What's In Store For Barbaro?

Derby Winner 'Frisky' After Surgery, But Faces A Perilous Road To Recovery

(CBS/AP)  Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was "bright and appropriately frisky" Monday after surgery to repair his broken hind leg, even showing an interest in mares, but the colt still faces a long and perilous road to recovery.

Dr. Dean Richardson, who performed the intricate five-hour operation, was satisfied with the result, but was blunt about the future for a horse who was unbeaten before breaking down in the Preakness Stakes.

Richardson, who operated on Barbaro at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center for Large Animals on Sunday, said the horse's chances for survival were still 50-50.

Michael Matz, who trained the 3-year-old colt to six straight wins before the grotesque injury ended its unbeaten run Saturday, paid the horse a visit Monday and was encouraged by what he saw.

"He looked pretty bright just now," Matz said. "You can't ask for anything more. He was very alert and seemed fine."

Barbaro, fitted with a fiberglass cast, was standing in his stall at the center's intensive care unit earlier Monday and showed interest in several mares in the vicinity.

"He got through the night very well, day one and into day two is going as well as expected," Corinne Sweeney, a veterinarian and the hospital's executive director, said Monday. "He is standing on the leg, and with the appropriate amount of weight on it.

"He also showed appropriate interest in the mares, which means he's acting like a young colt should."

Barbaro may be feeling some pain now, but during the Preakness, when Barbaro broke three bones, he likely wasn't in much pain, another equine specialist told CBS News correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi. And it's likely the jockey knew about the injury before Barbaro did.

"It actually doesn't hurt real bad because he had a lot of adrenaline going," Dr. Larry Branlage said.

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Branlage explains the extent of Barbaro's injuries.

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After his afternoon visit Monday, Matz smiled often — an improvement over the evident fatigue of the night before.

"We've got the first step accomplished," he said. "He seemed fine. It's a new thing for him also to have this big thing on his leg and hopefully he's adjusting to it very well."

Sweeney said there are two major concerns in the first days of recovery — the possibility of infection from the surgery and laminitis, a potentially fatal disease sometimes brought on by uneven weight balance.

"He's doing exactly what the doctor wants, but he's got a long road ahead," Sweeney added. "A lot of possible problems that could occur have not.

Earlier Monday, Richardson emphasized that the horse had a long road ahead, and would never race again.

There is "absolutely no chance of this horse racing again. There's none," Richardson said on The Early Show. "We're salvaging him as a breeding animal. The idea is to try and make him comfortable enough that he could basically go to a stud farm and breed mares. That's what we're trying to accomplish."

"He looks happy this morning. It's a long way to go. But this morning he looks happy," Richardson told co-anchor René Syler. Still, "Any one day could be the last day."