Just curious how the vet scratch info is received. I see an awful lot in So Cal and was wondering if some of these might be by the stewards and not necessarily indicative of soreness.
Thanks
We receive the data from Equibase. Vet scratches are posted at tracks. They may be for reasons other than soreness,i.e. id documents aren\'t in order, etc. The who not the why is transmitted to us.
a) On the day of the race, all horses need to pass a prelim state/track vet assessment. i.e. look, feel, watch horse walk out of stall and gallop up and back outside of barn. If all is not well, vet will order a scratch. b) trainer may have taken care of a medical issue day or so before race and \"medicated\" horse, eg something like an aspirin or cold remedy that if show up on race day, it will create a major problem. So to be cautious, will \"ask\" vet to scratch horse just in case remedies were not fully excreted.c) trainer and owner look at entries and think horse is over matched or will do better in another race days later. Therefore they may call upon vet to \"help out\" and ask for the horse to be scratched. The later is obviously a problem for racing secretaries and stewards who try to fill races with at least 6 or 7 horses. Some tracks started doing blood tests after a scratch by private vet in order to prevent the \"fake\" scratch.
On the matter of vet scratches, Monday 12/31 graphs for FG race 9 are
interesting. Classic Strike raced for the late Frank Gomez at Gulfstream on
3/12. Some time thereafter, she was transferred to Tom Amoss\' barn at Arlington.
TG shows that Classic Strike was then vet scratched at Arlington on May 17 AND
May 25. CS returned to the races at AP on June 22 and broke her maiden at odds
of 3/2.
This is all interesting to me because in days of yore once a horse was vet
scratched, they were usually barred from entering for 3 or 4 weeks, partially as
a deterrent to the type of trainer/owner/vet collusion that Headstr8ner referred
to in a previous post.
Do not know if they are available to the public (they should be) but both
the \"Vet\'s List\" and the \"Starter\'s List\" could be indispensable handicapping
tools when used in conjunction with other available information.
Speaking of Monday\'s 9th at FG, what\'s a handicapper to do? Arguably the fastest
filly/mare in the race, Optimistic Girl, goes out for the hot trainer/jockey
combo and is the only multiple winner in the field. OG is however 0/13 on the
year, has shown some camera shyness, and has been a beaten favorite in 3 of her
last 6 races.
Will try to avoid ending the year on a chalky note, and will lean towards the
relatively lightly raced Remoulade (broke her maiden over FG turf) and Miss
Peachtree (a half sister to the nice multiple graded SW Jostle, by War Chant).