How serious is grabbing a quarter?

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

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.

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.

[Danzig]

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.