Vets pleased with Barbaro progress

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro has been the subject of an upbeat bulletin as he continues his recovery from a shattered hind leg.

The three-year-old suffered the injury during last month’s Preakness Stakes at Pimlico and underwent surgery to insert a plate and 27 screws in the leg at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center.

Dean Richardson, chief of surgery, has since replaced the cast with Barbaro under general anaesthesia and is pleased with the colt’s progress.

“His leg looks excellent,” Richardson told www.thoroughbredtimes.com.

“The incision has healed well and judging by the radiographs, the graft is opacifying (taking). Callus is forming nicely, and all of the implants (the plate and screws) look unchanged.”

Barbaro, who won the Kentucky Derby by a hugely impressive six and a half lengths, remains in intensive care at the hospital.