As a born,

bred, and raised Louisvillian, it is quite natural

that I have an affinity for and a familiarity with horse racing. Having an

historical racetrack and the world’s greatest horse race run in your town each

year does have an impact on your psyche. I can be found in the paddock or at

the finish line several times a meet at Churchill Downs during both the Spring and Fall sessions.

It is also

that background which makes the events of this past weekend particularly

troubling. As many of you probably saw, Barbaro, the

Kentucky Derby winner this year, broke down early in the Preakness

Stakes race. He was trying to win the second leg of the prestigious and elusive

Triple Crown of horse racing. As someone who has been watching and attending

horse races for much of his life, I knew immediately that the injury was life

threatening. It is horrible to see such a beautiful and graceful athlete like a

horse injured in that way. It sickens the stomach in a way that I cannot

properly describe.

Fortunately,

through the wonders of technology and veterinary science, Barbaro

has a fighting chance to make it through his injury and live a fairly normal

life on a horse farm somewhere. It won’t be easy, but at least he has a chance.

Several years ago there would be not attempt made to save his life at all —

it would not have even been contemplated.

While so

much of our technological advances these days result in unnecessary luxuries

like camera phones and cars that give us directions because we can’t look at a

map, it is good to know and to remember that technology can be used for

practical endeavors too. Perhaps we should spend more time being excited about

the ability to fix broken bones, replace hips, and save lives then we are about

cell phones that can gives us a play-by-play of our favorite baseball team.