Barbaro Updates: 195
updates are now here.
Update 1428: The Hennegan Brothers (First Saturday in May) have posted their third clip of Barbaro on youtube, we will call it Brief conversation with Michael Matz about the Holy Bull Stakes, in attendance, Barbaro, Alex Matz and Eduardo.
Mrs. Jackson just left a nice long voice-mail. The upshot of the call was to "Keep up the fight". Doing so is a good distraction from the sad events of this week I think. She also mentioned the museum idea that was reported by Mike Jensen.
Update 1427: Jeannine Edwards, of ESPN, has followed Barbaro's story and reported on Barbaro's story extensively over the last several months. I asked Jeannine if she would write about it, here is her essay:
Covering Barbaro
Barbaro first hit my radar when he won the Laurel Futurity here in MD, late in 2005. In April, in the Florida Derby, we saw his athleticism and courage, as he proved he could run on dirt. For me it was cool because he was a Fair Hill horse. Two weeks later, I met the Jacksons for the first time at Keeneland when I interviewed them about Barbaro and their other rising 3-year-old star, Showing Up, before the Lexington Stakes. After spending some time with the Jacksons, Joan Ciampi, one of our producers, and I noted how genuine they seemed, and how utterly proud they were of their colts. They were beaming parents! Showing Up won the race and the Jacksons went to Churchill Downs with 2 undefeated Derby contenders.
I spent several mornings talking to Michael Matz at Churchill leading up to the Derby, and I was increasingly impressed with how Barbaro looked, and how quietly confident Michael was. Michael's story and background and his horse's charisma made them an appealling choice for a lengthy feature on our Derby day coverage. Joan did the taped interviews for that feature and put it together. It was really nice. Together she and I watched from the winners' circle and screamed as Barbaro flew down the stretch at Churchill. He was brilliant!
After the Derby I remember interviewing Michael and the Jacksons for our post-show and it all seemed very surreal.... Michael and the Jacksons were relatively unknown to the racing public at large, they lived not very far from me, and here their horse was still undefeated and left people agasp with his performance.
The next day Michael took Barbaro back home to Fair Hill to prepare for the Preakness. We spent several mornings there shooting (i.e. taping) Barbaro and the other Preakness runner, Diabolical. I brought my dogs in the car with me and they terrorized every passer-by. We put together a feature about Fair Hill and its unique offerings for horsemen. We were at Michael's barn several times, and because I used to gallop, he joked that he had a few horses for me to get on. I answered the one I want to ride is probably off limits!! We shot quite a bit of Barbaro.... The often-replayed footage of him rolling and bucking in his round pen and grazing in his paddock 2 days after the Derby was shot by our cameraman, Steve Martin. It was extremely exciting to watch Barbaro train each day, as a local person, you couldn't help but get caught up in Barbaro's aura. If Michael was quietly confident before the Derby, he seemed to be bursting with pride heading into the Preakness.
Derby and Preakness weeks are long and grueling for us, we do a total of about 26 hours of live programming in addition to all the research, interviews, and pre-taped stuff, so by the time we were off the air at 5pm Preakness day (to make way for NBC's coverage), I was ready to relax and enjoy a great race. I was standing in the infield, right on the finish line on the grass, near the Preakness winners' circle. When Barbaro busted through the gate early it was alarming, but he was pulled up by Edgar Prado and the outrider quickly. Then the race began and all I remember seeing was the blurred image of a horse being passed quickly by others, then gasps from the crowd.... Then silence. Barbaro was struggling to come to a halt on 3 legs not far from where we were standing, and the race continued on.... Virtually meaningless at that point. The air had literally been sucked out of Pimlico. You could hear a pin drop. It was like getting kicked in the stomach.
My producer Jody Patrovsky and I had tears in our eyes, and we were practically hyper-ventilating. We had to go do post-race interviews with the winners of the race, but we knew the real work was just beginning at that point.
I ran across the track and up into the jocks' room to attempt an interview with Edgar... he was too distraught to speak on camera. I then ran back down and interviewed Dr. Larry Bramlage, one of the foremost equine orthopedic surgeons and our "AAEP Vet On-Call" for our TV shows. He gave me an initial briefing and a very preliminary diagnosis... saying it appeared to be a catastrophic injury and the situation was critical.
