Some are questioning....

[dilanesp]

Maybe Justify was a more apt name than Winstar realized!

[PointGiven]

We will see but for now I believe Bob. Mostly because of what my eyes are seeing.

Go back a que up video and enlarge it. Forward to : 49 and watch just that. Now rewind to the same spot focused only on his hips. Do it again focused only on his shoes. Again focused only at the top of the wraps on both legs.

Tell me what you see.

[SecretAgentMan]

Originally Posted by Grits

SAM, if you'd take the time to look just a few posts up you'd see we've already posted and discussed this....

You can still be all over Justify like white on rice in two weeks, like you said. Just keep that hotline to Bob open before you let go of your money.

I plan to wait.

I will wait to play him on Preakness day if everything is a go from Baffert, no advanced wagering for me.

[SkunkApe]

What motive could Baffert have for covering up an injury?

[PowerUpPaynter]

Originally Posted by SecretAgentMan

I will wait to play him on Preakness day if everything is a go from Baffert, no advanced wagering for me.

how can he even be playable. the Preakness payouts will be brutal with a small field and a 1/5 - 1/9 favorite

[SecretAgentMan]

Originally Posted by PowerUpPaynter

how can he even be playable. the Preakness payouts will be brutal with a small field and a 1/5 - 1/9 favorite

I loads up on Smarty Jones at 3/5 & he paid $3.40........American Pharaoh paid $3.80.......Big Brown went off 1/5 & paid $2.40, but at 1/5, i bet him big for 2nd & received $2.60.........3 big favorites

If I see Justify at 1/5, he will pay more for 2nd, & I will bet him for place. If he's healthy & is 2/5 or 3/5, I will bet him to win.

Too many people try to beat great horses in the Preakness & its very hard to do IMO.......if he's healthy, only way I see Justify losing is if another disaster like Barbaro happens, which I hope never happens again.

With all the talk of Justify being lame on his left leg/foot, I'm hoping his odds are 3/5 or higher (wishful thinking)

[f2tornado]

Originally Posted by PowerUpPaynter

how can he even be playable. the Preakness payouts will be brutal with a small field and a 1/5 - 1/9 favorite

The American Pharoah $1 Trifecta paid almost $500. The $1 Super paid close to two grand. You can still get paid very well if a bomber comes in the money. You would otherwise need to hit the chalk cold to get a decent ROI. I’ll typically add at least one ticket with another horse on top just in case the chalk doesn’t fire. That worked well when AP tanked the Travers.

[PaceAdvantage]

This thread went from informative to ridiculous in no time flat.

[Spalding No!]

Originally Posted by SkunkApe

What motive could Baffert have for covering up an injury?

Probably doesn't know what the actual injury or insult is at this point. I doubt they would skip doing the appropriate workup to figure out what's going on.

Hopefully they don't delay getting the relevant tests done in order to avoid the prying eyes of the media et al. With just 13 days to the next one there isn't a lot of time to waste.

[boys at tosconova]

holy chit, the horse didn't even look like he was going to make it back into the barn.

i don;t now about you but from the look of things i was worried that the next turn one of those legs were going to snap.

so scratches is the new swamp gas?

[sammy the sage]

Originally Posted by SkunkApe

What motive could Baffert have for covering up an injury?

Dude is NOT a saint....killed 7 horses with HIGH thyroid doses....and trainer's DO run an injured horse now and then...ask Pletcher...the champ of that...

[Fager Fan]

Originally Posted by Ruffian1

Grits,


To be honest, the horse did walk like a horse that has a cracked heel ( but he did not from what I saw) OR very raw and skin sore heels at the hairline. Hope people that don't know what a cracked heel is don't start thinking I mean a bone crack. It is a skin cracking similar to if you happen to be prone to dry skin and in the winter if your hands get wet, the skin will crack. It hurts to the touch or to stretch the skin. But horses walk that way also because of a bruised foot which can happen anytime. If it is skin, it will heel fine. If it is a bruised foot, that will typically heel in 3-4 days as well. If it is something worse, we will know soon enough. I hope not.

What gets me is IMO there is no way Baffert walks that horse out there on the hard stone dust if he is aware the horse will look like that. NO WAY ! He couldn't have had any idea, could he?
So now he is in full damage control. If he gets beat in two weeks, the whole world will be on his butt. Heck, if he wins, people will swear he's a butcher just for running him. He must be some kinda upset at being put in that position for everyone to be in pounce mode no matter what happens.

The horse is a chestnut, and does have some white back there, making him more susceptible to skin conditions than other colors might be. But what a terrible spot he is in now. Wow.

Oh, and that picture on the link is ridiculous. I saw a quarter crack, no shoe, hoof rot, and a fully infected front coronet band. Would have seen more but it was making me sick.

By the way, the Johnny Weir comment was classic !!! Too funny Grits. Your the greatest.

That too is what I wondered. Why in hell did Baffert lead out a lame horse? That was the only explanation I could come up with too - he didn't know the horse was lame when he led him out there.

Almost as disturbing is that it took readers to point out how lame he was. All those reporters and yet not one of them knew (or reported) a lame horse when they saw one.

This wasn't the Baffert barn's best moment, having Baffert declare him coming out of the race in fantastic shape as he led around a lame horse.

I don't have any reason to doubt the explanation for the lameness, but as a bettor I'd be trying to find out if he's still sore on that foot when he runs in two weeks, yet it doesn't appear one can trust either Baffert or the media to report accurately that information to them.

[GMB@BP]

Originally Posted by sammy the sage

Dude is NOT a saint....killed 7 horses with HIGH thyroid doses....and trainer's DO run an injured horse now and then...ask Pletcher...the champ of that...

all these trainers walk the fine line, i have no problem with playing in the gray area, sometimes it has some consequences, we as bettors and those who are onwers are to blame for accepting this.

its the blatant, in your face, claim a horse for 20k and improve them to a stake horse overnight.

[Grits]

Originally Posted by Fager Fan

Almost as disturbing is that it took readers to point out how lame he was. All those reporters and yet not one of them knew (or reported) a lame horse when they saw one.

This wasn't the Baffert barn's best moment, having Baffert declare him coming out of the race in fantastic shape as he led around a lame horse.

Fager, I thought about this, as well, when I posted the video. Reporters circled probably ten deep, and no one said a word. I'm not sure if it's that many are enamored of Bob's greatness as a horseman or if it's that he is usually in control of the narrative.

[Fager Fan]

Originally Posted by Grits

Fager, I thought about this, as well, when I posted the video. Reporters circled probably ten deep, and no one said a word. I'm not sure if it's that many are enamored of Bob's greatness as a horseman or if it's that he is usually in control of the narrative.

Hopefully a few were knowledgable enough to see the obvious, even if they were hesitant to yell it out at the time. But what about after? No one wrote anything about him being lame until the comments on the video came fast and furious, and then the articles have all been explaining how he's not lame. Not lame? Maybe not serious, but he's NOT not lame.