Another one bites the dust.....Square Eddie
 

Does this pave the way for yet another Pletcher runner???

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-raci...t-of-the-derby

This maybe for the best. Seemed like the horse was being rushed a bit coming off that layoff.

a bit?! :)
common sense finally prevails with this horse. they should never have made the attempt; the horse should have been given whatever time he needed to heal. then they could have brought him back at the correct speed. they tried to make an injured horse fit their time table, rather than the other way 'round.

This is great news....
He's one horse that I didn't want to use anywhere on my tickets this Saturday, but would have worried about.

I think this makes room for Atomic Rain, if you can believe that.

I wasn't worried about him and lament that he won't take a reasonable sum of money that Take the Points won't.

Yeah, at least they should have him for the rest of the year.

Dropping like flies, though, aren't they?

[quote=_ed_]Yeah, at least they should have him for the rest of the year.

Dropping like flies, though, aren't they?[/QUOTE]

Better now than Saturday

it now seems silly that I used to be worried that Dunkirk couldnt get in based on earnings..

and now so many horses have dropped out it wouldnt be surprising to see Dunkirk go off as the 2nd choice or favorite (people like Pletcher).

He's still my pick but I really dont want to bet a 5-1 horse in the Derby :(

Maybe they finally listened to those that make sense on this board :)

I've already decided to have a DT "Who's Out, Who's In" Contest about a month before the Derbu next year!

Well just made my picks a little easier.

Square Eddie= put on some tickets
Take the Points=Automatic TOSS

But then Eight Belles broke down and she didn't show anything before the race. Barbaro broke down in the Preakness and didn't show anything before the race. Lots of them that show no signs end up breaking down and lots that make you worry end up running fine. That's why I don't get so many people being worried that something was going to happen to the horse. His publicized condition is probably better than some of the others that will run that haven't been publicized.

Is it tooo late to get a DT horse in the derby ? :eek:

Just what we need ... more Pletchers in the horse racing contest.




Wouldn't it be a shame if they all finish up-the-track ... like those turf titans Circular Quay and Scat Daddy? :D

I don't disagree at all that something is wrong. By the same token, if he would have been in the race, I would have believed that they had considered everything and felt he was ready and I wouldn't have been any more worried about him breaking down than I would have with any other horse. I'm only saying that people are making it seem like had he run, he was going to tragically break down and I don't think that was anywhere near the automatic assumption that people were making it out to be.

I feel completely opposite. Much depends on the ride.

IF Take The Points is allowed to run near the front (but not asked and not hard ridden)
AND Take The Points is also allowed to suck up, and is again not asked approaching the stretch, he could easily run a suck-up 4th. Even 3rd to a much lesser probability.

Contrary to some others opinions, Take The Points is actually better on dirt than on synthetics, and was sitting on a big (dirt)race as hinted by his impressive Sham, when he had to race at the mercy of the Pamplemousse over that pro-ride surface out in california, and took some shots and didn't suck up, and still managed to hold 2nd.

Square Eddie was doomed to being ridden with the attempt to win and then exposed for his lack of ability to get 10furlongs

Agreed, do what's best for the horse.

Remember he is a Canuck, so if they can get him right he will be a great underlay for the Queens Plate.

Running him in the Derby probably wouldn't have been in the horse's best interest in the regard of giving him his best chance to win. That much we'll agree on. Whether it was reckless in regards to the horse's safety, we'll disagree on. My concern for his physical safety came in the Lexington. Once he passed that test, I was much less concerned with him making it through the Derby.

Phfew. I have to say, while I enjoy Square Eddie, I was dreading the possibilities. Had another Derby horse broken down and in this case from a known pre-existing situation however healed they thought it was, we would've seen the sky fall down. The Derby's just the right amount of pressure that, if he passed the physical test and hit the board or had somehow ended up having all the cards go his way for the win, they would risk pointing to the Preakness only to wind up with disaster.

I always felt if you don't have a horse sound enough and prepared enough to hit all 3 races (hey nobody says you have to win all 3), hold out of the Derby at the very least. There's less pressure to continue after a Preakness win than a Derby win and if you wait til the Belmont, well you can take all the time you need. Unless you're prepared to press on after a win, you're causing headaches for everyone and it's not in the horse's best interest either. The pressure would drive folks to try to keep going when maybe they wouldn't otherwise.

i thought it was reckless. they didn't give the horse time off like most would to recover from a fracture. i laughed a bit every time i read 'minor' fracture.

What am I missing? I thought Square Eddie bucked a left front shin in January, and has now rebucked. That's not it?

They said said originally, but it really was a fracture.

Got' cha, thanks.

The Lexington was hardly a "test". Stress injuries like his are cumulative in nature, and every bout of physical exertion (whether it be a race or workout) is another check cashed from his body's account. In fact, apparently the Lexington (and the subsequent 1/2 mile workout) were enough to aggravate the injury.

While it may still have been a longshot that he'd breakdown in the race, certainly his odds of being injured was much lower than a relatively "problem free" runner.