Rachel Alexandra, the 2009 Horse of the Year, was in “very serious” condition yesterday at the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., after undergoing emergency surgery Wednesday night for complications suffered when she foaled a Bernardini filly Tuesday morning at Stonestreet Farm.
“I think right now it’s too early to say [how she will recover],” Dr. Bonnie Barr, internal medicine specialist at Rood and Riddle, said at a press conference yesterday. “We need to see how she responds to treatment and take it one day at a time.”
“She had a section of her small colon that lost its blood supply [after being damaged during the foaling process],” attending surgeon Dr. Brett Woodie said, “compromising the integrity of the intestinal wall, which led to bacteria gaining access to the cavity. ”
“She looks brighter today, so that makes me happy,” said Barbara Banke, the owner of Stonestreet, whose husband, the late Jess Jackson, purchased Rachel Alexandra after she won the 2009 Kentucky Oaks, then sent her out to beat colts in the Preakness, Haskell and Woodward. “It’s a day-by-day, hour-by-hour type of thing. It’s very serious.”
Rachel Alexandra’s newborn filly is being cared for by a nurse mare at Stonestreet and is said to be doing well.