BALTIMORE - Barbaro's eagerness turned to heartbreak.
Barbaro's hopes for a possible run at the Triple Crown ended
with a career-threatening injury as Bernardini went on to win
the $1 million Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico Race
Course.
Undefeated in six career starts and coming off a 6 1/2-length
victory in the Kentucky Derby, Barbaro burst through the
starting gate at the outset, forcing a restart.
When the race actually got under way, Barbaro had to be pulled
up within the first furlong by jockey Edgar Prado with what has
been described as a fracture above and below his right hind leg,
an injury that will require major surgery.
"When he went to the gate, he felt super and I felt like he was
in the best condition for this race," Prado said. "He actually
tried to buck me off a couple of times. He was feeling that
good. He just touched the front doors of the gate and went
right through it. During the race, he took a bad step and I
can't really tell you what happened. I heard a noise about 100
yards into the race and pulled him right up."
Barbaro was loaded onto an equine ambulance, with his injured
leg in an inflatable cast.
"His career is over," said Dr. Larry Bramlage, the attending
veterinarian at the race. "He broke a bone above the ankle
first, and there's so much energy and adrenaline that he keeps
on running.
"This will require major stabilizing surgery. It's a major
hurdle here."
It was a sad turn of events for Barbaro - the overwhelming 1-2
favorite - who had the look that he would become horse racing's
next superstar. He had a chance of becoming the sport's first
Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.
The race also recalled memories of the 1999 Belmont Stakes, when
Charismatic finished third in his bid for the Triple Crown,
then broke down as he crossed the finish line with two fractured
bones in his left foreleg.
With the six-figure crowd looking on in stunned disbelief, the
longest Triple Crown drought in the history of the sport
continued.
So did the race. Bernardini received a patient ride from Javier
Castellano and was able to roar his way to a 5 1/4-length
victory over Sweetnorthernsaint in just his fourth career start.
"As soon as I passed the wire, I had mixed emotions," Castellano
said. "I was really excited for me, winning the Preakness,
winning my first Triple Crown race, but at the same time I saw
the other horse, and it was really sad."
Receiving his first career Preakness mount, Castellano settled
in Bernardini behind speedster Like Now, who quickly left from
the rail, and Sweetnorthernsaint.
Positioned fourth at the half-mile mark, Bernardini made up
steady ground, then stormed past Sweetnorthernsaint on the
outside around the final turn before pulling away in the stretch
for what had the feeling of a bittersweet victory.
Trained by Tom Albertrani, Bernardini became the first non-Derby
starter to win the Preakness since Red Bullet in 2000. He
covered 1 3/16 miles in 1:54 3/5 and paid $27.80, $9.40 and
$5.80.
"I think he just came into his own," Albertrani said. "We just
felt that he could probably compete at this level, knowing that
Barbaro was the horse to beat. This horse just blossomed and
matured so much in the last couple of months that he was just
beginning to get better and better."
Sweetnorthernsaint, who was seventh in the Derby, returned $7.80
and $5 with Kent Desormeaux in the irons. Hemingway's Key paid
$8 to show under Jeremy Rose, who won the Preakness last year
aboard Afleet Alex.
The complete order of finish for the 131st Preakness was
Bernardini, Sweetnorthernsaint, Hemingway's Key, Brother Derek,
Greeley's Legacy, Platinum Couple, Like Now, Diabolical and
Barbaro.