Almost exactly two years after 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro's untimely death in January 2007, his brother Nicanor placed 10th at his debut race at Gulfstream Park near Hollywood, Fla., Saturday.
But two years later, Barbaro still has a positive legacy, said Dean Richardson, the surgeon who treated the thoroughbred.
After shattering his leg at the 2006 Preakness Stakes race, Barbaro was treated at the George Widener Hospital for Large Animals at the School of Veterinary Medicine's New Bolton Center.
Barbaro eventually succumbed to laminitis and had to be euthanized, but not before he brought attention to the treatment of large animals at Penn.
Richardson, the chief of large animal surgery at the hospital, said Barbaro "put the school and the New Bolton Center in a good light."
He said, "Interest and support for equine research was brought to the forefront and has improved" since Barbaro's case.
Corinne Sweeney, associate dean for the New Bolton Center, agreed.
"When the light shined on us, people saw good," she said.
The New Bolton Center was not the only beneficiary of the attention given to Barbaro. The treatment of laminitis, a kind of inflammation of the hoof, has also received more attention since Barbaro's death.
"As a consequence of all of the attention, there has been more money and more efforts put forth in the specific arena of laminitis treatment," Richardson said.
Barbaro's owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, endowed the Vet School with a chair in Richardson's name as part of the effort to fight equine diseases, including laminitis.
"From that tragedy came much good," Sweeney said, "often because of the Jacksons allowing for that."
Sweeney also said the school received many smaller donations because of Barbaro, which helped "fund some needed equipment."
Richardson emphasized that while Barbaro was a unique horse, the efforts taken to treat him were the norm at the New Bolton Center.
"It is good for people to recognize that the efforts that were made in order to save Barbaro were the kinds of things that were done on a regular basis," he said.
Richardson said the school relies on the state for some of its funding. He and Sweeney agreed that the state budget released today will likely negatively impact the school, but that in this time of economic crisis, increased attention to veterinary research should help.
Richardson said Barbaro helped point out the importance of veterinary research.