Barbaro was taken away in the ambulance and we ran back to the stakes barn where his stall was. It was a mob scene.... Absolutely chaotic. They had backed the ambulance all the way up to the barn and Barbaro was in his stall.... Stall 40, where the Derby winner is housed. We waited with a sense of dread and disbelief. Other horsemen and racing employees were everywhere.... hovering, wandering around aimlessly. People were in shock. We were sure he would be put down. It was tough to get information at that point, but eventually a friend of mine, Dr. Dan Dreyfuss, a MD vet and surgeon who did his residency under Dean Richardson at New Bolton, emerged after assisting with xrays and splinting of Barbaro's leg, and agreed to give us an update. He said it looked bad...several fractures and that Barbaro's pastern was nearly "a bag of crushed ice". Even he appeared shell-shocked. Moments later the horse was loaded back into the ambulance and taken to New Bolton. We learned he would have surgery the next day.
The news desk at ESPN had called and said they wanted me to go to NB in the morning, it would be the first of many, many days I would spend at the facility. I had been there before, several times, with my own horses, so I knew my way around, but it was still an eery feeling. A producer from NY met me there, and we were there for nearly 10 hours that Sunday. Dr. Richardson arrived and addressed us in the press conference room by saying he was going to "attempt" a surgical repair on Barbaro, but that he didn't know what he was going to find once inside the leg. You could tell Dr. R. had some trepidation but was pumped up for the challenge.... He was blunt, assertive, and had that cocky Dr. R. persona that we've all come to know and love.
When Dr. R. did not return to us shortly after beginning the surgery, we took it as a good sign....If he was still gone and working, that meant Barbaro must still be alive. That offered hope. For nearly 7 hours we waited, starved for information. I did frequent updates on ABC (our parent network) and ESPN TV and radio throughout the day. Later that evening we finally got the news we had waited all day with bated breath for.... Barbaro WAS alive, his splintered leg had miraculously been reassembled, and he was back in his stall. I reported the much-anticipated news live on ESPN and finally, totally drained, I drove home around 11:00 that night. My phone never stopped ringing that day or the next with various coworkers, acquaintances, and TV and radio networks from around the country seeking updates.
I spent several days at NB after that reporting on Barbaro's progress. If it weren't for the generous staff at NB providing us with pizzas and coffee and doughnuts, many of us would most likely have wasted away! Michael came to a couple of the press conferences and looked gaunt and empty. The strain of it all became evident, he was taking it hard. Nonetheless we were all amazed at the horse's resolve, and at what a consummate patient he appeared to be. The most immediate threat from infection after surgery appeared to have been warded off, so things were looking pretty good.... The mood was cautiously more hopeful.
On May 30 I was priviledged to be part of ABC and ESPN's access to Edgar's visit with Barbaro. It was the first time Edgar had seen Barbaro since the Preakness, and we were in the ICU with our cameras, all done up in scrubs, as the reunion took place. I loved how Barbaro tried to push people around and wanted to march right out of his stall. It was heartwarming to say the least. Edgar told me it was comforting to see how bright and well his partner looked.
ABC televised the Belmont Stakes and so we did extensive coverage of Barbaro during our 2 days on the air. We had a comprehensive piece on him that featured Dr. R, Michael, Edgar, and the Jacksons. We did live hits (reports) from his ICU. He appeared to be holding his own, and though we contemplated what "might have been" as far as a Triple Crown, the fact that Barbaro was alive and demonstrating that dauntless, endearing spirit was reward enough.
We had a busy spring and summer with shows just about every week, but Barbaro was never far from our thoughts. I would see Michael, Edgar or the Jacksons at various venues and they would readily fill me in on how the horse was doing. The releases that were emailed to us periodically from Upenn kept us apprised of Barbaro's official status, but it was the daily updates from Alex that gave us our "fixes". The tidbits were invaluable.
