
Trainer Michael Marz, a former US Olympian who survived a plane crash, bolted from the stands instantly upon seeing his champion colt in pain.
"It looked like a significant injury from the way he pulled up. He was on it very gingerly," Bramlage said. "I would anticipate this is going to be a significant injury and probably career ending."
No horse since Affirmed in 1978 has won the American Triple Crown, which also includes next month's Belmont Stakes. This is the longest drought in Triple Crown history.
With the Triple Crown bid undone in the opening seconds, the race itself was somewhat of an anti-climax as A.P. Indy colt Bernardini became the first non-Derby entrant in 23 years to win the Preakness, doing so in 1:54 3/5.
Sweetnorthernsaint was second with third place in the one million-dollar race going to Hemingway's Key, owned by George Steinbrenner, the owner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees.
The bittersweet victory brought a subdued victory celebration for Bernardini, owned by Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.
Bernardini jockey Javier Castellano, not knowing Barbaro was out of the race early, was waiting for him to make a move as the field rounded the final turn. Then he decided to make his move anyway.
"I hadn't realised he got hurt in the first turn. I tried to wait for Barbaro," Castellano said. "I couldn't wait for him. I just had to go. "I really feel bad for Barbaro. You have to give him a lot of credit."
Barbaro was only the second unbeaten Derby winner since 1977, taking that race by seven lengths to earn favourite's status for the Preaknes.
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