Is Barbaro up there with a horse like Sea Biscuit?

Question

I wonder if they will make a movie about him? He was a winner, and was supposed to win the Triple Crown, and then the sad break of his leg, and of course the sad fact they had to put him down later on after that.

Answer 1

No

Answer 2

For all the people saying Barbaro didn't do anything but win the Derby, 1st winning the Derby is pretty good, especially to win it by 6 1/2 furlongs going away.  2nd, all he did up to then was win every race he ever ran in before breaking down in the Preakness, and he ran under different conditions at that.  So, yeah, he had a very good shot at the triple crown.  He dominated the field in the Derby.  Bernardini might still have beaten him at Pimlico had things not gone wrong there, but it's hard to imagine, say, Jazil or Bluegrass Cat beating him.  

I think it's fair to say that Barbaro was a great three year old.  Because of the way his career was cut short, we'll never know just how great he could have been, and we can't really compare him to the great horses that raced for a long time. As for the comment about breeding fees, all the Jacksons had to do was put him down and they would have gotten about $30 million or so from insurance, so it's a hard sell to say they were soley motivated by money.  All is yellow to a juandiced eye; if you listen to the Jacksons speak, only a hopeless cynic could conclude that they didn't love that horse.

Answer 3

barbaro was a cute horse, but they dont even compare. people just felt bad for him and sure, he won the derby... but thats basically all he did.

Answer 4

Glad to know that not everyone bought into the Barbaro MEDIA HYPE.

Answer 5

why would they make a movie about him - many horses have been put down.

Answer 6

It makes a good story but...you can't really compare the two horses.

Answer 7

his fight to live and recover --even if he did die--makes him  great and I think a movie will be made more about his determination than his wins.

Answer 8

yes he is a brilliant horse as was Seabiscuit. not sure if he's dead though coz my brothers a jockey :)

Answer 9

They have already made a movie about Barbaro- it airs tomorrow night on HBO at 8 or 9 pm EDT. Check local listings for start times. To Angus ASSassin: Barbaro's owners made it VERY CLEAR FROM THE START LAST YEAR THAT THEY WERE TRYING TO SAVE THE COLT BECAUSE THEY LOVED HIM, AND SO DID MILLIONS OF OTHER PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY !!!!! I AM SICK TO DEATH OF HEARING PEOPLE LIKE YOU WHO KEEP SAYING THAT IT WAS ALL ABOUT MONEY AND STUD FEES. IT WASN"T !!!!! These people are independently wealthy and have a beautiful farm in southeastern PA, about an hour's drive from where I currently live in DE. They don't need money- they are, and were, wealthy. Has it ever occurred to you, as selfish as you are, that there are more important things in life than money ? The Jacksons never even found out if the colt was potent- and even if he had not died of founder ( laminitis), he would have been physically incapable of mounting a mare to breed. There's no way his hind leg would ever have been strong enough to support his weight- and he would most likely have broken down again had they tried to breed him. These people loved that horse- he was like their child. Like any parents, they wanted to do the very best they could for him- the way your parents would do or have done for you, if you were in a similar situation. People like you, who think everything has to be about money and dollar signs, make me sick sometimes. Where is your sense of compassion, pal? A lot of good has actually come out of this sad situation- millions of dollars have been raised for research into the causes of laminitis, and some of that money will go into finding better treatments and a cure, so that more horses don't suffer and die the way Barbaro did. This will benefit ALL horses one day, and we will be better off as horse people because of it. We also have a vet who can pass on his knowledge to future generations of students, some of whom will undoubtedly go on to perform surgeries as complicated as the one performed on the colt, with great success. This will SAVE lives, NOT TAKE THEM, and no, it is NOT ALL ABOUT MONEY.  I think that you should apologize to all of us who are fans of that horse and his human family- we deserve better treatment. Think about it, pal.

PS : to the asker of this question, I think that yes, Barbaro is in heaven- he is at what some have called the Rainbow Bridge. Seabiscuit is there too. Sorry for the rant earlier, but I am tired of seeing this same person insult both the Jacksons and their trainer by saying that the attempt to save Barbaro was all about money and stud fees. This was just NOT true, as they made clear repeatedly.  In terms of fame, I also believe that Barbaro has a clear place in racing's history- maybe not quite as illustrious as Seabiscuit's, but a clear spot nonetheless. Who's to say that he wouldn't have  won the Triple Crown had he not gotten hurt? I can't say that, not after having watched his Derby win last year. That horse accelerated coming off the final turn- with his ears pricked forward and a bright, cheerful look in his eyes. He looked like he was having fun- and I think he was. I have not seen a horse do that since I watched Seattle Slew win in the 1970's.  I was in shock, too, when the colt broke down, but for a long time, I thought he had a fighting chance. It just didn't work out that way in the end.

