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An athlete we can root for

By Times editorial
Published May 23, 2006

Sports fans who don't follow horse racing closely rarely start learning the names of the top 3-year-olds until the first Saturday in May. After he won the Kentucky Derby by the widest margin in 60 years, even the most casual fans tuning in Saturday to the Preakness Stakes knew Barbaro. Now the dark bay colt with the brightest of futures is fighting for his life instead of the Triple Crown and is even more famous for all the wrong reasons.

Anyone watching the race could not help but gasp as Barbaro faltered just a few hundred yards out of the starting gate, his right rear leg awkwardly sticking out. Jockey Edgar Prado expertly brought the horse to a stop, and suddenly it didn't matter who won the race.

Now we marvel over the five-hour surgery to repair three broken bones and the X-rays that show 23 screws implanted in the leg. Barbaro's doctors provide regular updates, and Web sites devoted to horse racing are seeing a sharp spike in hits. The horse's survival has generated more interest than Barry Bonds tying Babe Ruth with his 714th home run.

Other horses have broken down in big races over the years, and Barbaro is undoubtedly well-insured. The stud fees he would have commanded probably never will be realized, even if he survives. But there is something about this horse that gives him personality - his undefeated record (including the Florida Derby), his unusually long rests between races, his astounding Derby win, his bolting through the starting gate in Baltimore. The freakish injury occurring in the Preakness on national television has made Barbaro a household name, underscored the tremendous power and fragility of these remarkable creatures and left his old and new fans hoping he beats the odds.

[Last modified May 23, 2006, 04:59:00]