Yes, but not the crazy payouts you’ve seen in years past!
Interesting that the derby favorite was scratched by the vet and not the trainer, and only after a rather unusual race day morning gallop. Glad the vet was watching from afar and stepped up. My question is whether all horses that ran today were scrutinized to this level or just the derby horses? Would be interesting to better understand the standard protocols that were taken today, not just for derby horses but for all.
2 Likes
I don’t believe that is what happened. It’s seems the horse flipped, was scratched, then as they were in unsaddling it in the paddock, it flipped again. And then again.
Tell me again why we need a DJ in the paddock area? Is this a horse race or an EDM festival?
3 Likes
Well, that’s good to know. You never know how accurate the details are, and that makes a lot more sense. But yeah, I agree - could have been totally avoided.
Gutsy move on the inside!
1 Like
The vet wouldn’t have been watching from afar. In Kentucky, every horse, in every race, every day, gets a thorough vet exam back at the barn the morning of the race. They are all jogged the way you see it happening in the videos (also flexed, felt, temped, heart listened to, etc.). That wasn’t a Derby protocol, it’s the current Kentucky protocol.
25 Likes
https://news.yahoo.com/happened-tapit-trice-derma-sotogake-011921137.html This is a really informative detailed report on how each horse did, with commentary from connections. A great write up!
4 Likes
Did you guys see that vet? Appearances can be deceiving but he certainly doesn’t strike me as a good old boy, more of the same track vet. And good for him and TP for not just dragging out a bucket of ice. Mike Repole is a class act too, maybe things are really starting to change.
Just don’t believe most of the reporting, especially from non track savy sources. During the telecast, Dale Jr (who was better then last year and not stuck with Rudd or whatever his name is in cringeworthy, stupid bits) visited barn 42 and Mage’s assistant trainer. The talking heads suggested D Jr should bet on Mage since Mage “was the same number ad D Jrs father made famous in NASCAR. Number 8. Yup, the number 8 etched in racing history.
They never corrected or rolled that statement back despite plenty of empty air, clueless celebrities and fashion drivel.
1 Like
Senior’s first ever NASCAR win was in the number 8 car.
1 Like
This really bugs me, because i I a multiple tape of their horse and Forte was CLEARLY LAME. Most of us here would have called it a day and NEVER rode their horse let alone compete. Is the track going to track going to investigate why the trainer was willing to still race a lame horse the day of the race or why he had difficultly telling that6 a horse is race. Worse case , Forte took a bad step on the track because he was lame flipped over, the horse behind him flips over and lands on the jockey. Now you have two dead horses and two dead riders. I find Forte’s trainer’s trainer’s behavior amazingly careless. I know Bute is banned on race day… I have to ask myself if they would have used it if they could… I wonder why they thought they could race a lame horse… or where there planning to give Forte that was not tested for what is may be an unapproved new drug that is not tested for by officials but has the same effect as Bute. I am not a Baffert fan at all but CD needs to investigate Forte’s trainer in this case… They would if it was Baffert. they would. Just my two cents…
1 Like
Yeahbutt the 3 is the number etched in the minds and printed on a bazillion licensed items. But get the point he made his reputation in the 8. And that was as good a reason to pick Mage as any.
Well, at least the mystery of Derma Sotogaka’s name is revealed. Owner named him. He’s a Dermatologist and Sumo Wrestling fan. Sotogaka, apparently, is a sumo wrestling hold.
1 Like
“In 2022, ten race horses died according to the Equine Injury Database, resulting in a 1.03 fatality rate per thousand starts. There were 9,664 starts last year.”–April 26, 2023
So to have 7 die at one track in a single week is pretty extraordinary, and people should be calling for investigations and such. Even if there were multiple factors in the deaths it is still way out of the ordinary. And the numbers kept by the JC EID might be deliberately a bit underreported too.
2 Likes
The American/English equivalent name would be something like “Dermis Half-Nelson”. 
(I don’t know of any other wrestling holds).
Anyone else notice from the head on shots yesterday that Mage wings quite a bit with both fronts? There was some trot footage and it was impossible to miss.
1 Like
Rightfully so!!! Some of the injuries were bad luck. Some circumstance. Some odds. Some poor racing luck. And some trainers think it is okay to race unsound horses because the horse is “only three years old once and the Kentuck Derby comes once …” Why would a horse care about the latter, and why wouldn’t the health of teh horse come first? Not a PETA fan, but sometimes you have to wonder if they don’t have a point.
4 Likes
How do you know that was not the plan? Or perhaps give use a drug product for pain control that is not tested for… they are on the market… The average horse person could tell from the videos posted on the Internet that Forte was was lame. Todd should have scratched an unsound horse from, the race not a state vet Did he just forget to do it??? I give them credit for nothing… Unless that horse was pre-race, post, or at the gate he was planning to race an unsound horse in the Derby, as of Saturday morning. That is sick!
1 Like
“Sound” is a spectrum. I would bet that most of the horse population, racing or just hanging out in the pasture, would not meet a strict definition of “sound” that means there are no abnormalities or inflamed areas in any structural part of the horse.
The judgment calls for “racing sound”: can this horse do what is asked of him to the best of his natural ability without experiencing pain or catastrophic injury? Veterinary diagnostics have advanced to the point where early detection of conditions or injuries to a horse that is NQR mean that horse gets time off. Or retirement, before a chronic condition results in the unthinkable. And people gripe when this happens - “there goes my bet”, or “retired too early, they could have rested him/her”. It’s a no-win situation for everyone.
True that we don’t see the Iron Horses of years past, but I think that’s a good thing. Forego was just lucky not to have broken down and, IMO, should have retired long before he did.
It’s not just racing - it’s any performance horse. You ask yourself “can I ride today and ask questions of this horse without having to worry that I will cause him pain”.
3 Likes
I am as far from being a PETA fan as one can possibly be but they aren’t wrong on this one. That many deaths is inexcusable and for racing fans and participants to dispute that just adds to the perception that we don’t care about the horses.
31 Likes
But they didn’t, they scratched the horse. Whether they had to or not, he didn’t start and that is progress.
4 Likes
