Barbaro Updates: 54
updates are now here.
Update 526: Kathy Anderson called and she had visited Barbaro a little later in the afternoon (she left about 5:30 pm). She was there as Dr. Richardson had Barbaro out grazing. All was well. She did note Bobby saw a goat on his way back into his stall which interested him. Kathy also noted that Bobby is weighed each day (he walks over a weigh machine on his way back into the ICU) so the weight gain that is being reported is not just a visual thing, but documented weight gain from the scales.
Update 525: Just spoke to Dave Wallace (Tom Albatrani's assistant). He reported that Bernardini is doing well as he readies for the Travers. Today he galloped about a mile and and eighth. He was led to the track, was handed off to a pony and was ponied the wrong way (anti-clockwise) for a half mile. He turned around, left the pony, and jogged about three eighths of a mile before his gallop. He is in great spirits, yet very self controlled. He will likely do something similar tomorrow (but I will catch up with Dave to confirm once he has trained). Dave galloped Cigar, so I will quiz him about that once the Travers is over.
They (Albatrani) have a runner tomorrow in a grade 1 stake at Saratoga, Balletto: Fleet Indian's speed, durability hard to beat.
Update 524: Peter Brette just called. He visited Barbaro this afternoon (about 3pm). He was very upbeat in his report, and also noted Barbaro was devouring "stud muffins" during the time Peter was visiting.
Update 523: OK, they are trying: Lost in the Fog 'Not Done Yet,' Gilchrist Says, excerpt:
Returning to his barn after spending the previous five days in Florida for the Ocala Breeders' yearling auction, Gilchrist said Lost in the Fog is being treated in his stall with medications designed to shrink two football sized tumors found in his spleen and beneath his spine along his back, as well as a third, smaller mass. The trainer said he was encouraged by the 4-year-old colt's feistiness.
"This horse is not done yet," he said. "We are trying to shrink the tumors if that would be possible. If we can shrink them 50 percent, there's a chance we can remove them (surgically). It's a long shot but long shots happen all the time in this game. It's something to hang on to. We're not dead in the water yet."
and
Gilchrist said Lost in the Fog, who returned to the stable Aug. 20 after a week at the University of California at Davis' Large Animal Clinic, is "doing fine and holding his weight well."
He said the popular colt with the oddball blaze has been given walks outside his stall and has been happily enjoying the carrots, apples and other things sent to the barn by admirers. The get-well cards, e-mail wishes and flower bouquets have been overwhelming, Gilchrist said.
"I finally took all the flowers up to the (administration) office and gave them to all the girls there," he said.
and
The trainer had originally planned to allow the horse to live out his final days in familiar surroundings and to be cared for by those that know him best. Without giving into what he called "false hope," he now thinks it could be some time before a decision to euthanize the colt might be necessary.
"He still has quality life ahead of him," Gilchrist said.
In particular, he said, the horse has enjoyed being reunited with his favorite human, groom Pascual Garcia.
"Everybody is glad that he's back," Gilchrist said of the atmosphere at the stable. "Everybody realizes the situation. But I won't let anybody get down. I refuse to allow any negativity."
Update 522: A couple of articles on St. Liam's untimely death: Owner Warren reflects on Saint Liam's tragic death and Freakish Accident Causes Saint Liam's Death. The articles highlight the severity of the break and thus the need for the very tough decision to euthanize St. Liam. ESPN will provide some St. Liam coverage during their saturday racing coverage (5 - 7 pm). A nice post on the discussion board of a visit to DancingInMyDreams. We have a Fair Hill horse to follow on saturday in Saratoga: Hard to Argue With Sweet Talker in Ballston Spa. Here is an excerpt:
Sweet Talker missed winning her second grade I race in the Diana Handicap at nine furlongs July 29 at Saratoga. Angara rallied along the outside to beat her by a head.
"I thought she ran a huge race," said trainer H. Graham Motion. "It's tough to be disappointed when she ran so hard. That race might have been longer than what she wants to go."
Motion wasn't originally considering the Ballston Spa because it came up a little sooner than Sweet Talker's customary five-week spread between races.
"I had not originally planned on this last race," Motion said. "But she came out of the Diana so well that we thought this would be a good spot for her. She's a very tough filly. I think the distance will help her."
I saw Sweet Talker this morning, coming off the wood chip track. I think she was shipping up to Saratoga this afternoon (by horse van).
Finally, a Cecil Whig photographer was at Fair Hill this morning taking pictures (of me and Tim). I think they are writing an article to celebrate 100 days since the Preakness. Anyway, a lot of jovial banter was had as we were coming onto the track from Michael Matz's crew leaving the track. There are people reading the discussion boards thinking some of the discussion is quite amusing!
