For the last eight months, one of Dean Richardson’s first stops on his morning rounds was Barbaro’s ICU stall.

Richardson looked into the colt’s bright eyes, made sure he was comfortable and formed an emotional bond with the Kentucky Derby winner that maybe only owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson equaled.

One day after Barbaro was euthanized, the morning rounds felt terribly empty.

“I’m still having trouble dealing with it,” said Richardson, the chief of surgery for the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center, his voice cracking. “I don’t really want to talk about it. It’s still hard to deal with