Rock Hard Ten scratched from Classic
By JAY PRIVMAN
ELMONT, N.Y. - Rock Hard Ten, the winner of the Goodwood Breeders\' Cup Handicap and the Santa Anita Handicap and one of the leading contenders for Horse of the Year, was scratched on Friday from Saturday\'s Breeders\' Cup Classic at Belmont Park after suffering an injury to his right front hoof, trainer Richard Mandella said Friday morning.
Rock Hard Ten had bruised his left front foot last week, which delayed his arrival at Belmont Park until Wednesday. He galloped Friday morning at Belmont, but upon arrival back at the barn, Mandella noticed blood trickling from Rock Hard Ten\'s right front hoof.
\"He shed his frog,\" Mandella said. \"It\'s a different problem from the other foot. It\'s probably related to the other problem, but how, I don\'t know. Something inside the frog made it shed. It\' s a temporary problem. It can fairly quickly be overcome. But the timing is terrible. Long term, it\'s not a big deal. But he can\'t run tomorrow. I had to scratch him.\"
Rock Hard Ten had drawn the rail in the Classic.
I\'ll tell you one important impact of this scratch. If you bet any of the other horses in the futures your chances of winning just went up, but the price you are getting is still the same. :-)
I knew that one was coming after that little foot problem, told my co-worker the other day, wacth this horse get scr.