I was fascinated to see PAPI CHULLO open at 7-2 odds
before his G2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park
on Saturday. Why? It had nothing to do with any discourse,
here or there, about his \"too-fast\" last Beyer number, which
he may or may not have legitimized with his Fountain of
Youth performance. Or the new - were they glue-on? -
shoes he was fitted with before the race.
I was fascinated because PAPI CHULLO shipped in to
Hallendale from California a week before the race
AND WAS SORE EVERY SINGLE DAY AT HIS BARN
TO THE EXTENT THAT HE COULDN\'T JOG! [Ask the
state veterinarian.] The poor colt had: \"the worst week
ever!\" Sore and lame every day.
Was that the owner who seemed to be looking after the
colt all week? Whatever the case, a caretaker of the colt
said: \"Don\'t worry. He\'ll be all right when he [PAPI CHULLO]
gets the \"pre-race,\" which means the standard pre-race
cocktail of legal Bute and anti-inflamatories [to mask the
soreness, etc.]. And it turned out that he was right.
Given his condition prior to the race, that PAPI CHULLO
ran a decent 4th in the Fountain of Youth Stakes is nothing
short of stunning. And telling about the game. Or should I
say - importantly - the game WITHIN the game. That is,
what happens behind closed doors at Americas racetracks.
The stuff that happens BETWEEN a horse\'s past performance
lines that the public at large doesn\'t see. You see
something like that, then read Dr. Harthill\'s letter to the
editor in this past Sunday\'s Daily Racing Form, and just
shake your head. How powerful and affecting are the
things these animals are fed or injected with? VERY
POWERFUL! [Jeez. And I\'m just talking about standard
Bute and anti-inflamatories here! Dear dear dear.]
Trainer Jeff Mullins absolutely is right when he says:
\"There are a lot of things people don\'t know, and
won\'t know.\"
JohnTChance
>>It had nothing to do with any discourse,
here or there, about his \"too-fast\" last Beyer number, which he may or may not have legitimized with his Fountain of
Youth performance.<<
Papi C ran a 92 in the Fountain of Youth after running a 98 in the Sham. I believe ground loss accounts for some if not most of the difference, but the Sham Beyer figure \"is\" mildly suspect (maybe a couple of points too fast).
Once Wild\'s Santa Catalina figure was also slower than his Sham figure, but in his case he had a little trouble at the start and then ran on the inside of the track. It is possible that the inside part of the track was NOT the place to be at SA that day. If that\'s the case, then even though his Santa Catalina figure is lower, between the start and the bias, he may have run a similar race.
There were several decent horses that ran on the rail at SA Saturday that performed worse than expected and it certainly didn\'t seem like horses running wide were at a huge disadvantage. Time will tell on that one.
John T Chance,
It should come as NO surprise that what you have stated is the basis of most racing operations.Most runners have some kind of problem and without legal pain meds, there would be many 4-5 horse fields.
Racing must figure out a way to catch and bar the juicers while still allowing these animals some \"legal\" help with sorness and similar wear and tear issues.