What captivated most of us so much about Barbaro was the fact that most everyone saw the injury happen. That footage from The Preakness was played over and over again in the days immediatly after the race. To have the news explain the extent of the injuries to us and then see the fact that not only did the horse survive the surgery but that he actually began to recover was fairly miraculous! It made you want to cheer for this horse! Who doesn't love a good underdog story? I think what most people find so heartbreaking about Barbaro's death was the fact that he had been so healthy (well, as healthy as he could be) and happy and he took such a quick turn for the worse and he had to be put down. You just wanted Barbaro to beat the odds! Every time a complication had come up during his recovery, he had beat it. It was so incredibly sad to hear that he just couldn't do it one more time.
RIP Barbaro