Advances in veterinary medicine (may have) saved Barbaro

If Barbaro recovers and lives to enjoy the green pastures of a stud farm, it will be a result of advances in veterinary medicine that have increased the odds of survival for gravely injured racehorses, veterinarians said yesterday.

Those advances — better surgical techniques and anesthesia, implants to repair broken bones and new ways of delivering antibiotics — have not necessarily lessened the threat of serious leg injuries, like the broken leg and ankle bones that hobbled Barbaro moments after the Preakness began Saturday.

But Barbaro, this year's Kentucky Derby winner, had a promising first day of recovery yesterday. He rested comfortably at the New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa., and was able to stand on his repaired right hind leg.