Justify got new shoes today.
 

https://hoofcare.blogspot.com/2018/0...tify-hoof.html

New kicks with a photo to boot......

Not as extensive as Big Brown's quartercrack but he's still got a lot weighing on this bruised hoof as his journey continues.

Baffert & others say he's as good as he was before the derby health wise & full of energy.

If Justify loses the Preakness because of a foot problem, IMO, it will be to Good Magic

Thank you for that. It may give those that have no knowledge of what it takes to maintain horses an inside peak.

Wow, feels like a disaster waiting to happen.

Jesus Big Brown was a mess!

For a trainer, it usually does feel that way.

Thanks Grits.
Great pics to help people see first hand.

My worry will be the shoe getting sucked off by the sloppy track with no hind nail . I think everything I have seen is as good as they could have done it. And of course, he can win with a blown shoe but... he can also lose because of it. If the track is not real muddy and loses some of the suction it can have, that will help a lot. Lets hope for the best.

Ruffian, I was waiting for you to read and look at the photo. Still, this was my exact first thought...he could lose this shoe if the track is muddy. If he has any problem in the Preakness, I hope Bob will pull him from the Belmont.

I don't see Justify running in the Belmont if he doesn't win the Preakness.

I had to run close to 50 or so over Pimlico with a very muddy track and a nail out of the back of a hind shoe over the years. It was about a 80% chance it stayed on which meant I was thinking it was about a 20% chance it would not. Lol.
Then add the probably 2 or 3 out of a hundred that lose one ( not necessarily THAT one) for other reasons like getting stepped on leaving the gate or in close quarters, etc. so the makes it about a 3 out of 4 it will be fine. Of course, that means.... yeah yeah, you know the rest.
That said, I assume Pimlico is deeper these days. So I assume there would be a bit more suction than in my time. Have no idea of how much though, if any.

Lets hope it all goes well.

How would that change if the track is sealed?

The numbers I posted were on sealed but very muddy, sloppy tracks that were being run on. Pimlico starts back today and it will be very interesting to see what the track is doing. The forecast here is rain everyday but not constant other than today which so far is on and off light rain. The forecast is for about 3 inches between now and Preakness post time . Seems like we will get some everyday. But I also saw where they called for thunderstorms later in the day only, for Saturday. So... a couple of things.

First,( And I know you know Pimlico well CJ but for the benefit of everyone else here) I have to think that the best window to scrape the track was Monday so if that happened, and they rarely skip a scrape for more than a week, the inside should be sweet today. (It poured Monday night and last night.) If not, you know they have not yet done so and hope to get one in before Saturday. If they cannot, the rail would figure to be dead by Saturday. Watching the replays or charts at least if you can't watch replays, will be very helpful IMO.

2nd . Again I know that some know this but for others, Pimlico dries out very fast if it can get some sun which it seems might happen on Saturday. It is on top of a hill ( Old Hilltop) and it always gets a breeze at least and a solid breeze typically. Usually from right to left and right down the straightaways. If that happens, it dries very quickly and as it does, it gets real fast ( at least it used to, pretty sure that hasn't changed). That would help the missing nail in the shoe problem a ton. It is when it is really soaked that the %'s I wrote about earlier come into play. Because they float it when soaked it brings the water to the top and leaves the mud with a little less water in it which makes it have more suction until the majority of the water can squeezed out. It is a small window of time that it is actually more gooey ( about 3 races with sun typically) unless it continually rains and they say that it probably will not do that at this time. Let's watch that.
But... If it gets some sun and a few races over it early in the card that should allow them to put a harrow on it before the Preakness. If they can harrow it for a race or two prior to Justify running, it should be fast and tight, with minimum suction or if they are lucky, no suction at all.

I know that is just enough info to have no idea, but at the same time, at least people know what to look for.
Hope that helps.

From the article.

This is, now, two of Winstar's TC trail horses that have hoof problems. Why, at some point, can't a trainer/owner make a decision that will help the horse to be comfortable.

It's a fact quartercracks don't come back together. The only thing that heals them is time. Time for the hoof to grow out. .... This sucks.

GRITS
Thanks for the link. I found it very interesting. In my entire life I never thought I'd be reading a blog about horse's hooves on the internet.

I have to take a closer look at this, but up until now, I thought that I'd be picking him in the Preakness, which has become an easy race for the favorites, but now, I may go against him.