HBO

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by richard burch

I don't want to read the links or watch HBO because I don't want to get upset.

Maybe its related to yours but this is another unfortunate headline that caught my attention.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/santa-a...a-in-5-months/

Not sure if there is a cause or a cure for these things.

There is no way to eliminate breakdown entirely. But I think the numbers can be reduced by at least 50-70% if they do the right things. I think they have already taken some really positive steps at Santa Anita and I think we will see a big reduction in breakdowns.

The two breakdowns we saw this last week are hard to prevent. When you are talking about shoulders and pelvises, these things are really hard to detect. The only way you could catch this before it happens is with a nuclear scan. Nuclear scans (Scintigraphy) are expensive and most owners and trainers only like to do them as a last resort (when a horse is off and they absolutely cannot figure out what the problem is). In general, the wealthier owners and trainers with the good horses are far more likely to do a nuclear scan than a small-time trainer who only has cheap claimers.

Anyway, there is no way to eliminate all breakdowns, especially the types we had this last week. But overall I think we will see a fairly drastic reduction in the number of breakdowns in Southern California from what we saw this winter.