I think the point that many seem to be missing here is that Lava Man was once a big name horse who was scheduled to be sent to a retirement home after having hit hard times on the track. The fact that an unusual amount of vet work was done on a horse scheduled to be retired raises flags as does the announcement of his relocation to a high profile KY retirement home and the 180 degree reversal. If he were to breakdown can you imagine how this would look? Obviously O"Neil does by not taking his % (a preemptive move). Sure horses can compete at an advanced age. Sure horses can recover from injuries. Sure the advances in science are great. But how can this be a positive except for the long, long shot that he is able to compete at the "higest levels"? Almost anyway you look at it this will be seen as greedy people trying to squeeze a few more pennies out of a cash cow.
And they may be right.
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