TVG just announced it would have more info later. I have no further insight. Anyone know?
Well, I have heard he has really bad feet. Something about quarter cracks and stuff. Probably why they want to retire him! (not so good though considering his offspring will have bad feet!)
Quarter cracks are well manageable. He’ll show up on race day.
I would take 1000 bad footed horses that went undefeated throughout their career then retired to stud worth tens of millions. I think I would get over having a high farrier bill.
It was quarter cracks that kept from from the BC Juvie Turf last fall. It’s been a constant battle with him. I wonder of the rock hard track at Churchill might not have been the initial cause.
They made it sound as if this was an injury that had just happened…maybe today.
I’ll keep listening. They’re suppose to announce it.
that is the difference between you and me. While you can retire a race horse after it is 3, I ride hunter/jumper and they have to last! I would never buy a horse with crappy feet!
And quarter cracks can be a very big deal especially when they bleed! It takes a long time for them to heal properly.
He might retire at 3 and make millions at stud, great for him, but who knows if any of his foals will win and many of them will have bad feet! JMHO
But then again, I hate that they race at 2, but I won’t go there!
He will still race and he might just win too! Good luck to him, I just hope it doesn’t cause him pain.
Yes, a quarter crack.
I was able to google it, and came up with this:
http://www.miamiherald.com/626/story/546279.html[B]
Big Brown’s slight hoof injury shouldn’t derail Triple bid
Posted on Sun, May. 25, 2008
By RICHARD ROSENBLATT
AP Racing Writer
NEW YORK –
Big Brown’s perfect path has its first bump.
The unbeaten Triple Crown contender has a slight crack on his left front hoof, although trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. was confident the injury won’t keep his colt from running in the Belmont Stakes in less than two weeks.
However, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner has missed two days of training at Belmont Park, and will miss at least several more while being treated by hoof specialist Ian McKinlay for a five-eighths of an inch long quarter crack on the inside of his left heel.
“We’re all concerned because there’s a big race coming up,” Dutrow said outside his barn. “But Ian has us pretty well relaxed. He’s telling me it’s nothing and he’ll be fine in a few days.”
Unlike the two-week turnaround between the Derby and the Preakness, there’s a three-week break before the Belmont on June 7. Good thing, too, especially if the injury heals by Thursday as Dutrow is hoping.
“If it was two weeks we would be nervous, but this way I’m as cool as we can be,” Dutrow said. “It’s bad that this happened, but it’s good that it happened at this time.”
McKinlay has repaired injuries much more severe before big races, allowing Touch Gold to fight off a leg injury from the 1997 Preakness and go on to win the Belmont and spoil Silver Charm’s Triple try in 1997.
This will be a much simpler task, he said.
“This is a very, very minor crack,” McKinlay assured. “We will put a set of wires in, stitch it up and then patch it.”
Best case scenario, he says, could allow Big Brown to return to the track Thursday.
“The worst case is he doesn’t make the race,” Dutrow said. “The horse is in great shape. He doesn’t know anything is wrong with him. When you touch it and put pressure on it, he’s going to give. But the worst possible thing that could happen is he doesn’t make the race, and that will only hurt human beings. Not him. He’s laying back, not worried about anything.”
Dutrow said Big Brown continues to be taken for walks inside his barn, and is feeling no pain.
“If the race was today, yesterday or tomorrow, it would not be an issue,” he said.
A quarter crack is a vertical crack in the hoof wall between the toe and heel of the hoof, usually extending into the coronary band, where the hoof meets the skin of the leg.
For the most part, the injury is not considered serious and is fairly common. Healing time can range from a few days to a few months, depending on the severity of the crack.
Foot woes are nothing new for Big Brown. When he first arrived at Dutrow’s barn in Aqueduct late last year, he suffered an abscess in the sole of his left front foot, which caused a wall separation and sidelined him for 45 days.
