Dortmund?
 

Anyone heard anything that he had colic in the weeks leading up to the Derby?

Oops. One week before the Derby.

Just saw the video from CD and Baffert mentioning it. Says it was minor and didn't last long. Probably a shot of ban amine took care of it. Funny how he kept this in-house before the race.

Per the Twittersphere - it was a mild colic event which took place at some point after his last workout and prior to the Derby - all rumor until confirmed, obviously Baffert didn't think much of it.

If you prefer your information first hand, you could listen to Baffert talk about it on ATR.

I will, thanks.

he ran tough. if he was ill he did a hell of a job.

respect.

A mild colic is like us having indigestion, it's no big deal, I can't even count the amount of times I've had to treat a horse for a minor colic, horses don't throw up so they have bouts of colic on occasion, unless it's severe it has no bearing even the next day.

Why was his Derby start in jeopardy if this is what minor colic is?

Because it can progress to severe colic requiring surgery, but this was clearly a minor case as he was fine.

Ok. I understand. What I'm saying is that any hiccup in training up to the Derby is a red flag for me. I probably wouldn't have bet on Dortmund if I had hear about this, no matter where he finished.

I know what you are saying, but there is an information overload headed into the Derby nowadays. You get reports, from multiple sources that often contradict each other. You can say this info on Dortmund may have hurt him, but he ran a good race. At the same time, American Pharoah had a quarter crack and won. The one horse who's reported issue that really ran a stinker was Upstart, who received antibiotics. I was off him completely until I saw him sitting there at 32-1. Apparently I wasn't the only one as he went off at 15-1, which is a number I wouldn't have been as excited about betting.

Uh, what?

AP has a quarter crack?

You just never know. Makes me think back to how washed out Shackleford looked before the Preakness, before he won it. I would have canceled ever bet I had with him based on the way he looked.

I don't believe Upstart missing a workout and getting antibiotics was any secret either.

Yeah, I recall that about Upstart. No clue on the crack though.

I just Googled American Pharoah and quarter crack. Zayats other horse had the beginnings of one, but not a single blip about one for AP.

He had a special shoe on that was covered extensively by DRF.

That was on for all his races this year.

I have no idea how I missed that, but thanks for informing me.

Another topic that Baffert talked about repeatedly on ATR. It wasn't for a quarter crack but to protect the bottom of his hoof (frog). Here's Jay Privman's piece from 4/24.

American Pharoah will keep special foot plate in Derby
By Jay Privman

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – American Pharoah has been racing and training with a plate covering part of the sole of his left front foot, and on Saturday, trainer Bob Baffert said he would keep that plate in place for the Kentucky Derby, in which American Pharoah is expected to be the favorite.

“I was going to take it off to run him, but he’s had it there so long I don’t want to change,” Baffert said from California. “He’s traveling so well with it.”

Baffert said he started using the plate after American Pharoah bruised the frog on the left front foot earlier this year.

“It protects the frog,” he said.

The frog is on the sole and acts as a shock absorber when a horse’s foot hits the ground. Baffert said the bruise happened several weeks before American Pharoah’s first 2015 start in the Rebel Stakes.

American Pharoah has worn the plate since. It goes under the horseshoe, and covers just a portion of the sole, closer to the heel than the toe. Baffert said American Pharoah was shod that way for the Rebel Stakes and the Arkansas Derby. He won both in runaway style.

In the Rebel, American Pharoah lost his right front shoe during the race. This issue is with his opposite foot. The right front foot has no special shoeing or plate.

What has encouraged Baffert to keep American Pharoah shod this way for the Kentucky Derby is how he performed in the Rebel and the Arkansas Derby.

“He’s even won on a muddy track with it,” Baffert said, referring to the Rebel.

American Pharoah certainly has shown no signs of being compromised by being shod in such a manner. He has won both his starts this year, has worked strongly between races, and has traveled over the Churchill Downs surface in recent days just as he did at Santa Anita.

“At this point, I’m afraid to take it off,” Baffert said.

Baffert was fully expecting more attention to be placed on the plate after American Pharoah works Sunday and through the upcoming week, when American Pharoah gets the scrutiny all Derby favorites come under.

“It’s Plate-Gate,” he said.