Answer 10

I keep hoping they will make a movie but every1 keeps saying that he doesn't deserve one! i really donno y they wouldn't make a movie though, he just deserves one so much. after EVERYTHING he did for us we can at least do some more for him, and making a movie would be wonderful,

because if they did i would be at that theater and cry my eye lids out! lol

-mel

RIP Barbaro

Answer 11

barbaro never faced open company, and seabiscuit lost 2 other match races, so lets make a money about the big red machine of 1973....a true champion, who not only beat older horses he beat them on dirt and turf.....

Answer 12

I have to agree with a couple other posts above me.  Barbaro made for a good media story but please don't compare the two together.  There is no way that Barbaro could ever be compared to Seabiscuit.  The fact that Barbaro was suppose to win the Triple Crown is just nuts.  Anything can happen in a horse race. Barbaro just happened to get media attention because he broke down during one of America's biggest races.  If he had broken down in any other race than one of the Triple Crown races nobody would have cared except the owners and maybe the trainer.

Answer 13

It's hard to compare horses from different eras; and it's even harder to compare horses that are totally different in talents on the racecourse.

Seabiscuit was a tough, tough, tough handicapper who didn't come into his best form until well after his 3-year-old season.  As a 3-year-old he was what trainers call "better than an empty stall," but nobody who looked at his race record as a 2-year-old and 3-year-old would have guessed he would end up becoming a hall-of-famer and a sports legend.  The Biscuit had raced more times as a 2-year-old (35 starts!!!!!) than Barbaro likely would have raced in his entire career, had he survived.

Seabiscuit won his races mostly through sheer grit and toughness, not through brilliant speed or overpowering talent.  Barbaro's tenure on the racing scene was short, far too short to define the extent of his talents, but he seemed to be possessed of a brilliance and sheer dominance over his peers that Seabiscuit lacked.

Barbaro's memory taunts us with what might have been-- we never got the measure of his talent.  There wasn't time.

Seabiscuit, on the other hand, ran long and hard and never ducked a rival or a race.  In the end his talent was an open book:  he might not dazzle anyone with brilliance, but he would baffle them with heart that couldn't be broken and grit that wouldn't be denied.

Answer 14

No, he's not to be compared to Seabiscuit or Secretariat or Citation... he was a very promising horse with a bright future, and he very well may have proved his worth among the 'legends' but his early demise prevented that.

He may have been talented, but he may also have fizzled and never won another race.  Unless he raced, won, and proved himself beyond his early career, I cannot place him among the upper echelons of the sport.

Answer 15

First of all why was he supposed to win the Triple Crown? Because he won the Derby? He wasnt even the favorite in the Derby although I do admit betting on him. And seeing as the Triple Crown hasnt been won in almost 30 years, any comparison to horses of that type is foolish. As far as comparing him to Seabiscuit it is laughable. Barbaro had a total of 7 races and a 100 yards lifetime whereas Seabiscuit despite all of his quirks and infirmities raced at the highest level for years including beating a triple crown winner in a match race. If Barbaro had broken down before he won the Derby no one would even remember his name. And if his greedy owners had just put him down when he got hurt instead of making a futile attempt to save him for breeding you wouldnt even be asking such a question.

Answer 16

Babaro didn´t live long enough to make the kind of racing history Seabisquit did.  I definately think he´d have won the triple crown, tho, had he not had his tragic accident that ended his racing career and his life.  Noboby will ever be able to say how far he`d have gone, more´s the pity!  One thing, they´d never have run him so many times, no matter how good he was.  He´d be retired to stud.

Answer 17

angus above me is correct...Ive posted that numerous times, what about the 24 horses put down in a 4 month meet at the recently concluded bay meadows meet...Im sure a lot of people on the back, the owners and trainers felt a loss for those animals...but you will never hear about them, this horse was lucky to win the derby, to say he was supposed to win a triple crown is just goofy...the owners and the press made this horse out to be a 'miracle' while in reality they made him suffer so they could breed this 'media miracle' horse...hundreds of horses get put down each year, this one just had media coverage...dont ever try to compare barbaro to any of the great ones...

Answer 18

the story with barbaro getting so much attention is that he tried battling a fatal injury.

he might have been as great as seabiscuit if he did not take that injury. :)