Laminitis Stalks Champion: All Hands on Deck as Coolmore Reports St Nicholas Abbey Diagnosed with Mild Signs of Dreaded Hoof Disease in Ireland

Coolmore Stud has posted the following news on their website:

"St Nicholas Abbey has suffered a setback over the last 24 hours, having developed mild laminitic changes in the left fore. This is disappointing, as he is now weightbearing and walking well on the operated (fractured) leg which has healed amazingly well to date.

Barbaro Funds Will Help Laminitis Research

This is second-hand news, so please wait for an official announcement before believing it, but...

In an interview in the Philadelphia Inquirer this weekend, owner Gretchen Jackson reported that she expects half of the donations to the Barbaro Fund at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center will go to laminitis research.

"Isn't that nice?" you may be musing..."Bring me some real news!" But wait...generous people have already donated more than $1.25 million to the fund, which means that roughly $600,000 will go to research.

But whose research? Chances are, the funds will stay right at New Bolton Center, where a laminitis research initiative has been on the wish list anyway.

Here's a quote lifted from the article: One of her (Gretchen Jackson, owner of Babaro) top priorities, she said, is New Bolton's Barbaro Fund, which has received 1,500 contributions totaling $1,225,000. Jackson said half the fund is slated to go for laminitis research, in the grandest-scale attempt yet to eradicate the disease. She's had a conversation with Secretariat's owner, Penny Chenery, about the disease, because Secretariat died from it.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/special_packages/latest/15592399.htm

In the photo: jockey Edgar Prado visiting with Barbaro and surgeon Dean Richardson on September 19. Photo by Sabina Louise Pierce/University of Pennsylvania.

Barbaro Update, Comment on Foot Cast

KENNETT SQUARE, PA —­ Chief of Surgery Dean Richardson reports today that Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro’s vital signs are good and that he had another quiet, restful night. “He remains in stable condition, and he is eating well,” said Dr. Richardson. “We continue to manage his pain successfully, and he is alert.”

Barbaro is tolerating his right hind leg cast well; this cast supports the repair of the injury suffered at the Preakness on May 20. To treat a severe case of laminitis in the colt’s left rear hoof, last week Dr. Richardson and his surgical team performed a hoof wall resection that removed 80 percent of the hoof. Doctors then applied a modified fiberglass foot cast to protect the hoof; this foot cast will be changed as needed so that the hoof can be treated and watched for signs of infection. The foot cast is rigid and provides greater stability and support than a bandage.

“It is important for people to understand that this is not a ‘routine’ laminitis. The care involved in treating a hoof with this degree of compromise is complex,” said Dr. Richardson.

(17 July update from New Bolton Center)

News provided by University of Pennsylvania Large Animal Hospital at New Bolton Center. 

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