I heard it as well, and I thought it was inappropriate speculation. I know JJ portrays himself as a straight shooter, but sometimes that attitude is not appropriate.

Freedom of the press is full and open, but sometimes, a touch of dignity is necessary for some stories and I think this would be one of them. More or less, a classless move by JJ.

E-mail the guy with your opinion? jj@attheracesandbeyond.com

Should be an interesting press conference for that guy JJ tomorrow.

Wow, thats great about your horse, my mare recovered from a horendous laminitis bout, but she will never be the same, and is essentially my much loved, and appreciated pet. I will never ride her again for fear of causing a relapse, I have plenty others to ride, I'm just thankful she's still here with me and greeting me every morning!

Just like press in other areas. First to the story. First to get it right. Seems people take this to mean a good source. So people conjecture based on heard this, heard that. Or try to ascertain the Vets comments and delivery and take it a step further.

If any horse has a good chance its this one. He could not possibly get any better care. And we can rest assurred he will be comfortable if he is on a downhill slide. At least he does not have to go through the pain a lot of other horses are experiencing as I type.

Hell my wife even started with the not enough pressure on the other hoof, and she does not even keep up with racehorses...

Tao-Don't you think you should personally listen to his comments in the archives before drawing a conclusion and making it a personal attack? I need to listen to the whole discussion myself before I pass any judgement on what he said. I too am bothered by those comments if they were said the way it is being portrayed on this thread. I am going to withhold my judgement until I hear it myself. If anybody knows the approximate time this was being dicussed on the show please post it so I can go back and listen myself. I respect your right to your opinion but you shouldn't allow yourself to make it so personal. It takes away from the issue at hand which is Barbaro. I want to say thanks for your earlier thread of updated information about Barbaro. That was much appreciated and any other info you have concerning Barbaro would be too. I don't want to see this thread turn into an attack on somebody, especialy in lite of Barbaro's present conditon. Lets keep this thread going about Barbaro.

I certainly agree with the previous poster who said it would be fair to listen to exactly what was said before commenting on it. I am neither defending or condeming JJ for what he MAY have said, and certainly anyone that actually listened to it is just as entitled to their opinions as JJ is. But that's kind of the problem isn't it....we can share opinions but JJ can't? Come on, some of you are smarter and fairer than that.

As for the poster who didn't listen to JJ but felt compelled to slam him professionally...well, let's remember that this is a poster who claims to be a track announcer yet freely slammed the most widely respected announcer in America on this site. Maybe it's just me but I would call this envy.

Black, who is supposedly a track announcer?

Taoaracing claims that I believe.

First Off , Black , Why do you alway's feel compelled to bring the fact that I am an announcer into every thread I post on , Seems to me thats envy. I do not have to explain my position . I made a comment about 1 call Durkin made and now he is the most respected announcer in america (please form an intelligent opinion and then comment) . I dont know what your deal is but , I made an opinion about JJ Graci , he certainly can come on this board and explain what he said and why he said it right since his main man runs this board.

All's I know is I made comments on this thread and you instead of dealing with the topic decide to attack my credibility once again . If you bothered to read any posts Ive made in the last 2 days you would see what I mean. But keep on attacking my occupation and trying to rack your brain as to whom I am . Either way You can only attack people you have no idea how to form an opinion (typical message board dribble is all you can contribute)

Ok, you peaked my interest now. I appreciate the updates you posted...

Please, feel free to dig up just ONE post outside of this thread where I have " brought up " you're being an announcer. I don't recall having had one exchange with you.

I'm confused, doesn't Durkin call the TC races and the BC races?

Oh and as far as listening to JJ , I dont have to listen to him, I listened to him 20 years ago , Im sure he sounds the same and brings the same boring commentary to whatever show he is on. He brings nothing original to the table thats for sure. Just keep on attacking me tho its fun. Again see Ive formed Opinions I state why I dont like it or something, Then I comment on it . That is conversation pro and con not all happy happy joy joy. Im sure Mr Graci (jj) does fine things for racing and the show . Just not in MY OPINION is it worth 2-4 hours of my time to it. or 1 minute of a 4 hour show to find what exactly he said . It was stated what he said in this thread and thats what I commented on.

The guy is an idiot, but he has ever right to voice his opinion. It just shows little class, but it isn't like he is making up a story about an injury and potentially costing some owner money.

Dave
 

When guys consistently have live on air time to fill, I give them some slack.

If you have to talk spontaneously, eventually something is gonna come out you might have wished you had said differently.....after the fact.

I didn't hear any of the comments he made, but given the news of the last 72 hours I certainly understand the on-air speculation.

I've speculated the same in my thoughts, before I read these comments this evening.

Anyone recall seeing the movie "Dave?" Where the President falls ill, and the government employs an impersonator to take his place?

At this point, I'd almost want to be lied to and told that Barbaro will be just fine......

but, that's just me on this one.

JJ is on a national stage , He is open for attack's . I am not attacking him personally Im attacking his opinion as being not for him to be commenting on as far as life or death for the horse. If they put the horse down I would rather hear it from U.penn or the Doctor not JJ GRACI the day before. Like I said before he probably has done good for racing and the show . Straight shooter portrayed maybe. Lets all remember where his training day's where . Like I say I know alot about this situation as well and I have not said anything except what I originally posted which anyone can find on the web if they know where to look . Anyways this thread has gotten out of control , I defend my OPINION and thats that.

More updates from Tim Wolley (at least it's someone we KNOW is talking to people who've seen the horse themselves):

Update 214: Just spoke with Kathy Anderson. She visited Bobby at about 4 pm. She wanted to let me know that despite all the medical information that we are learning, Barbaro is comfortable. He appeared bright and she was encouraged. She gave Bobby about a half hour of good scratching, and when a nursing assistant was russling a plastic bag he misinterpretted this activity as dinner time; he was alert and looking for food. She called me as she really wanted to make sure everyone knew that despite all, he remains reasonably comfortable.

Update 213: Good Morning America is doing a piece on Bobby tomorrow morning. Jeannine Edwards let me know as we were discussing tomorrow's press conference. (ABC owns ESPN or something like that). Jeannine left a comment clarifying ESPNs coverage of the press conference tomorrow and the reason for such a press conference:

Just to clarify for everyone, SportsCenter always sends a producer with the reporter when they cover any story. It's always a tag-team situation. But normally someone would not fly in from TX, normally a regional person would make the trip from NY or DC. Perhaps no one in the area was available. ESPN takes the Barbaro situation very seriously and wants to cover it accurately and completely. We have no idea what will be discussed at tomorrow's presser, but we have to be prepared for what could potentially be a worst-case scenario. New Bolton is being beseiged with phone calls right now, and rather than try to deal with each news org separately, it's much easier to hold a press conference and give everyone as much info as possible in an orderly fashion. Pressers can be held for several reasons: 1) There is updated info to communicate, 2) There are inquiries and demands made on the facility and so they're trying to accomodate everyone. We'll know more tomorrow.

I am planning to attend the press conference scheduled for tomorrow. I hope they let me in. I did call New Bolton and asked if it was OK. They were aware of this site, and did not seem to mind.

The New York Post may be including a bit on this site tomorrow in its Barbaro coverage. (Eliza, I hope we have the bandwidth for that ?) As I was enjoying a couple of Tetleys at the Whip it seemed HRTV was running something on Bobby (sound was muted, but it seemed they were talking to Jeannine during some of the coverage).

Most informative updates on the web right above this post , Thats where i got mine from as well

thank you all for the info. and at the very least Pimlico can't say anymore that someone or soemthing kicked Barbaro. it was bad racing luck directly related to the running surface.