The Triple Crown needs Restructuring

[richiebee]

Instead of restructuring,why not move it back in the calendar say a month or so?
(This would help Belmont, as their big racing day would fall later in the meet).

Another problem, the 3 jewels of the crown are not equally weighted in terms of purses and prestige. A few horses each year who could be reaching a peak at Preakness time are sacrificed to Derby madness.

My personal 06 Derby madness award goes to the usually savvy John Ward, who drove Strong Contender (who looked mediocre at Belmont yesterday) up and down the interstate looking for those graded earnings. Honorable mention goes to the Lael Stable people,who probably should have held Showing Up out of the Derby and raced in the Preakness (especially since they already had a strong Derby contender).

As Jimbo and others have pointed out, there have been some Triple Crown near misses recently. Alex. Smarty. Charismatic. A difficult grind, yes; impossible, no.

Because of the emphasis breeders put on the Triple Crown races, economics dictates that almost any colt who wins even ONE of these races has little else to prove and will NOT race as a 4YO.

A very tough thing to watch yesterday, especially since (a) Barbaro looked so good training up to the race and (b) there was relatively little attrition among the ranks of 3YOs between the BC Juvenile and yesterday.

Drugs? A huge issue in racing (and it looks like the harness guys are starting to get it) but IMO not an issue in Barbaro\'s breakdown.

Should Barbaro have been scratched or at least examined after he broke through the gate? Of the track vet, the starter and the jock, if anything was amiss, I would say it is something that Prado would have known before anyone else.

[alm]

It\'s not likely Barbaro\'s condylar fracture was caused by a bad step, but that it caused a bad step itself, which resulted in his secondary fracture below the ankle.

The condylar bone fractures following a process of reforming and flattening in the ankle socket, so to speak, and the process takes place through the heavy pounding of training and racing.  This occurs before bones harden to the point that they are fully formed (ie: to young horses for the most part.)

The soft tissue that protects the bone and the ankle wears away prematurely and bone hits bone.  A significant period of rest and maturing can save the bones and the horse, but a horse caught up in the Triple Crown is more likely to be encouraged to go on because of the money involved.

Think back to Tale of the Cat, who some vets consider the poster boy of a horse who benefitted from being taken off the track when his condylar issue became apparent.  He went on to a very nice career.

The point of this is that a horse with a condylar problem can\'t hide it.  He or she goes gimpy on the sore joint.  What is done about the problem is the key.  Barbaro was too good and the Triple Crown is there only for 3 year olds, so they hoped to get through the series before his issues worked their way into a bad injury.

Charismatic had the same problem, but racing in California when he did, only a limited number of pain killers were permitted to be administered during his early career.  During that period Kentucky was far more permissive and he became a different horse when he was legally medicated for his races there and couldn\'t feel the bone crushing on bone.  The rest is history.  He finally fractured the condylar in New York and gave us a preview of the Barbaro incident by a few years.

The aggravated reforming of condylar bones happens to many, many horses and many of them break down.  It doesn\'t take a bad step for this to happen.  If you watched the reruns of the Preakness I defy you to spot Barbaro\'s initial bad step because there wasn\'t one.  He didn\'t swerve until Prado heard a loud crack and the hind end buckled.

This wasn\'t about track maintenance or racing luck.  This was about covering up a serious condition in the hope that the horse would get through the worst of it.  Horseracing is all about hope.

[Thehoarsehorseplayer]

I don\'t think the call for  restructuring the Triple Crown Series is predicated on the notion that it\'s impossible to sweep the TC under this format; rather it\'s based upon the notion that as structured it is taking too much out of the horses that pursue all three legs and therefore, in the long run, taking too much out of the game.

I\'m naturally a traditonalist, but I thought Jerry wrote very persuasively about this situation a few years ago.  Even if the horses come out of the series seemingly healthy, the truth of the matter is, the wear and tear has made them predisposed to injury.

Tradition is very important; tradition often harbors great wisdom.  But where is the wisdom in pushing a still developing animal through the rigors of the five week Triple Crown Series?  And tradition without wisdom, that from another perspective is nothing but instutionalized stupidity, kind of like college hazing.

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

Very interesting post alm. Though do you have any objective basis upon which to  believe that an issue with a condylar condition was actually known to Matz? Can you develop that point at all?

What we do know is there was very carefull handling and an unusual striding action. But you are talking Olympian, Hero, Family Man. I don\'t know for certain, but I am skeptical of Matz letting such a serious condition go. I don\'t see it in his character. Now if you were talking one of the Supertrainers, who would doubt it?