In January, he suffered the same injury to his right front foot and missed another 45 days. Those injuries were called quarter cracks, even by Dutrow. But McKinlay noted there’s a big difference.
“A quarter crack is just a split, literally, in the wall and it will start at the hairline and travel down but never reach the sole,” he said. "A wall separating is the exact opposite. It starts from the sole and runs to the top. And it’s very painful.
“As far as this crack goes, it’s very minor.”
Dutrow first noticed something was amiss when one of his grooms called him over on Friday after a morning gallop. Dutrow didn’t want to take any chances so he called McKinlay.
“I was hoping maybe he banged it on side of the wall. He’s getting pretty aggressive when walks in afternoon, and really bossing people around,” he said, “But I knew in my heart he was developing something that I didn’t want to see.”
The hoof was treated with a combination of iodine and alcohol Saturday.
Dutrow is looking ahead.
“I am sure he will be 100 percent, yes,” Dutrow said. “If we get to breeze him (next) Tuesday or even Wednesday, we can live with that. Monday would be great as long as Ian can get it done the right way.”
Big Brown is set to attempt to become the 12th Triple Crown winner and first since Affirmed in 1978. Eighteen times, though, the Derby and Preakness winner failed in the Belmont, and twice, the Derby and Preakness winner never even made it to the Belmont - Burgoo King in 1932 and Bold Venture in 1936. According to reports, both suffered injuries and missed the final leg of the Triple Crown.
Could it happen to Big Brown, too?
“It scares us when something like this happens, but this has nothing to do with his ability to finish what he started,” Dutrow said. “Now if something else happens, then we’re going to be in trouble”[/B]
Hmmmnnn.I have been told that quarter cracks are a farrier problem and result from improper balence of the hoof. This leads me to a question i have about race horse shoeing. Why does it seem like race horses are shod with long toes ,and under run heels? is this my imagination? Could this have something to do with the soundness issues common among race horses? i mean ,it can’t be good for the hoofs ,or the tendons and ligaments.
Also I have never had the good fortune of having a quarter crack heal in a matter of days. maybe if they put a plate on it with screws they can stablize it.
I am a big spoil sport here, but when he won the Derby I remarked that that was another highlight for TB breeding, adding bad feet to a desirable gene pool. That was before I realized what happened to Eight Bells.
I’ve been sent articles with a popular spin that advance the claim that he really doesn’t “have” bad feet he just needs the apparent space age technology to withstand the rigors of racing.
I beg you to prove me wrong. There is something missing in the modern thoroughbred that their predecessors had and that is longevity.
:eek: I am crazy enough to suggest reintroduction of Arabian blood to add durability to the existing breed. trust me I am not an Arabian fancier or breeder but if some of the bloodlines from the 100 mile endurance races could be brought back to Thoroughbred horses. There might be a shift toward horses that race with long careers over greater distance and remain sound after retirement. As an aside I think that those historical racing legends gave loyal fans a hero and an allegiance that I do not see today.
Won’t happen ever, why ? The industry pushes for speed and immediate return on investments which is a far better enticement to venture capitalists. It is a partnership that rewards owners, trainers, jockeys, with early financial rewards. It makes perfect sense from a business standpoint.
I am sure that the JC would never consider such a radical change and even if the idea was appealing and rational the actual implementation would be impossible. We have taken TB genealogy from a point that originated with wealthy aristocrats that ran horses for amusement to a high dollar industry that remains today. It has become a dinosaur of regulations and protocol which has nothing to do with a dynamic future.
Sport horse breeders in Europe had a direct course of action in changing the profile of equine athletes when they choose to carefully add to the genetics of TB and Arab blood . They have had remarkable success with the addition of both, Zeus and Ladykiller to name two. The modern warmblood sporthorse is a result of careful breeding post WW II and it has impacted show jumping and dressage immensely.
It will never happen, not for racing , sad to say. Rant over.
No thanks. I would rather be a pig farmer than train an arabian or even a part arab to race.
