Bar Shoe / Aluminum Pad
 

Typically any horse that runs with a bar shoe or aluminum pad is an automatic toss for me but I have never seen any data supporting this. General feeling is it is hard to run when your feet are sore. Has anyone ever seen any data on how well horses do when running with bar shoes or aluminum pads?

Any other thoughts about horses running with bar shoes or aluminum pads?

Bar shoes and aluminum pads are used to protect the foot and prevent pain. Their presence indicates a problem, but certainly doesn't mean the horse will run poorly.

I'd look to the surface the horse will be running upon that day - if very firm or hard, a horse with a soreish foot may not like the footing (Saratoga main track is hard compared to Oklahoma training, for example). Or may be unaffected. Auto toss? I don't think so.

In the "good ole days", one of the favored handicapping angles was ALUM PAD or BAR SHOE OFF. Harvey Pack always made a point of mentioning these horses on his Racing Broadcasts (especially when a horse won at a big odds).

May the horse be with you...

Running much better when they are off makes sense to me. Was hoping someone had some stats on this.

No stats on this, but Bar shoe is and auto toss for me for years. I knew of one horse years ago trained by Allen Jerkens that ran with a bar shoe.....but he usually ran maybe once every 2 months because he had such bad feet...name was Raise A King, maybe Andy remembers him ?...heck of a horse.....usually always hit the board.