Update 521: A nice letter from Mike Rea to Barbaro, dictated to his sister (from updates 54: timestamp 3:19):
Hello everyone. I am Mike Rea's sister, Cathy. When I arrived at Kernan today Mike had Barbaro's letter ready and asked would I send it to Barbaro. So here it is:
Wed. Aug. 23rd 2006
Dear Barbaro,
Thank you for being a super star and thinking of me. People write on your web site and talk to me. There is no other way they would have talked to me because they talked to you first. Your trainer and owners are so famous and that way I get mentioned on a equal basis as you do. I feel like there is no other way those people would have considered me in their thoughts if they hadn't considered you first. It is very touching that I am considered by the same caliber of people who considered you. I feel privledged because of all this. I just want the story to show people what my life is about and how much my family loves me and how much I love them. Thank you Barbaro so much. My prayers and dreams are with you.
Mike Rea
As you can tell, I didn't edit any of his words. Mike is so overwhelmed with everyone caring so much about him. Again my thanks to everyone for helping my brother with his recovery. Cathy Rea Bosley
The above message was also posted on the discussion board: Mike's Message to Barbaro. I think Round Pond is nearly ready to make her first start for Michael Matz, look for her in the entries at Monmouth.
Update 520: Sue McMullen e-mailed me this report of Enticing's race in the Nunthorpe at York today:
Alex, I'm working at York today and paid particular attention to Enticing (needless to say!). It was moving seeing those colours again, especially over here.
She was a bit wound up beforehand so they saddled her in the stables rather than the saddling boxes close to the track. But she was ok really, no more than you'd expect from a young filly and was quite relaxed down at the start. The horse that won, Reverence, loves the soft ground and shortened in price for that reason. There was a great deal of rain here at York last night. Not seen Willie Haggas (trainer) yet but I think Enticing hated the ground. She was 'grabbing' at it in the early part of the race and didn't look that comfortable to me. When her chance was gone she was eased down. She's definitely better than that and we didn't see her best form today. The trainer of the winning horse is another of what you might call the small guys, so it was nice to see really.
The trainer to whom Sue refered is Eric Alston.
Update 519: Another comfortable night last night for Barbaro (wednesday night). Just saw Michael Matz coming back from the track. He had just gotten a message from Dr. Richardson this morning. Michael also reiterated to me his positive report from his visit with Bobby yesterday.
My last set, I breezed one 3/8 mile in a comfortable 38 and am now walking back up to the track on Chappy. Just passing Peter who is saying to please express his thanks to everyone for all of your support. It's another gorgeous morning in Fair Hill.
updated thursday 7:17am
Update 518: The Jackson's are running Enticing today at York: Lael Stables homebred Enticing puts undefeated record on line in Nunthorpe. You will note two unusual things about this spot for their horse. She is running against older horses (she is two) and against the boys. This type of placement of a horse is perhaps a little more common in the UK than it would be in the US (pretty much unheard of):
The lone two-year-old in the open field is Enticing, one of two females among the Nunthorpe entrants. The other female is the five-year-old Paris House mare Mecca's Mate, winner of the 2005 Land O'Burns Stakes.
Racing at York is beautiful!
Jeannine Edwards sent me this e-mail about ESPN's Travers coverage on saturday:
We are planning a brief Barbaro update in the show Sat (5-7pm ESPN) as part of the news segment. We will also have a separate tribute to LITF, since we are televising the King's Bishop live and he won it last year. We are doing a feature on the matchup between Bernardini and Bluegrass Cat... why each trainer thinks their horse is better and how they compare. They've never run against each other... Should be interesting. Right now that feature is also scheduled to air on SportsCenter Friday night at 6pm and possibly 11pm. (Last month when we covered the Jim Dandy, we did a 2:30 minute feature on Bernardini, the Preakness, and how Barbaro's injury affected Bernardini's connections. That feature was also on SportsCenter the night before the show.) We also have a feature on Sheik Mohammed in Dubai (owner of Bernardini)... one of our Associate Producers, Joan Ciampi, produced this one and she's very excited about it. We have 3 Associate Producers on this show, Tim Turrell and Chris DeMaio are the other 2 and they put together most of the features and taped elements you see on the telecasts. They all do a super job! Right now we are also scheduled to do a "behind the scenes" interview with Tom Albertrani (who I used to work with at Belmont, we galloped together for Mark Casse) we will accompany him out in the morning as he trains B. and get an up close look and his insight on the horse. It's a 2-hour show with 4 races, so we'll have the usual pre-race analysis and post-race interviews, etc.
In a follow up e-mail Jeannine noted that they will also have some coverage on St. Liam (co presenter Jerry Bailey rode St. Liam in his final start) and that there are 46 people at ESPN involved in putting this show together!
Good morning Bobby and everyone! Hope you had another good night, Bobby! Have another good day today enjoying the sunshine and green grass! Will be checking later as always to see how you are doing! :)
Posted by: Ruth Ann at August 24, 2006 9:11 AM