Life at Ten

[MaTH716]

John Veitch, chief steward for the state of Kentucky, said neither Velazquez nor trainer Todd Pletcher notified the state veterinarians about any concerns over Life At Ten prior to the race. He said the protocol is for the veterinarian to be notified and that he or she will in turn notify the stewards.

If this is indeed the truth, I think that it was very foolish on the connections part.
Maybe Chuck can answer this, but are there any visable symptons from the Salix that the Vet would have been able to see to justify scratching the horse from the race?

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by MaTH716

John Veitch, chief steward for the state of Kentucky, said neither Velazquez nor trainer Todd Pletcher notified the state veterinarians about any concerns over Life At Ten prior to the race. He said the protocol is for the veterinarian to be notified and that he or she will in turn notify the stewards.

If this is indeed the truth, I think that it was very foolish on the connections part.
Maybe Chuck can answer this, but are there any visable symptons from the Salix that the Vet would have been able to see to justify scratching the horse from the race?

The salix thing is a longshot theory. A horse acting sluggish would be tough to scratch as the 2nd choice in a 3 million dollar race. Even had Velasquez notified the vets I dont know that they would have scrathced the horse unless it appeared lame. Why JV didnt at least say anything to the vets is the biggest mystery.

[Linny]

I see more passing of the buck than anyplace but Washington. Pletcher knew clearly that the horse wasn't right when she was in the paddock. He still chose to pass her along to Johnny. Johnny's works for TAP who works for the owner and thus is low on the employment food chain. He doesn't want to "out" TAP so instead he tells Jery Bailey that the mare is not right.
ESPN producer, hearing the conversation alerts the stewards but honestly, what "standing" has she to call for an inquiry? Now, by speaking to Jerry (and the millions of viewers) JV feels he has "alerted" the world of a problem, he too has passed the buck.

Now the owner jumps into the fray. She's miffed, wants her $60k starting fee back, but she jumps in at the level of the stewards. I would presume (and here I don't know for certain) that she was in the paddock before the Distaff and observing the mare and aware of Todd's concerns. Funny, she wasn't so worried about her $60k when she thought the mare might "warm up" out of her funk and win her share of $2 million! She feels the stewards committed malpractice (as do I) but places no blame on her trainer who was aware that LAT was not right. When it comes to meds, the trainer is the "ultimate insurer." What about unhealthy horses? Who is responsible for them?

Clearly the stewards dropped the buck once it was passed to them (by Amy Zimmerman of ESPN!) and they took no action. They clearly feel that getting caught in their inaction was a bigger problem than their inaction.

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by Linny

I see more passing of the buck than anyplace but Washington. Pletcher knew clearly that the horse wasn't right when she was in the paddock. He still chose to pass her along to Johnny. Johnny's works for TAP who works for the owner and thus is low on the employment food chain. He doesn't want to "out" TAP so instead he tells Jery Bailey that the mare is not right.
ESPN producer, hearing the conversation alerts the stewards but honestly, what "standing" has she to call for an inquiry? Now, by speaking to Jerry (and the millions of viewers) JV feels he has "alerted" the world of a problem, he too has passed the buck.

Now the owner jumps into the fray. She's miffed, wants her $60k starting fee back, but she jumps in at the level of the stewards. I would presume (and here I don't know for certain) that she was in the paddock before the Distaff and observing the mare and aware of Todd's concerns. Funny, she wasn't so worried about her $60k when she thought the mare might "warm up" out of her funk and win her share of $2 million! She feels the stewards committed malpractice (as do I) but places no blame on her trainer who was aware that LAT was not right. When it comes to meds, the trainer is the "ultimate insurer." What about unhealthy horses? Who is responsible for them?

Clearly the stewards dropped the buck once it was passed to them (by Amy Zimmerman of ESPN!) and they took no action. They clearly feel that getting caught in their inaction was a bigger problem than their inaction.

Pletcher said that she was training well all week. It wasn't like she was favoring a leg and turned up lame. Apparently she had an allergic reaction, or at least that's what the story is. But was there a chance it could have been the crowd and or the first time running under the lights? I think that could have been a possibility. Does that warrent a scratch in a 5 million dollar race?

Like Chuck said, hindsight is 20/20. The only issue is why wasn't the track vet alerted to check her out.

[Linny]

The mare who is usually under stout restraint from several handlers was standing in the paddock looking like an old wagon horse. I could see it from Albany NY and TAP was standing next to her.

She may have looked like a monster at 9am on Friday but by that evening she was clearly not right. (Anyone with children can attest to how fast "the bug" can hit.) I am nowhere near the horseman that Todd is but if my usually peppy and eager horse doesn't pop his head out the door as soon as I open it (see my avatar) or he stands totally still for tacking up, or carries his head low I know something is wrong.

Whether it was some sort of virus or a reaction to Lasix or anything else, TAP should have brought it to the attention of more than just JV.

Interesting too is that she was pulled from the sale. TAP was concerned about asking bidders to buy when her health was questionable. He wasn't as worried about the $1.7m the bettors spent on her or the owners $60k starting fee a day earlier.

[Riot]

After reading all that from the owners, the question I have is: have you taken the horse from Pletcher's barn?

I have no problem at all with Pletcher sending the horse out to see how she warms up.

But if JV felt like that - enough to announce it to the TV audience - he should have gotten a day or few for not bringing it up to the gate vet. KHRC blew this one.

[HaloWishingwell]

The filly was one bad step from Pletcher explaining his actions. $ 2 million purse was just too good to pass up and make right decision.