Anyone going to Kentucky Derby?

[babs7262]

WOOOOOHOOOO t's Derby Day


Im going to my local OTB at the Oaks at 5:30pm to join in the fun and bet my usual long shots!

Good luck to those betting .....Nash you going?

 

[just play]

Too many horses to bet, I guess the supposed winner is in box 20!!!

My father used to go and I would stay at a friends house in Kentucky, beautiful beautiful state.

I bought a sun hat last week and it's kinda large, when I saw my dad he said "getting ready for the derby?" hahahahahhaha

 

[BingoT]

Going to Mohegan Sun to watch it.
Big Brown will come in 1 2 or 3
I like Big Truck
Pyro
Cool Coal Man

 

[Mousey]

I'm so sad... and sick... Eight Belles broke both front ankles (finished second, I think) and they had to put her down on the spot. Horrible...

 

[just play]

I'm so sad... and sick... Eight Belles broke both front ankles (finished second, I think) and they had to put her down on the spot. Horrible...

I was telling my husband the same thing

Can someone please tell me why they have to put down the horse? Broken bones do heal, she could have been a family horse, she doesn't have to live her life racing ya know?

She was running so well I thought she was going to win.

 

[NASHVEGAS]

I was telling my husband the same thing

Can someone please tell me why they have to put down the horse? Broken bones do heal, she could have been a family horse, she doesn't have to live her life racing ya know?
She was running so well I thought she was going to win.

By no means am I qualified to answer the above but since I followed Barbaro I will post this link and tragic story on Barbaro but I have no idea what exactly would be similiar with the Philly's tragic injuries other than the obvious:

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2006 Preakness Stakes and injury
Barbaro's Preakness Stakes began with a false start when he broke from the starting gate prematurely. Barbaro had used only his nose to disengage the magnetically locked gate bars, and was led back around the gates to be reloaded. Barbaro was deemed fit upon being reloaded into the gate.[3] As the restarted race began, Barbaro broke cleanly, but would soon suffer the catastophic injury as the horses passed by the grandstand shortly after the start.

Many theories as to the cause of the accident have been offered, though none have been confirmed. Barbaro broke his right hind leg in more than 20 places:[4] a broken cannon bone above the ankle, a broken sesamoid bone behind the ankle and a broken long pastern bone below the ankle. The fetlock joint was dislocated, and his foot was left dangling loosely. Veteran jockey Edgar Prado immediately pulled Barbaro up, and brought him to a gentle stop. He dismounted and leaned his shoulder into the horse's shoulder to support Barbaro until track attendants could arrive. Bernardini went on to win the race.


[edit] Injury aftermath
Barbaro's injuries were life-threatening, partially because a thoroughbred's breeding optimizes its anatomy for speed rather than durability. Unlike other mammals, such as dogs, a horse cannot survive in humane circumstances on three legs. A single broken leg in a horse can lead to complications as the other legs attempt to bear the weight of the horse's body.[5]


[edit] Initial surgery
Barbaro was taken to the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania for treatment. The center is renowned for its specialized care, especially for animals needing complicated bone surgery. Dr. Dean Richardson was assigned as Barbaro's primary veterinarian.

The day after the race, Richardson performed a fusion of the fetlock and pastern joints to stabilize it and make it strong enough for Barbaro to walk on. It was a five hour procedure and was one of the toughest surgeries he had ever performed. The surgical team successfully implanted a Synthes stainless steel Locking Compression Plate and 27 screws into the colt's injured leg to span the comminuted fracture and joints. They used the LCP because its screws thread into the plate to provide maximum strength. Richardson is one of the first equine surgeons to implement this new technology, originally designed for humans. A fiberglass cast was placed over this to further protect the construct. Barbaro then went in the recovery pool at 7:40 pm.[6][7]

After about an hour in the pool, at around 9:00 p.m. EDT, Barbaro began to calmly awake from the anesthesia, stood and practically jogged to his stall. He then ate and was comfortably putting weight on the injured leg. The blood supply to the injury site was very good, but Richardson still gave Barbaro a 50-50 chance of survival.[8][9] The next morning Barbaro was already showing interest in some of the mares at the facility. He was walking well on his limb, walking around the stall, he was quite active for his condition; in short, his first week of recovery went well. The cast was replaced on June 13, and again on July 3.


[edit] ComplicationsIn the first week of July, complications arose, and Barbaro had problems with both hind legs. He developed an abscess on his uninjured left foot, which was treated topically, but he carried a fever through the weekend and failed to put weight on his injured right foot for any significant length of time.

