Barbaro gets new cast

Barbaro, the 3-year-old Kentucky Derby winner who broke his right hind leg during the running of the Preakness Stakes, was fitted with a new cast on the broken limb Monday, according to a release issued by his doctors on Tuesday at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center veterinary clinic.

Dr. Dean Richardson, the chief of surgery at the clinic, said that Barbaro was placed under general anesthesia for the procedure and was also fitted with a new shoe for the right hind foot. Surgery to repair the broken bones in his leg required the insertion of more than 20 screws.

"I was pleased with the continued progression of healing and the overall condition of this leg," Richardson said in a statement. "There are no signs of infection, and the primary incisions have healed surprisingly well."

Barbaro has also suffered from a bout of laminitis in his left hind leg that required the removal of 80 percent of the hoof wall. Richardson said that the left hind leg is showing improvement, though recovery from that procedure will still require "many months of healing."

Barbaro remains in intensive care at the center. He was grazed outside after the cast replacement on Monday and was also exercised in the center's pool, the statement said.