Cadillac Cruiser

[fkach]

Claimed for 25K, won for 35K recently, drops in for 7.5K today off a decent effort. All that plus a one year gap in the racing record awhile back.

Is it really a shock this horse broke down today?

I hope no one got hurt badly because of this!

[marcus]

sometimes you can kind of see it coming , didn\'t see the race but i\'d be curious  - i\'m going to check it out later .  
the cancelled webn tp-11- had a horse \"joe got even\" w/ a pattern that hadn\'t developed in several races and looked to me like something profound was going to happan soon but i couldn\'t decide what ... perhaps out of dumb luck i guess , this time i\'ll never know   ...
tough about cadillac crusier , what if anything might have been done differently to reduce the potential  for breakdown ?

[fkach]

\"what if anything might have been done differently to reduce the potential for breakdown ?\"

I have no good suggestions. That was just such a suspicious drop in class I had to mention it. Sometimes horses like this hold together and win a few more races as they decline. Sometimes one of the \"super trainers\" will turn one around. It just seems to me that this one screamed of problems so loudly, the breakdown was not a shock. The breakdown risk almost had to be somewhat higher than normal.

Perhaps in some ways running horses like this and the drug issue are interrelated. All I can say is something is wrong because lives are at risk on the track.

[jmetro]

Hard to imagine but they had a vet scratch at the gate of the race and it wasn\'t Cadillac Cruiser.  After they scrapped the rest of the card I thought for sure a jockey had perished.  Glad I was wrong.

[marcus]

Looking at Cadillac Cruiser\'s sheet over the wknd (should still be in the redboard room today) and there certainly is alot to talk about imo , even his 1st 2 career races as a 2 yo , shows \"Bore In\" ...    

maybe a safety / circut breaker could be implemented into race conditions to address issues that surround these type(s) of suspicious class drops ...

[miff]

The claiming game is all about the ugly line dropdown(CC was not). The jock and the attending vet are the checks and balances. Cadillac Cruiser was one that looked gimpy warming up. Two starts back, CC broke and raced lamely then came back with fronts(next start) and he broke down.I have noticed many jocks not perservering with gimpy ones late in some races.Maiden dregs every day.

This is a tough issue with horses that come out gimpy but warm out of it.It happens every day at every track.Barclay Tagg has a GR1 type in Showing Up that comes out to the track stiff as a board, warms out of it and runs lights out.

New York is running very cheap horses during the winter and unsoundness/breakdowns will always be more of a issue during this period.

Mike

[ditz]

\"New York is running very cheap horses during the winter and unsoundness/breakdowns will always be more of a issue during this period.\"

Philly Park,Charlestown,running cheap claimers every day of meet,Unsoundness,breakdowns I am sure will always be an issue at every track ,everywhere,for every class of horse,but NY racetrack to me has issues this meet, needing to be resolved for the safety of all concerned.Firstly this is a winter track,look at all cancellations of races so far this meet,for weather conditions( Iam not talking about extreme cold,and wind).The track is not right,it is not being maintaned properly,I dont care what NYRA says.Instead of worrying  about the baking soda issue ,in the detention barn the state vet needs to  examine the horses  more thoroughly in A.M.At One time  maintance would work round the clock getting track conditions right,I don\'t see that happening anymore,maybe thats another area NYRA is trying to cut costs.Time for a new administration,and maybe a polytrack.

Polytrack surface helps reduce injuries to the back and legs and provides secure footing that still allows the \"give\" necessary for the horse to perform to the best of its ability. The surface also reduces kickback and maintains uniformity, even in various weather conditions.

[miff]

Mike Luzzi was recently quoted as saying the inner track was not an issue as to safety.

[bobphilo]

A synthethic surface would definitely be a plus for Aqueduct\'s inner oval. The current surface was built to be all-weather but Poly is much better for that. Plus it\'s ability to reduce injuries makes it a plus anywhere. The fact that few really major races are run on the inner track will keep the traditionalists from getting in a tizzy.
The problem is that with NYRA near bankruptcy, they are unlikely to spend the millions needed for the resurfacing.

Hopefully, whoever gets the new franchise will replace the old inner-tube with the new rubber of Poly. It even sounds appropriate.

Bob

[fkach]

This horse was a solid and consistent a 25K performer. It was recently claimed for 25K, won for 35K, and then came back with another two good efforts in starter handicap races.

The horse was dropped in for 7.5K!  

I can\'t imagine a louder shout that the horse had a major problem. It was the classic suspicious dropdown.

I specifically stayed out of the race because I couldn\'t take even money on a suspect horse. IMO, the horse almost certainly had to have problems and be vulnerable to throwing in a total bust of a race.  

In addition, the horse was initially handled like it had a bit of potential until it was laid off for close to a year. That\'s another sign there were problems (at least previously).  

Horses like this often hold together for awhile and win a few more races. They are sometimes turned around by \"some trainers\" etc.... but it was like playing Russian Roulette to claim it.

I\'m not holding anyone in particular responsible, but perhaps the standards need to be raised before horses are allowed to go to the track.

I am not a vet and am mostly talking from intuition in this case (out of my ass if you will), but whatever the risk of breaking down is whenever a very suspicious dropdown like this runs, IMO it almost has to be higher than for younger horses that have been racing and working regularly throughout their career and that have given no signs of problems.

[marcus]

i understand about the circut breaker and that no one wants to lose horses or lose money . most horses are fine off even worse patterns and as my limited experience spans , i wouldn\'t second guess the barn or anything .

while the debate on medication is ongoing and reform of some kind likely , they way i see it and in keeping with whats out there on the track , now seems a good time to look into the prospects of additional time off for race horses for certain type of drops in class or conditions ...

imo- race conditions modifications might help everyone overall and would be a small but valuable augmentation to the needed drug law upgrades in raising \"level of quality\" in the life of horses , horseracing and in perceptions about the Racing Industry by some of racing\'s worst critics ....

i\'ve never heard anything bad about the racing surface on any track in ny , specially the winter track at aqueduct - it\'s an all weather surface , it won\'t freeze , drains well + pretty evenly , takes a beating and might have it\'s days but it\'s an early version of the synthetic track that  is good for horses    ...

[jma11473]

I was hoping myself that Polytrack would be answer to these issues, but Turfway is on a record pace for most breakdowns this meet---I don\'t think Poly is going to solve all the problems at Aqueduct. Wish I wrong there, but based on the Turfway meet, you have to tread carefully.

[bobphilo]

I wouldn't take the atypical results from only part of a meet at one track to be too significant. As with any problem, there is never any one magic bullet solution because there are always several causes involved. There is very good evidence from the U.S and from England, where Polytrack has been in use for more years than here, that the surface does significantly reduce injuries. However, until issues of breeding for speed instead of soundness and the use of potent painkillers allowing lame horses to race are also addressed more seriously, there will still be to too many catastrophic breakdowns. A genetically unsound horse pumped full of drugs can break down even if he races on pillows.
Safer racing surfaces are only one, though an important, part of the solution.

Bob