How serious is grabbing a quarter?
 

I find it very interesting the difference of opinion on just how serious an injury a grabbed quarter is to a horse in a race.

I just heard Richie Migliore comment on California Chrome's grabbed quarter, "His adrenaline was flowing. Horses are just so tough; I doubt he really even felt it."

Then this from Billy Gowan in the Orange County Register.

Rival trainer Billy Gowan, whose Ride On Curlin did not finish the Belmont, compared the injury to a human ripping off a fingernail and said it is extremely painful for a horse.

Many horses, he said, will pull up and not finish the race.

“He’s a pretty courageous horse to finish fourth,” Gowan said.

I'm a fan and handicapper and don't have the experiences of Mr. Migliore or Mr Gowan. I was wondering what others know about the severity of this injury . I'm guessing is that we probably will never know.

It is the JOB of a trainer to look for any and all excuses.

I would tend to side strongly with Migliore.

When did Gowan replace Sherman?

There is no way to say for sure whether it had an effect on him or not. I asked a couple of different trainers. They both said the same thing. They said they've had horses that grabbed quarters that didn't run a lick and they've had others that won the race.

It's not an exact science. It might have bothered him but then again it may not have.

I thought 'Grabbing a quarter' usually happens when a horse strikes himself?

It looks more like Matterhorn did it for him. He cut him, and he just so happened to cut him in that area of the foot.

It's impossible to quantify how much that cost him...but, 1.75 lengths in a 12 furlong dirt race is practically nothing.

If you get beat by 1.75 lengths going 6 furlongs, that's one thing, but going 12 furlongs, that's a very small margin of defeat.

I would love for someone to tell me, in the 146 year history of the Belmont Stakes, exactly when the top 5 finishers were all separated by less than 2 lengths at the wire. I'd be quite surprised if it has ever happened before.

Yes, that is correct. The other horse stepped on him coming out of the gate. But you would expect to get the same effect whether he did it to himself or another horse did it to him. It's basically the same injury either way.

You're 100% correct Doug. Closest finish of a group in the history of the Belmont. Interestingly, Drosselmeyer-Fly Down-First Dude-Game On Dude-Uptowncharlybrown 2010 finish is next tightest with 3+ lengths separation, but nothing else is remotely close.

I would say No one knows for sure if a horse is bothered by it or not. Its not like the horse can say.
I'd imagine that much like humans, some horses have a higher pain threshold than others.
it may have been just one thing too many for the horse to overcome.

that looks painful....had too affect him someway.

It's pretty amazing that the top 5 were only separated by 2 lengths when you consider they ran 1-1/2 miles. I wrote on my blog that it looked more like the finish of a turf race than the Belmont. It definitely made for an exciting finish. My 5 year old daughter was screaming "Come on Chrome!" when it appeared he may draw even in the stretch, she was pretty cute.

Just as I suspected
 

Well until horses can talk I guess we will never really know how much a hoof injury like a grabbed quarter impacts the running of a race.

Even if they could talk we probably still wouldn't know.

That horse is a liar!

It's always something with that horse.

You notice he wasn't limping during the race so why is he limping now?

He is full of horseshit