Barbaro was clearly hyped up. He was tough to handle in the post parade I am told and he popped that Gate. He didn\'t look right to me after the Gate Pop. He had an odd look. I think he injured that leg when the gate broke open by his weight shifting suddenly upon it with all the force he exerted to pop the gate. I don\'t have any evidence for it, but I\'m pretty sure thats where it happened. It was immaterial to the outcome in my opinion.
 

alm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It\'s not likely Barbaro\'s condylar fracture was
> caused by a bad step, but that it caused a bad
> step itself, which resulted in his secondary
> fracture below the ankle.
>
> The condylar bone fractures following a process of
> reforming and flattening in the ankle socket, so
> to speak, and the process takes place through the
> heavy pounding of training and racing.  This
> occurs before bones harden to the point that they
> are fully formed (ie: to young horses for the most
> part.)
>
> The soft tissue that protects the bone and the
> ankle wears away prematurely and bone hits bone.
> A significant period of rest and maturing can save
> the bones and the horse, but a horse caught up in
> the Triple Crown is more likely to be encouraged
> to go on because of the money involved.
>
> Think back to Tale of the Cat, who some vets
> consider the poster boy of a horse who benefitted
> from being taken off the track when his condylar
> issue became apparent.  He went on to a very nice
> career.
>
> The point of this is that a horse with a condylar
> problem can\'t hide it.  He or she goes gimpy on
> the sore joint.  What is done about the problem is
> the key.  Barbaro was too good and the Triple
> Crown is there only for 3 year olds, so they hoped
> to get through the series before his issues worked
> their way into a bad injury.
>
> Charismatic had the same problem, but racing in
> California when he did, only a limited number of
> pain killers were permitted to be administered
> during his early career.  During that period
> Kentucky was far more permissive and he became a
> different horse when he was legally medicated for
> his races there and couldn\'t feel the bone
> crushing on bone.  The rest is history.  He
> finally fractured the condylar in New York and
> gave us a preview of the Barbaro incident by a few
> years.
>
> The aggravated reforming of condylar bones happens
> to many, many horses and many of them break down.
> It doesn\'t take a bad step for this to happen.  If
> you watched the reruns of the Preakness I defy you
> to spot Barbaro\'s initial bad step because there
> wasn\'t one.  He didn\'t swerve until Prado heard a
> loud crack and the hind end buckled.
>
> This wasn\'t about track maintenance or racing
> luck.  This was about covering up a serious
> condition in the hope that the horse would get
> through the worst of it.  Horseracing is all about
> hope.
>
>

[miff]

Alm,


I also saw Dr.Bramlege(sp)explain the injury but you can probably find many young horses that show similarly on x-rays but never break down. I\'m sure he was vetted and x-rayed for insurance purposes pre or post derby.Do you think Lloyds of London would insure a horse for multi millions that was \"covering up a serious condition\"? I doubt it.

Prado would know in the walk back to gate if he was \"off\' so I doubt that Barbaro showed anything in that regard pre reloading.


Mike

[alm]

Simple xrays don\'t reveal condylar problems as they are under the bone, which sits in a socket at the top of the hoof.

So Barbaro\'s xrays were probably normal looking and he was very insurable.

However, the trainer knows when a horse is gimpy and it is possible to study the problem through a procedure called nuclear scintigriphy.  Also, it is very expensive.

Most trainers will just tell the owner the horse is a little sore and use pain killers to keep training and racing them.  It\'s done all the time, every day.  It\'s part of the business.

If the horse is valuable, you can ease off them and wait until the bones harden and form normally.  If the horse is a Triple Crown athlete, it\'s a tough call, because you can only enter once.  I think that\'s what happened to this horse.  

In fact, it\'s possible Prado was warming him up as much as he did to try to work through the gimpiness before the race.  Gary Stevens commented on it and was surprised.  

I\'m not trying to blame anyone.  I\'m only saying it\'s a shame that such a good horse was put in the position this horse was, due to the nature of his quest.  Given six months off he would have retained his quality and had a much longer career.

