Barbaro's Accident shakes up the field

Jeremy Rose, who had Preakness glory last year with Afleet Alex, stood inside the shedrow at the Pimlico Stakes barn early Saturday evening. He, like everyone else who had just seen the 131st running of the Preakness Stakes, was shaken up.Barbaro, the heavy favorite to win the race and then the Belmont Stakes in three weeks, was being whisked away to an equine hospital, his career over, his life on the line.
Advertisement Rose escaped serious injury when Afleet Alex almost fell in last year's Preakness. He righted himself, then won the Belmont Stakes.
"It stinks. It's a terrible day," said Rose, who rode Hemingway's Key to a third-place finish in the Preakness. "It's the worst thing that can happen in any race, let alone the Preakness, let alone the favorite. A lot of people were here to see if he could make the next step to the Triple crown, including myself."
Rose said he was unaware that Barbaro broke down until he looked behind him when the field passed the stricken animal.
"It (stinks), it really does," Rose said. "It (stinks) when a horse breaks down in a $5,000 claiming race. What a bad day."
Home grown
Michael Trombetta, the trainer of Sweetnorthernsaint, said he has been to the Preakness about 20 times in his 39 years. Saturday was the first time he was there not as a spectator.
Trombetta was born in Baltimore, so running a horse in the Preakness was even more special.
"I'm comfortable here, I'm familiar with the territory," Trombetta said outside the stakes barn Saturday morning. "It's nice to be home. We'll have about 25 to 30 people here."
Sweetnorthernsaint was the last of the nine horses to ship to Pimlico, arriving on the grounds at 7 Saturday morning. Trombetta was here to greet him following the 27-mile trip from nearby Laurel Park, where he is based. As he watched the sea of humanity pour into Pimlico, it jogged his memory of his days as a young fan.
"I went to the infield a couple of times, but I behaved," Trombetta said of the wild Preakness party scene. "I was out there sightseeking. I tell you, sometimes it gets a little scary out there. The later you stay, the wilder it gets."
Bad day for Ah Day
Earlier in the week, Maryland-based trainer King Leatherbury decided he would not run his 3-year-old Ah Day in the Preakness. It would have cost the owners $100,000 to supplement to the Preakness because Ah Day was not nominated to the race.
Leatherbury decided instead to run Ah Day in the $100,000 Sir Barton at 1 1/16 miles on the Preakness undercard. After watching Ah Day finish fifth in the seven-horse field as the even-money favorite, Leatherbury is probably happy he didn't push for the Preakness.
The Sir Barton was won by the Todd Pletcher-trained High Cotton, who earlier this year was on the barn's list for Kentucky Derby contenders.
High Cotton, ridden by Garret Gomez for the first time, led from the start and won by 5 lengths while being timed in 1:42 4/5 for the 1 1/16 miles.
"He's professional," Gomez said. "When he got a little pressure he was up to the task. The more pressure he got, the better he was."
High Cotton was the 4-1 third choice in the wagering and paid $10.40, $5 and $3.80.
For Ah Day, who has raced exclusively on the Maryland circuit, it was only the second time in nine starts he didn't hit the board.
"He threw in a bad race," Leatherbury said. "That's the first bad race he has thrown in. It happens." Source: timesunion.com