Amateurcapper

Injuries to thoroughbreds are part of the game. I was critical of a fellow blogger who commented on another blogspot that opening day at Santa Anita was not a success because of the injuries to two 2y.o. maiden claimers in the opening race. I went as far to suggest that the sport should examine whether to run maiden claiming races at all. In hindsight I considered those horses collateral damage. I was wrong. On Saturday, multiple G.3 winner INDYANNE went wrong after battling INDIAN BLESSING in the G.1 La Brea. Now I’m left to consider, do we do away with graded stakes races as well? The answer of course is, “NO!”

I wonder, can we ever get past this infatuation of lamenting injuries? Valerie, I am sorry if my remark to your comment was hurtful. I could have used different words to express my exasperation over your initial comment…I am just very tired of reading and writing so much negative commentary about this game I love. While injuries are part of the game, I believe they should be reported and left at that. But to lament them without trying to find a solution does the game no good. It just gets PETA up in arms that horse racing should be banned, as they shouted after the EIGHT BELLES tragedy.

To that end, I invite you and other horse racing owners, trainers, jockeys, and fans to join me in trying to figure out how to lessen injuries to thoroughbreds. Obviously, altering the tracks (synthetics were installed first in Kentucky and mandated at racetracks operating meetings longer than 4 weeks in California) isn’t the answer. Synthetic surfaces may be giving horsemen a false sense of security. I have long felt that there are reasons why a horse breaks down, events during training or a race that can predict future bad performances and perhaps injury during a race. But this would mean bringing up hard evidence that could cause a horse to miss a start or perhaps a number of months because of a trainer’s intuition, even when nothing shows emphatically wrong with testing.

Case in point. 2004 Champion Juvenile Filly SWEET CATOMINE raced against the boys in the ‘05 Santa Anita Derby. After finishing a dull 5th as the favorite, Marty Wygod disclosed that she had been sent to Alamo Pintado for hyperbaric oxygen treatment five days before the race. The CHRB charged Wygod and the van driver for secretly transporting the filly for treatment. Trainer Julio Canani was not initially charged, but eventually was named in the CHRB complaint. After the race, trainer Julio Canani reportedly told friends that he was quitting Wygod according to an L.A. Times article. Shortly thereafter, five horses including the filly were transferred to John Shirreffs. Thankfully Wygod came to his senses and retired SWEET CATOMINE before she could sustain a career or life-threatening injury.

My read: Canani told Wygod SWEET CATOMINE wasn’t right prior to the Derby and should be scratched, essentially preventing her Kentucky Derby or Oaks start. He couldn’t pinpoint the reason to scratch her, but just knew he should. Thankfully she completed the course without mishap. Wygod was intent on getting her to Churchill Downs and treated her without Canani’s knowledge. Canani protected his owner after the race by stating she was fine after the SA Derby, but Wygod’s post-race comments were to the contrary. They, along with the racetrack, were named in a suit filed by a horseplayer for misinforming of the filly’s condition.

In 1992, A.P. INDY was scratched from the Kentucky Derby by Neil Drysdale when he developed a foot bruise. He would go on to win the Peter Pan, Belmont Stakes, and BC Classic in a Horse of the Year campaign managed by a consummate horseman and understood by an owner who was the same. Drysdale is “old-school” and the horse comes first. In 2008, BIG BROWN ran last in the Belmont Stakes after his well-chronicled quarter crack was supposedly stable. BIG BROWN won two-thirds of the Triple Crown but never made the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He will not be named Horse of the Year. Rick Dutrow, Jr., he’s no Neil Drysdale.

Perhaps Dutrow felt pressure to keep BIG BROWN running considering the big money spent by Michael Iavarone and IEAH. Perhaps his quarter crack was the reason BIG BROWN only had a few works and Dutrow worried prior to his devastating 3y.o. debut. BIG BROWN was talented, but economics literally ran him into the ground.

Bottom line: Trainers have pressure, real or perceived, to keep their horses running. They will overlook things unintentionally as their eyes are on the prize of the next race and beyond. It’s hard for them to justify stopping on a horse that’s recording a good race record. The bills need to be paid, the only way is for horses to earn their keep on the track.

So I went to the videos at Calracing.com and youtube.com to try and find any hint that INDYANNE was trying to tell us she wasn’t right. I’ll spare you my detailed evaluation, here’s the synopsis:

When you review her four race cycle this summer/fall, there are some indications that her condition was heading south. INDYANNE was so talented that she could persevere where less competitive fillies would pull themselves up. Perhaps knowing the reason for her layoff from September 2007 to June of 2008 could shed further light on her health. As a juvenile she ran only two races. It appears that after two races in the summer, there were signs of distress that were at the worst in start #4. However, her good finishes blinded her connections to her deteriorating health. After the G.3 TCA win, start #4 in that cycle, she was rested for three months. In retrospect, that wasn’t enough time. Her two races this winter are proof.

Again, this post is no disrespect to trainer GREG GILCHRIST. I believe he’s an outstanding horseman who runs his stock when they are right. His 30% win rate and only 161 starts proves that point. But, the economics of the game force decisions that a trainer would not make in a perfect world. She cost $375k as a 2y.o., earned only $54k last year. Then came a large bill from the farm where she was laid up for many months (was there surgery also involved?), putting INDYANNE further in the red. The owners probably were still in the red despite her $395k earnings this year.

I hope she recovers and we can see little INDYANNE’s in a few years. If we’ve learned anything from her career, we know her progeny will be precocious and speedy. We’ll know that they need time for their legs to develop. What we don’t know is how patient the owners and trainers can be when she drops a son or daughter with her uncommon talent.

That, fellow horse racing fans, is why injuries will happen tomorrow, next week, next month….