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

appreciate the response

I don\'t have knowledge in this area, but the 8 weeks off followed by 5 weeks was a red flag. In the end I concluded there was a reason for it and the 2 weeks and big effort were decisive. Chances are we will never know what the connections were privy to, especially if the horse doesnt pull through.

alm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Simple xrays don\'t reveal condylar problems as
> they are under the bone, which sits in a socket at
> the top of the hoof.
>
> So Barbaro\'s xrays were probably normal looking
> and he was very insurable.
>
> However, the trainer knows when a horse is gimpy
> and it is possible to study the problem through a
> procedure called nuclear scintigriphy.  Also, it
> is very expensive.
>
> Most trainers will just tell the owner the horse
> is a little sore and use pain killers to keep
> training and racing them.  It\'s done all the time,
> every day.  It\'s part of the business.
>
> If the horse is valuable, you can ease off them
> and wait until the bones harden and form normally.
>  If the horse is a Triple Crown athlete, it\'s a
> tough call, because you can only enter once.  I
> think that\'s what happened to this horse.  
>
> In fact, it\'s possible Prado was warming him up as
> much as he did to try to work through the
> gimpiness before the race.  Gary Stevens commented
> on it and was surprised.  
>
> I\'m not trying to blame anyone.  I\'m only saying
> it\'s a shame that such a good horse was put in the
> position this horse was, due to the nature of his
> quest.  Given six months off he would have
> retained his quality and had a much longer
> career.
>
>
>
>

[miff]

ALM,


FYI, they do not do simple x-rays when issuing a multi million dollar insurance policy.I watched a  friends horse, a $1.5 million purchase price, go through the insurance evaluation process for much less money than Barbaro was (probably) insured for. It took several hours.

Briefly, the people doing the evaluation were VERY thorough at the site and who knows what work they do off site.Your contention that this type problem slips between the insurance cracks is tough to believe,and not highly likely from what I saw.




Mike

[fasteddie]

Per Steven\'s observations, did anyone notice Prado looking constantly to Barbaro\'s right hind during the warmuup? Look at the tape!

[miff]

Eddie,


I have the tape also. I think Prado looked down when Barbaro tried to buck jump. On the NBC feed Donna Barton, on patrol noted Prado warmed Barbaro up like he wanted him on his toes.

I noticed the comatose, bute starved, Brother Derek with his head down coming up the walk to the track.Solis got off ninth, Hendricks said they were sending.


Mike

[fasteddie]

Where is it set in stone that this must take place over 5 weeks?? Things EVOLVE over time; in the \"old days\" horses raced every week. The breed is bigger, stronger, faster, MORE BRITTLE; trans-continental shipping is common, the Breeder\'s Cup exist now, and that has affected wear-and tear as the best run against the best more often....time for a change, or racing may disappear in this country.

How \'bout our boy Frank S. up there on the podium yapping away \"that\'s part of horseracing\"...Ouch!

[fasteddie]

Yeah! cost me my 5-7-8 triple...cashed on Bernardini, but I HATE blood money!
Gave it to my wife.....

[Wrongly]

Miff you make an interesting observation regarding Brother Derek.  The entire field with the expection of Brother Derek posed for photos in the infield.  Has anyone explained his absence?  I was sitting in section 7 about 8 rows up and had a rather good view.  It appeared to me that Barbaro was very keyed up and the extended warm up was an attempt to get Barbaro to relax.  For those of us that were there Barbaro\'s breakdown was schocking but thankfully we weren\'t subjected to countless replays.  It\'s also dissappointing that we aren\'t talking about Bernardini and his wonderful performance.  Lastly, Pimilco race track is a tradgey.  Water was pouring down from the ceiling in the mens bathroom and yes there\'s only one mens bathroom in the grandstand.  The problems with the facility are too many to mention and Magna is doing nothing to improve it.  The best thing that could happen to the Preakness Stakes is being moved to another venue.  Maybe Frank has his mind set on the Preakness being run at Gulfstream Park.  

[Josephus]

Alm, couldn\'t agree more with your post.  Those who\'ve read my previos posts will know how long I have been high on Barbaro ( 1/1/06 ). At the Med simo, I was shocked when I first saw him on the track, and this was later verified to me when I got home and saw more of the video shot before the race.  He looked to me like he was definitely in some kind of physical discomfort,and when he broke through the gate he took my breath away again, this time for the wrong reason. I think his own physical development did him in; as Bob Baffert said at the Derby. \" He\'s a man among boys \". A muscular \"man\" with the bones of a boy. It wasn\'t a mis step, the problem was in the making before the race.

[jmetro]

Until Barbaro\'s vet, or perhaps Matz himself, speaks about what may, or may not, have been going on with this horse in his training leading up to the Preakness no one will know exactly what caused his breaking down.

He could have walked out of his stall Saturday morning, saw an empty Coke can in the shedrow, and gone ape sh*t for all we know.

Everyone can speculate all they want, right now that\'s all we have.