In early July some of those "bad things" that Dr. R. kept warning us about started to happen. Barbaro wasn't comfortable, had an infection, underwent several cast changes, and I was sent to cover these developments. ESPN took a genuine interest in the horse's welfare and wanted to follow the story every step of the way. They felt because horse racing had such a large presence on the sports network, Barbaro was important to their audience. (As it turned out, Barbaro was important to every audience.) So the viewers were horrified and saddened, as we were, when Dr. R. told us Barbaro had foundered severely on his left hind, and his chances for survival were "poor". He could not have been any more direct... Barbaro had as bad a case of laminitis as you could get. I remember him looking not just troubled, but agonized. I felt sick to my stomach. But then Jennifer Rench came out to our satellite truck and showed us the video NB had just shot of Barbaro walking around the ICU, and it was relieving... he looked pretty good. I was there at NB for 3 days as we all kept vigil. On the 4th day I had to leave to go do a remote show from Delaware Park. Michael was there running a horse and was kind enough to give me an emotional interview. That's the interview from which we got the term "Michael's Miracle".
Barbaro plugged on and a month later I interviewed the Jacksons at Arlington Park in Chicago for our ABC telecast of the Million. It was then the world found out that Barbaro had been taken outside for grass. Outside!! It was uplifting, that's for sure. I remember a lot of the people on our TV crew were cheering. The Jacksons seemed so elated with how everything was going, the burden of constant worry seemed to have eased a bit. Over the summer ESPN gave Barbaro's story more air time than any other network, he became a regular. We even had weekly "Barbaro Updates" on our other remote shows. Everywhere I went, from the track to the airport to the grocery store, people would stop me and say "How's Barbaro doing?"
As far as we could tell things seemed to be improving for Barbaro. I would see Michael, Edgar, or the Jacksons at various places and the reports were always optimistic. In between horse racing assignments I was doing college football. It was getting close to Breeders' Cup time and ESPN wanted to do a major piece on Barbaro for its BC week coverage. We scheduled interviews with Michael, Dr. R., Edgar, and Barbaro fan Jean Mansavage... Alex suggested Jean as the ideal candidate for the interview, and he couldn't have been more right on. Jean was the one who put the "GROW HOOF GROW" sign at NB. We were on a deadline and I was in between football games, so my producer Amiel Weisfogel and I split up... I interviewed Michael and Dr. R, and Amiel interviewed Edgar and Jean. Michael was his usual self... heart on his sleeve, contemplative and sincere. He and I went in and fed carrots to Man In Havana and Chelokee (now residing in Barbaro's stall.) Dr. R. was great also, speaking candidly and spending quite a bit of time with us. He gave me a hard time (sarcastically) about a few things, but then again it wouldn't be a Dr. R. interview without a few chuckles. The feature ended up coming out pretty good.
BC day was long... we were on the air live for 8 hours (including SportsCenter). After the Distaff, the death of Pine Island robbed the day of its usual grandeur and electricity. What made it so ironic was that Michael won the race. He seemed a bit overwhelmed as I interviewed him in the winners' circle. He felt their pain.
Not too long after BC we were hearing talk of Barbaro possibly being well enough to move on to a new home. ESPN told me they wanted to cover it, whenever that day arrived. Little did we know, it never would.
Rather, I did a few phone reports when Barbaro's condition first started to detiorate, in December and again in January. When he lost another portion of that left hind foot it didn't look good. I spoke to Gretchen on the phone a couple of times and she was as gracious as ever, what lovely people the Jacksons are. She told me how concerned and anxious they were, how they had so been looking forward to moving Barbaro to a new home, and how they now had no way of knowing what was going to happen. But she also still sounded like they had hope. She called Barbaro "a trooper" and a "very special animal". I also spoke to Michael who said he was extremely concerned, because any setback was a real blow at that point. Dr. R. had called Barbaro's left foot a "formidable challenge" and "ongoing concern". Then on Wednesay, another complication... this time his right hind foot had an abcess. Now I had a sense of dread.
Amidst all of Barbaro's crises, not to mention juggling other surgeries, teaching classes, and accomodating the endless media requests, Dr. R. somehow found the time to operate on my dog Thurs night. Back in December he had graciously agreed to perform an ACL repair on her (through his wife's practice.) With all of this going on he could have postponed it. What an amazingly dedicated and compassionate man. On Friday I spoke to him about Jessie's leg, and then when I asked how Barbaro was, he said "He's not where I'd like him to be. It's terribly disappointing. He's up and eating his grass, but he's not where I want him to be. It's been a rough few weeks." He sounded dejected. Saturday, the external fixator was applied to Barbaro's leg and I spoke to Michael.... He was subdued and seemed ill at ease. That's when he told me "How many times can you get punched in the nose and keep getting back up?"