By July 13, Barbaro had developed a severe case of laminitis in the left hind hoof, a potentially life-threatening affliction that is common in horses who shift weight to one foot for extended periods of time to keep pressure off an injured foot (in Barbaro's case, the right ankle he broke in the Preakness). A procedure called a hoof wall resection removed 80% of Barbaro's left rear hoof. The remaining 20% of his hoof wall was still attached to the coffin bone and was still living tissue, but it was unclear how much of it would ever grow back. Both rear legs were in casts. Richardson stated that his plans were to restrict himself to aggressive but standard treatments and that he would use no experimental procedures.[10][11][12][13] Barbaro was given a special support boot for his laminitic hoof and placed on painkillers; a support sling was brought into his stall to allow him to take the weight off his hooves for hours at a time.


[edit] Slow recovery
On August 8, Barbaro's broken right leg had fused to the point where they would have replaced the cast with a brace if his left leg were sound. The coronary band on his left leg (the place from which the hoof grows) appeared healthy and all signs were encouraging.[14] On the 15th it was reported that Barbaro had been allowed to graze outside for the first time since his accident.[15] Two days later, Barbaro was no longer using the sling to support his weight, and so its use was discontinued.[16] The next day, August 18, radiographs showed that his fractured right leg was almost completely fused.[17]

By September 26, it was decided that Barbaro's cast would not be replaced as long as he was comfortable in it. His left hind hoof had regrown about 18 millimeters and the support shoe had been replaced with a bandage. The hoof would have to grow to at least three times that length and that that could take more than six months.

On October 10, Barbaro's cast and protective shoe were changed. His left rear hoof was gradually improving from laminitis. There was good growth along the quarters (closer to the heel) but there would need to be much more healing along the front of the hoof, which would require many months.[18]

Barbaro reached another milestone on November 6, 2006 when his cast was removed for good and replaced with a splinted bandage.[19] Barbaro's laminitic showed no new problems, but several months of growth would have been necessary before it could be further diagnosed. About December 12, Barbaro's bandage on his right hind leg was removed completely. This was announced during a press conference on Wednesday, December 13.


[edit] New complications and death
Early in January 2007, the laminitic left hoof became the source of more complications. On January 10, another section of the hoof had been surgically removed.[20] Updates over the next few days revealed that the cast had been reapplied to Barbaro's right hind leg for support, and that aggressive pain management and the support sling had been resumed. Nevertheless, Barbaro's condition was better than it had been the previous July.

In another setback, Barbaro developed a deep abscess in his right hind foot. Additional surgery was performed on January 27 to insert two steel pins into the healed bones of Barbaro's right foot as part of an external skeletal fixation device. This would allow the right foot to bear more weight, but the procedure was risky, with the major danger being that the bones might break again.[21][22] Later that same weekend, Barbaro's front legs, which had remained healthy throughout the ordeal, displayed clear signs of laminitis; Barbaro could not then comfortably put his weight on any of his legs. The laminitis that attacked his front legs developed as a result of not being able to bear weight on his hind legs.

Barbaro was euthanized on January 29, 2007 around 10:30 A.M. EST by decision of his owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson, who indicated that they felt that his pain was no longer manageable.[23]

For his efforts to save Barbaro, the Turf Publicists of America voted Richardson their 2006 Big Sport of Turfdom Award.


[edit] Memorial
Barbaro was cremated shortly after he was euthanized. On January 29, 2008 it was announced that his remains would be interred in front of an entrance to Churchill Downs, and that a bronze statue of Barbaro would be placed atop his remains. The Jacksons chose to place his remains outside of both Churchill Downs and the adjacent Kentucky Derby Museum to allow his many admirers to pay their respects without having to pay an admission fee.[24]

 

[NASHVEGAS]

WOOOOOHOOOO t's Derby Day


Im going to my local OTB at the Oaks at 5:30pm to join in the fun and bet my usual long shots!

Good luck to those betting .....Nash you going?

I did not attend,Babs, and I feel a melancholy so not trying to be short but I did want to respond to your question.

 

[Mousey]

Sometimes one broken limb can be 'fixed' and the horse live. Both front ankles... no way... the pain... (ankle breaks are some of the most painful even for people)... keeping their weight off the broken limbs... Infections...

I'm just so heartbroken that she ran so well and then...

Race horses have the tiniest legs and ankles for their size that I've ever seen. Is their no way to breed for stonger legs and keep the speed?

 

[just play]

Nash, I didn't know Barbaro went through all that. Very interesting read.

Like Mousy I feel so terrible, she ran a great race!

 

[babs7262]

Barbaro was literally down the road from me when he had those surgeries. It was just aweful. You would not believe how many ppl came by to place flowers and stuff

I went and lost but didnt see anything about eighty bellies, He was one of the horses I bet on. So very sad