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Originally Posted by Spalding No!
This trainer is starting to sound like the replacement for Al Stall in the excuses and "why my horse needs to skip the next race" department...
Simply put, the horse didn't step up after winning a couple of TC prep races; happens all the time (Talkin Man, Suave Prospect, Pistol and Roses, International Star, Vicars in Trouble, Brother Derek, Friesan Fire, Personal Hope, Private Terms, etc.)
Doesn't mean that he can't mature and improve at 4, but I don't need an excuse as to why he got buried in the Dirt Mile. The fact that he was in the Dirt Mile instead of the Classic told you all you needed to know already.
CJ was all over it from the get-go; could have saved the owner the cost of the endoscopic exam...
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He had a foot problem prior to the Derby. That was public.
They tried to get him going again in the Preakness. It was a question mark in my mind as to how he was going to run coming off a physical problem. Since he disappointed, I think it would have been borderline insanity to run him in the Classic no matter what given he had just run poorly and hadn't even proven himself as competitive against the best 3yos yet. So they went for the softer spot. As long as he was fit and past that foot issue I have no problem with any of that.
Either way, I don't think he's running quite as well now as he was prior to the foot problem. So either bleeding is a legitimate excuse or he's a horses that got sharp for a few races and now tailed off. The other possibility is that chasing a much faster and better horse like Knicks Go was a tougher trip than it looked. Some people think the inside was a little better both days.
