I doubt they are using those numbers as some kind of threshold, the sample size is too small for most people. When you have a limited sample size, you usually require a minimum participation rate, ie. 5 or 10 starts. What if Graham Motion sent one out there and it broke down? He’d be at 100%.
I think they are looking at the bigger picture, and there is something going on with Hollendorfer that is not in the statistics or the news.
That’s the telling phrase imo. I think it has to do with running and working Kochees so much. Stronach can’t dictate the training schedule, but on paper, Kochees looked drilled to death.
Maybe on paper but is that how a decision to ban a trainer from a track should be made?
Hollendorfer was part owner in Kochees so I would assume he had some sort of vested interest in not having Kochees break down. Since none of us are on Hollender’s training staff and nothing of substance has been made public, maybe Kochees needed/wanted the types of works and racing schedule that he was on; we just don’t know. If I was Hollendorfer, I wouldn’t be saying a word to anyone about anything at this point knowing that probably just about anything I’d say would be taken out of context or misconstrued.
Look at Lava Man who was not happy in ‘retirement’. He liked his racing job.
Or Soi Phet, 11 years old, still racing and retired sound.
Frankly, I’m personally tired of the “must be something going on with Hollendorfer” line without something, anything to back it up other than 4 breakdowns over 6 months. I’m tired of the “there must be something up” excuses for the ban. That’s all they sound like to me are excuses.
Didn’t like his training practices, then say so. Drug offenses, where’s the suspensions? Crapy rads or vet exams, then say so. Put up or shut up. I’m not saying that Hollendorfer is pure as the driven snow but until something constructive comes up, then making him the poster child for “unsafe” training should be stopped.
Or, TSG wanted to make an “example” of some trainer and figured of all the names they could throw against the wall, Hollendorfer’s was the most likely to stick because of the recent breakdown of Kochees.
Trainers can simultaneously be generally good people who love their horses while also engaging in practices that endanger the horses’ welfare.
The tunnel vision that comes with a competitive drive can be deadly. You see it in all equine sports.
But all we can do is speculate because nobody feels banning a Hall of Famer from your tracks warrants an explanation…:rolleyes:
Speculation is good for no one in this situation.
A certain untouchable California based trainer had 7 drop dead (not break down) in 16 months. There was thought to be (though it wasn’t proven) a link to a thyroid drug that said Deity gave to all of his horses. If one wants to get conspiracy theory about it - why would a horse need thyroid support? Because his thyroid was destroyed by…maybe cobalt? Which is given to mask pain? Hmmmm.
I’m not saying I believe any of the above, just parroting some of what’s been hypothesized elsewhere. But 7 dead in 16 months is a lot of horses just keeling over and dying suddenly, unless you’re running a golden age retirement home. But no one dared suggest a ban…
I have been living with Stronach on the east coast for many years and overall, they are kicking out the bad apples. They have never kicked anyone out, trainer, rider, backside worker, without justification. Go ahead and cry Not Fair, but it’s not a right to be on the track, and they can ban who they want. I don’t know what happened in CA, and not enough talk makes it over the mountains to me, so I don’t know why Hollendorfer was banned. I have my suspicions, as do other people on the track, but no one here knows for sure.
You can use the word Baffert here and cobalt does not “destroy the thyroid gland.” His whole barn was on Thyro L because it was a fad.
Stronach just kicked a trainer out of Laurel after his horse broke down.
Del Mar just announced their new safety protocols: http://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/del-mar-announces-new-safety-protocols/
KY is now publishing unredacted mortality reviews.
http://khrc.ky.gov/Pages/EquineHealth.aspx
There goes the closely guarded, secretive “prerace.”
Edited: Started reading from the most recent, and these are really fascinating.
@snaffle1987 - you may find these helpful in your assessment of the racing industry.
The cobalt speculation isn’t mine and I didn’t necessarily buy it. Just repeating musings of others read elsewhere.
So basically you go online and repeat rumors you overheard. Nice.
I applaud Kentucky for doing that. Big step in the right direction.
I did qualify that iteration with “If one wants to get conspiracy theory about it…” and “I’m not saying I believe any of the above, just parroting some of what’s been hypothesized elsewhere.”
7 horses dying mysteriously in less than a year and a half is a suspicious number of dead horses, and yes, I know Baffert has a lot of horses in his care. I don’t recall any other trainers having a strangely high number of sudden deaths at that time either. Maybe it happened and we just didn’t hear about it because those trainers weren’t Bob Baffert?
I find it interesting that every single one of the necropsies showed ulcers and EIPH. Good thing we are doing away with Lasix.
This. A lot happens we don’t hear about, despite the fact that racing is more broadcast than any other horse sport.
I don’t have any personal relationship with Bob Baffert, so like with most trainers I don’t know, I reserve public judgement unless I have credible experience to back up that judgement.
But I can appreciate getting swept up in a “fad” before fully understanding potential consequences, because that happens ALL THE TIME in racing. (For the record, it happens all the time in all horse sports) As an observer of the situation when it went down, I felt Baffert was fairly transparent during the whole thing.
and yet the report says that they were administered it for race days and/or breeze work on some of the horses involved. I find it more interesting to note the deterioration of cartilage in such young animals in such necessary areas.
actually If you read some of the mortality reports that KY posted, the vet notes the Thyro-L is still used because horses in intense training seem to lack levels of the hormone, not directly linked and should be kept separate from the idea of Thyroid disease.
This I would totally agree with. I applaud KY for releasing these reports.
There is a risk, IMO, that the contents could be misinterpreted by the general public who don’t have the training and experience to evaluate the results but, for me, found it interesting to read what happened along with all the pre-race comparisons with the other participants in the race (cohorts).
If they all bled with lasix how much do you think they will bleed without it? It does not surprise me that high intensity athletes would have cartilage changes.
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