I grudgingly agree- except all of em got that blood wayyyyyyyyy back. :lol:
[QUOTE=Wanderluster;3240100]
:eek: I am crazy enough to suggest reintroduction of Arabian blood to add durability to the existing breed. [/QUOTE]
Yes, you are crazy. And I mean that in the nicest way possible. 
I don’t disagree with about breeding to increase longevity and durability. However, racehorses are bred for SPEED. Speed is an inheritable trait. And I honestly believe the “problem” with thoroughbreds that all the armchair quarterbacks are complaining about runs a lot deeper than bloodlines alone. Out-crossing is not the magic answer. And additionally, arabs racing in North America have the exact same soundness problems as the TBs.
Also, comparing sporthorse warmbloods to racehorse thoroughbred is like comparing apples and oranges. I would like to see how these oh-so-sound heavy horses would hold up to racing as compared to your average thoroughbred. I’m betting we’d see a whole lot more injuries than present. Heck, I walk into your average hunter/jumper show barn and see a lot more sore/medicated horses than I’ve ever seen at the racetrack!
Anyway, that’s my rant and it’s now over. Hehe.
Who wants to put money on Big Brown missing and/or scratching from the Belmont?
Oh laurierace, toooo funny!!! :lol: I don’t think he will miss the race, but if he loses Im sure it might be an excuse.
That is the nicest reply ever and I really understand your point. I innocently and I admit naively believe that the gene pool has been diminished not strengthened by line breeding. Your response is enlightening, and no I am not asserting that jumping and racing have the same objectives.
Texarkana, you are right when you say that Hunter/Jumper barns have their share of feet problems!
But, as someone who has had a few TB’s off the racetrack, I want them to have good feet because it gives a better chance of soundness for jumping. They are very different disciplines, but good feet are good feet. Ideally you would want to breed to a fast TB that has good feet! “Ideally”
And the whole, “speed is a trait” thing, come on, if that was always true, all of Secretariat’s offspring would be fast, right? That is not the case!
The good ones are freaks of nature, just like the good Grand Prix jumpers are. You can have to exactly bred horses and one will win the World Cup, while the other may make it to the 3’6 jumpers!
[QUOTE=Samotis;3240201]
Texarkana, you are right when you say that Hunter/Jumper barns have their share of feet problems!
But, as someone who has had a few TB’s off the racetrack, I want them to have good feet because it gives a better chance of soundness for jumping. They are very different disciplines, but good feet are good feet. Ideally you would want to breed to a fast TB that has good feet! “Ideally”
And the whole, “speed is a trait” thing, come on, if that was always true, all of Secretariat’s offspring would be fast, right? That is not the case!
The good ones are freaks of nature, just like the good Grand Prix jumpers are. You can have to exactly bred horses and one will win the World Cup, while the other may make it to the 3’6 jumpers![/QUOTE]
Not attacking you per se, but surely if breeding was nothing but “freaks of nature,” people wouldn’t have been putting this much effort into it for hundreds of years.
Yes, there are unexpected superstars and there are duds. But in general, speed=speed. That’s why we even pay attention to pedigrees. If you could breed a plow horse to an arab and have a good chance at getting something that can run 10 furlongs in two minutes, surely it would be commonplace by now.
I completely agree on wanting good feet. All horses should have good feet, racehorses or not. No foot, no horse. Although I will maintain that I honestly believe the bigger half the problems with “thoroughbred feet” are man-made. You see similar foot problems in every arm of the horse industry where horses are shod young and stalled 24/7. And even racing arabs can have their fair share of foot problems too, ya know?
In addition to what Texarkana was saying, it would be nice to see more people who are breeders and racing the same horses-to get away from breeding for sales. Maybe there would be more accountability? But not to Arabs! AHHH
Horses are just a complicated animals. I know horses who get quarter cracks or what have you and they don’t do a fraction of what a race horse does. Makes you appreciate these race horses all the more.