I got the news Monday morning that a press conference was coming, and that Barbaro had been put down. I rushed up to NB. I did several live reports and a taped piece for later. Once again, as we had done many times before, the media gathered in the amphitheatre. Back on May 21 the mood was one of foreboding, anticipation, and unknown. Over the next 8 months it would swing from cautious optimism to grim reality and back again. But always there was a glimmer of hope. On Monday, it was over.
The Jacksons were gracious, as ever, despite their grief. It was especially difficult to see the anguish in Dr. R's eyes as he choked up. He looked not just drained, but defeated. For the first time ever, Dr. R. looked like a broken man.
I'd like to thank everyone at NB for all that they did, and especially Alex for his tireless devotion to Barbaro, and his tireless, selfless work on behalf of the fans, who yearned for news that only he could provide. One thing I've come to realize through all of this is there are many, many beautiful people in the world.
Update 1426: I just spoke to Barclay Tagg to get an update on NoBiz Like ShoBiz, who is running on saturday in the Holy Bull (won last year by Barbaro in Barbaro's first win on the dirt). ShoBiz breezed a half yesterday very easily. He is doing great. He won't do much now going up into his race. He walked this morning and will be turned out to roll in the sand this afternoon. Tomorrow he will do a little jog / gallop, and saturday morning he may also do a little jog.
I asked Barclay his thoughts on Barbaro and this week. He noted that everyone did everything they could possibly do for Barbaro. Barclay said that Barbaro was surrounded by a fine group of people, the Jacksons, Michael Matz and his team, Edgar Prado, the New Bolton team, they all did everything they could possibly do for the horse. Barclay also noted the compassion the team had, indicated by the many visits they all made to Barbaro over the months.
I asked Barclay how Showing Up is doing. Barclay noted he had a tough campaign last year so they are still taking it easy with him, he is on a "semi vacation" at this point. He needs a little freshening up and will likely be back in the entries for April. Of course I had to ask about Funny Cide too. He is also on "semi vacation", but like Showing Up, going out for some exercise everyday. He may also return to the races sometime in April, Barclay noted he may try him on the turf as well as a synthetic surface!
From the Daily Racing Form: Tagg following familiar road.
Update 1425: Fair Hill was not too chilly this morning, but then flurries began and snow was horizontal for a while, and then the flurries stopped and it was quite nice. Michael Dickinson was at the gap, no doubt keeping an eye on the Tapeta track. It continues to handle the adverse conditions well (its a shame its no warmer actually galloping on it!) Hawty Creek was my first out there, Barclay Tagg's string (supervised by his Fair Hill assistant Tim) was first on the track just before me. Hawty Creek galloped around nicely. The two I rode for Tim, Nonpariel and Chesapeake City Slew also went well. Tim says Slew may have his first little eighth work since he returned to training on saturday. Flash also galloped nicely (that was when the weather was at its worst I think) and I also had a first time starter to the track. She also went well. All in all a busy morning, but not as brutally cold as yesterday for sure. I mentioned an idea to Tim and Kathy Anderson about perhaps doing something with the Clockers' Stand to include some Barbaro "memorabilia" etc. I think it would be nice. The pictures in there right now almost pre-date me!
Update 1424: Kim Brette forwarded these pictures of Barbaro's yearling full brother: Barbaro's Brother pictures. The New York Times writes about him: Can His Kid Brother Follow in Barbaro's Huge Footsteps?
Delaware Park is wanting to pay tribute to Barbaro and Dr. Richardson: DelPark wants to pay tribute to Barbaro and Gulfstream Park Establishes Barbaro Foundation.
Sabina Pierce has updated her photos of Barbaro.
Morning everyone. Hopefully, all of us will find our joy again. WE have much to accomplish in Barbaro's honor. He stayed to show us the way, let's stay on the path he showed us.
Posted by: Marsh in TN at February 1, 2007 11:12 AM