Scratches?

[ranchwest]

For how long should I be concerned about vet and stewards scratches? I realize that without knowing the nature of the specific problem, it is difficult to be certain that it is corrected. However, is there some guideline in days?

For me, this is not a question of getting off of a horse onto another. It is a question of play or pass.

[hurrikane]

ranch,
I am certainly no expert but I would guess it depends on the ability of the trainer and what the problem was.
My rule of thumb is, don't bet the horse until it runs again so you can see if the problem is solved.

[ridersup]

Ranchwest:

I would not be concerned about steward scratches because these are usually related to the lack of needed paperwork for a horse to run on a particular day or some other rules infraction.
Usually it doesn't have anything to do with the horses physical condition.

Vet scratches however are a bit more worrisome. These scratches are made after cursory examinations in the barn area before the race. I have seen these examinations conducted and all they do is watch a horse walk up and down the shedrow led by a groom. After that they give a go or nogo for the race that day.

They are also made at the gate. Some times it is due to the horse acting up or not loading or breaking through the gate and sometimes a jock will complain of the horse not stepping right.

I used to throw out vet scratches but after being beaten by such horses on many occasions I gave up on trying to figure out which should be bet and which should not. At this point in time I just disregard them and assume that any problem noted by the vet has been corrected.

[cj]

Good recent example...Chop Chop George in the 9th at Aqueduct Monday. He took lots of money after being a vet scratch at the gate as the favorite a few weeks back. This cannot be found anywhere in the PPs. I'm not sure how you can find this info unless you happen to catch the race and make note of it. Vets who scratch too many horses at the gate don't last long, so for the most part, this has to be a bad sign. I'm sure the occasional horse pops up and wins next time out as with any situation, but I always throw them out as contenders and it has been a reliable tool for me.

CJ

p.s. He ran a well beaten 5th

[GameTheory]

Originally posted by cjmilkowski
Good recent example...Chop Chop George in the 9th at Aqueduct Monday. He took lots of money after being a vet scratch at the gate as the favorite a few weeks back. This cannot be found anywhere in the PPs. I'm not sure how you can find this info unless you happen to catch the race and make note of it. Vets who scratch too many horses at the gate don't last long, so for the most part, this has to be a bad sign. I'm sure the occasional horse pops up and wins next time out as with any situation, but I always throw them out as contenders and it has been a reliable tool for me.


If you grab the free programs at:
http://www.tsnhorse.com/cgi-bin/instant.cgi?type=inp

and scroll to the bottom of any of the programs, there is a "Scratch Watch" listing all the horses running today who were scratched last time, along with the reason -- Stewards, Trainer, or Vet. Chop Chop George actually had a blank reason, as did a few others, so I guess that means Vet too...

[BIG HIT]

Hi ranchwest when i used the drf at detroit race course I found most comming of the vet list lost frist time.They were cheap horse so dont know how it would be at better tracks.Hope was some help.Have a good day

[hurrikane]

Brinet has the scratch list in thier free entry posts also. I believe Karlscorner was playing them for a while.

[karlskorner]

Hurrikane:

Still use them, transfer the comments from BRIS to the PP's each morning, alot easier than consulting the charts.

As explained above, the Stewards scratches are usually for an infraction, the Vet's scratches could either be in the receiving barn, during the workout or at the gate. This horse you want to be careful with.

It's the Trainers and "blank" ones you should be concerned about.
If the Trainer scratched the horse, there has to be a fairly good reason to satisfy the Stewards (which he usually can come up with). The blank ones usually means he was on the A/E list. If the Trainer scratched the horse, usually it's because he is not happy with the race, he looked at the "overnights" and realized he could be beat. So he pulls out the condition book and looks for an easier race. Dollars to doughnuts you will find the horse entered a couple days later in a much easier race. Helps explain WHY is this horse in this race.

Karl