Not to defend Dutrow, but there are tons of trainer out there who are just as bad as he is. Most of the top trainers cheat. Both Pletcher and Asmussen got caught blocking their horses with mepivicaine. That is about as unethical and immoral as you can get. That is making it so that the horse can't feel anything. Do you know how dangerous that is?

Not to mention Biancone who was using snake venom for the same purpose.

Yes, I saw it. He was doing those full backward kicks in his stall for a couple of seconds. He was lucky he didn't kick the wall. A horse can get hurt like that.

perhaps a quarter crack would be worse as it is indicative of a hoof weakness, while a grab is just that, a horse injuring himself. once that grows out, you'd think it would be a solved problem. however, with big brown for instance, you have constant worries about his hooves.
they said on tv yesterday ( i think it was the mouth himself talking) that when the hoof guy was first called for BB, he asked if it was the front left hoof-so it sounds to me like he was expecting it, based on work done on big brown in the past.

the danger with quarter cracks is infection underneath the initial crack especially after patching. Infection can just rot out much of the horses foot. With a grabbed quarter it is usually right there in front of you, they dont usually have an infection run deep. Of course this is talking in general terms.

Not to defend Pletcher but his mepivicaine positive was a very low level that would not be considered a positive in the majority of racing states. I guess that is a defense but what I am saying is all positives are not equal though in the public's eyes they are. the other guy got a positive that by all accounts was not a trace level and was not a mistake hence the more severe punishment.

I would guess that 90% of quartercracks are on the inside of the left front.

When we originally complained about the holding or security barns this was one of the things we were referring to. It can really upset a nervous or high strung horse and throw them off their game. I am not suggesting that is the case here but it is another factor that you just cant quantify.

In fact, the Racing Gods just thought "Big Brown" wasn't an appropriately classy name for a Triple Crown winner. That's what did in Funny Cide and Smarty Jones, you know.

(I'm surprised they let "Omaha" slip through, but you know, maybe the regular Racing Gods were out sick that day.)

Thanks Cannon.

really? i wonder why.

i would think some positives are based on the fact that not all horses metabolize at the same rate, so withdrawal times for some drugs are hit or miss. in many instances, these drugs have zero tolerance-look at the horse who travelled to australia, only to have to scratch out because he was still showing trace amounts of a drug too soon before the race-they didn't want to chance him having a level above what was allowed by races' end, so the trip was for nothing. i think this is what nipped pletcher, as well as some other trainers in times past. it's the danger of zero tolerance compared to an allowed trace amount.

left hand turns

Now this is very interesting.
I know someone has put an impulse pad down
to ascertain the force applied at all points on
a hoof through the duration of the hoof strike.

It has to have been done. Its easy.
Cornell, ATM or some school with large
animal research has got to have this info.

zero tolerence is a really bad idea for drugs that have a use in horses simply because of the difference between labs, lack of adequate research to determine accurate withdrawl times and environmental contamination. Many of the rules in place were written when the testing was far less advanced than it is now. The RMTC and its people do alot of talking about what they have done yet if you go to their website and punch in just about any drug in any state on their withdrawl time scale and you will draw a blank. Fix the system before you start leveling heavy penalties. Most trainers are all for severe penalties for violators of a serious nature but too many of the positives that are called now are simply due to confusing rules and lack of proper research. The RMTC is a good idea in theory yet as most things in this world it is very political and as such does not do effective job. If they would be a little more willing to admit what they dont know and they cant do the horseman would be a lot more welcome to helping them. Instead we are forced to fight much of what they propose simply because it is either not realistic or worse patently unfair. Fix the rules, do the research then lay the groundwork for tougher penalties. they have done it backwards for the most part.

Europe... Horses that run the other way.
I wonder what the % is there.

Geek overload.
Excuse please.

Cornell and A&M are cow schools

I just told you why

Yes you did and I did not see it in time.
So 90% in Europe on the other side?

You need to do a little research on euro racing and you will be able to answer it yourself.

I did.
Cant find anything.

Please dont strike me if I come to a DT event.

Cornell is not just a cow school anymore...my neighbor's daughter is enrolled in this program and her mother is a teacher of Equine Science at Suny Cobleskill:

http://web.vet.cornell.edu/public/cuerp/


Also running drug tests for the tracks:

http://diaglab.vet.cornell.edu/labsect/equine.asp

I was only messing around with Peegarden

I shall not strike you but may have Scavs drive you through rough sections of town

I figured as much...but maybe this will entertain a few folks here.

that makes sense, now that you say that. do you agree with the folks who think the horses should train in opposite directions from day to day? i don't see what it would hurt.
like the local gym, walk to the left today...

I suppose it couldnt hurt

I did that on the track as much as possible.
With the crosscountry kids also. During the same workout.

Hope you can get back into your routine.

They are also the lead institution mapping
the thoroughbred genome. Which in the future
should be very interesting. I think the genome is about done.
Just gotta try to make some sense out of it.

Quarter cracks are practically non-existant in Europe. I believe the reason that they are so common here is because of the sandy surfaces here. Because of the sandy surfaces here, the horses' feet get all dried out and are prone to cracking.

In addition, the surfaces are much firmer over here.

All I could think about when I saw BB going postal in the stall was that this is probably how N. Key probably hurt herself.

Well yeah Bobby, that's the equivalent of taking an All Pro NFL running back with a knee injury and potentially risking career ending injury by injecting tetracaine and solumedrol in a knee so they can play while injured. Which is exactly what is done not only in the pro's but now all the way down to the youngest of kids at levels shameful to sport and society.

Congrats on the big win with #4 over the weekend.

It's not much of a reach Chuck to suggest BB left an awful lot of game in that stall Saturday Chuck.

That's reaching pretty deep.

But, hey, good detective there. What's next.....the Loch Ness monster?

Zito is a great trainer and exudes class and is respectful of others.
The other guy is a mouthy blowhard with no class.

A few years back when Zito had 5 starters in the derby, and all expectations and pressure where on him. Immediately after the race when he finished off the board with all horses, the media were all right in his face for interviews of course, and I'll never forget how he handled it. He didn't squirm or make excuses or blame anyone or duck any questions. He made himself available at a moment that had to be a huge personal disappointment and answered the questions forthrightly.

contrast that to Saturday with a sweaty guy quickly running off "don't even think about it" after mouthing off to the world for weeks that the race was guaranteed.

You're reaching to start trouble.

If the media asks Nick about his use of medications I'm quite comfortable he will be forthcoming, as he always is. Winstrol is a legal medication in many states. Dutrow was honest, and actually complimented for his honesty by those with any knowledge of the game, and if anything it is the industry that needs to address the issue. Dutrow was also criticized for what he said, which was that he just gave it to his horses and didn't know what it did. I would be surprised if Nick gave a similar answer.

Different people have different styles. That doesn't make one right and one wrong. Fortunately, the world doesn't work that way. However, Nick has developed his positive image through many years of being a great friend to horse racing. If, perhaps, he is treated differently, maybe he has earned it through years of availability and generosity. This is not to criticize Rick Dutrow, but his fame is mostly recent, and fair or unfair, much of his notoriety has been due to negative publicity. I hope, for his sake and the sake of the game, that he will be able to use this opportunity to show a much more positive side of himself. Personally, and I don't know Rick at all, while I didn't agree with everything he said or did, overall I would say he was pretty entertaining and my opinion of him, for whatever the hell that's worth, improved.

They should be. No one ever said Parcells or Belechik were fun to be around after a loss, but they showed up. If you want to represent your sport favorably, you have to show up in good times and in bad. The only exception would be, IMO, an EB type tragedy.