KENNETT SQUARE, Pa. -- For eight months, Barbaro took fans of horse racing and lovers of horses on a bumpy ride of hope and worry as he struggled to recover from devastating leg injuries suffered in the Preakness.
That struggle ended yesterday morning, as the Kentucky Derby champion trained in Maryland was euthanized at the New Bolton Center veterinary hospital.
Barbaro's surgeon, Dr. Dean Richardson - brushing away tears and with his voice breaking - said that, in the end, Barbaro's discomfort was just too great, as laminitis developed in his previously unaffected front legs.
"It was more than we wanted to put him through," Richardson said at a news conference at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital for Large Animals at the New Bolton Center. "We intensified all pain medication and continued through this morning, but we couldn't succeed."
The horse's courageous fight had evoked the passion of fans inside and outside the sporting world. His battle proved more inspirational than his six racing victories, including the biggest winning margin in the Derby in 60 years.
"Until [Sunday] night, he had been an exceptionally calm and relaxed horse who would lie down and sleep," Richardson said. "But [Sunday] night, he was clearly in distress. He wasn't comfortable lying down or standing up. You could see he was a different horse. You could see he was upset."
So, at 10:30 a.m., with Richardson and Barbaro's owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, in his stall, talking to him gently, Richardson euthanized the horse.
"We were all there. He knew us," Richardson said. "My guess is he ... "
Richardson paused to compose himself.
"He was in the sling," Richardson said. "He was comfortable. He ate his grass. He was alert and aware. At that point, he was given a very heavy dose of a tranquilizer and then an overdose of an anesthetic.
"It couldn't have been any more peaceful."
Gretchen Jackson said, "Grief is the price we all pay for love. I'd like all of us to say a prayer for Barbaro, and I hope we can turn our love into an energy to help all horses throughout the world. ... I hope each of us will find a path to support the horse."
The end came 37 weeks after Barbaro - who had trained at Fair Hill Training Center near Elkton - broke down May 20 in the first furlong of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, fracturing his right hind leg in three places and shattering the pastern bone into 20 pieces.
