Pamplemousse Scratched; Out 6 months

[SlewsMyHero]

Julio Canani was on At the Races with Steve yesterday at about 6:15PM EDT and said the horse was doing great. Has anyone ever heard a trainer say that their horse is not doing well or training great, or is just doing mediocre? Every time I hear a trainer interviewed they all say their horse is training great.

[richard burch]

THE PAMPLEMOUSSE SCRATCHED FROM SANTA ANITA DERBY


The Pamplemousse, 9-5 morning line favorite for today’s Santa Anita Derby, was declared a stakes scratch shortly after 10 a.m. Saturday.


“Dr. (Jill) Bailey (D.V.M. representing the Los Angeles Turf Club), during her pre-race examination, identified an issue that she brought to the attention of (trainer) Julio (Canani),” explained Dr. Rick Arthur, Equine Medical Director for the California Horse Racing Board in a telephone press conference in Santa Anita’s press box around 11 a.m.


“Julio had his veterinarian, Dr. Helmuth von Bluecher, look at the horse, and agreed there was an issue that needed further diagnostics, and they scratched the horse, because what needed to be done couldn’t be done between now and race time (post time for the Santa Anita Derby was listed at 2:40 p.m.),” Arthur continued. “Julio erred on the side of the horse, which they should have done, and in line with the type of horseman he (Canani) is.


“This is a stakes scratch. He is not on the vet’s list, and frankly, I wouldn’t talk about the specifics of anything like that. It’s inappropriate for obvious reasons . . . You can scratch a horse in stakes races up to an hour before post time . . . Julio still has goals for this horse.”


Arthur said Dr. Bailey’s examination “probably was a little after seven (a.m.), and Dr. von Bleucher probably got to the barn about 9:30. They sent the horse out (to the track) and trained and looked at the horse a little bit later. Julio understands what Dr. Bailey’s concern was, and when it was pointed out to him, he became concerned as well, so I think everything worked the way it was supposed to work.


“Julio obviously is terribly, terribly disappointed . . . We’ve been in this game long enough to know that the Derby trail breaks a lot of hearts.”

[The Indomitable DrugS]

This was a pretty interesting comment I read mid-day yesterday in the Santa Anita Barn notes section from trainer Greg Gilchrist....

Greg Gilchrist: “It looks pretty wide open. I’ve heard stories that The Pamplemousse is not doing well; I don’t know. That’s just a story I heard. I think you’d have to like Pioneerof the Nile.”

I should note that they asked more than a dozen horsemen about the race - and Gilchrist was the only one who hinted that The Pamplemousse might have a problem.

[AlexP]

Yeah Mike, I'm pretty sure Z Day only entered as a rabbit for PioneerOf The Nile, and it's still a good thing he's in in my mind, because there wasn't really any other pace besides The Pamplemousse. Chocolate Candy took the lead earlier than normal in his last race, same for Pioneer, but that's now how either prefer to run.

[mbahadur]

The track vet noticed a "change" in the horse per the below excerpt from the DRF website article:

According to Bailey, she noticed "a very subtle change in the horse" Saturday morning during a routine prerace exam that is required of all runners.

"I discussed it with Julio and his vet, and they agreed to scratch the horse," Bailey said.

Because The Pamplemousse was not scratched by the vet, he is not on the veterinarian's list. Instead, he is listed as a stakes scratch, and does not have to work for the vet in order to be eligible to race again.

Still, The Pamplemousse will need further evaluation, Bailey said.

"It was a problem I didn't want to see progress," Bailey said.

Bailey is one of two vets who do the exams the morning of races. She said she had done the prerace exam on The Pamplemousse in several of his recent races.

"I'm very familiar with the horse," she said. "There was a change."

Bailey would not elaborate on what the nature of the change was in The Pamplemousse, but his connections have acknowledged in the past that he has odd-looking tendons on his front legs.

"He has big tendons," said Alex Solis II, who put together the ownership group that bought The Pamplemousse as a 2-year-old. "He had them when we bought him."

[SCUDSBROTHER]

Said that was gunna happen. Pounds the ground with the front two. Starting to catch up with him.

[westcoastinvader]

Originally Posted by SCUDSBROTHER

Said that was gunna happen. Pounds the ground with the front two. Starting to catch up with him.

I really hope the horse is doing well.

But his morning scratch sure changed my Santa Anita wagering plans as I walked uninformed into the OTB 25 minutes before Derby time.

I elected to toss out Hollendorfer's Chocolate Candy as I made my revised wagers.


That was tough for me to do, since Hollendorfer hails from my original hometown, and he's of course a NorCal fave trainer.


I just didn't think Chocolate Candy would be able to get a piece of it, thinking the competition to date had been soft.

I was wrong, of course.

That's totally cool.

What really pis*ed me off was the ride Bridgmohan gave to the son of Smarty Jones in the 10th at Gulfstream as I submitted to a whim to get my Santa Anita Derby loss $$ back.

Isn't Bridgmohan purported to be a good jockey??

Cripes....Bridgmohan had no sense of the pace, no apparent internal clock instinct, and erroneously thought he had a horse that didn't need any look at the rail for the entire mile.


What a screwball Bridgomohan was.

He's not riding any of my horses from this point.