Reference has been made to the vet who cut off the leg of one of owner Michael Gil's horses down at Gulfstream Park in 2003. The name of the vet was Philip Aleong, DVM. That winter, Gil's horses ran their eyeballs out. Some truly stunning performances came from that barn. Fan outrage was like I've never seen before.

While Gil and his various franchise trainers and house vets moved on to various points North, South and West, with varying levels of success, and varying levels of explosive pop, my general perception is that Gil's horses never ran quite as explosively since then (that is, without Aleong).

What ever happenned to Aleong? He quietly faded from the headlines, but he's still around Florida.

Who does he work for now? One of his clients is trainer Kirk Zaidie, a 40% winner currently at Tampa Bay Downs. Beware. And so it's goes... merrily... Aleong.

JohnTChance