Of course, it was an absurdity that the G2 Lane's End Stakes was won by 49-1 longshot WITH A CITY. The ThoroGraph ROTW analysis justly stated that he was "the slowest horse coming in [to the race, and] he has to move up a lot just to contend. Unlikely." Well, WITH A CITY exploded all right! But how? Why? Making his second start for 26% trainer Mike Maker, was WITH A CITY injected before the race? With what?

Trainer Mark Casse's SEASIDE RETREAT, a "non-contender" in the Lane's End according to the ROTW analysis, finished second at 11-1 with a "bold 5-wide move." Owned by ambassador Will Farish Jr., who sponsored the $500k race, the colt only seemed a contender to those who saw Casse's TOP NOTCH LADY move forward with a big performance earlier in the Turfway card by winning the Bourbonette Stakes with a 5-wide trip throughout. Was he injected? Did Casse, making no impact this Winter in Florida, come to Kentucky and employ the services of the same vet that does trainer Neil Howards's horses for Farish?

Trainer Wayne Lukas came to Kentucky on Saturday with the 40-1 SPECIAL INTEREST in the Rushaway. 5-wide both turns, the colt finished a hard-charging close second. Was SPECIAL INTEREST's performance effected by work done to him by Lukas' Kentucky vets after being shipped east? Could that have aided the colt's performance?

When ACHILLES OF TROY was vanned off after the Gotham, much was said about the colt's physical problems. From the Left At The Gate blog: "First it was a sore right leg, then a hot left foot. Now Ernie Paragallo says that it was back spasms. Tomorrow it could be hemmarhoids, and by the weekend we could be told that he needs root canal. "He's just body sore. We can't find nothing up front. It's exactly the same thing after he won that race by 14 lengths (the Count Fleet Stakes). DOC WORKED ON HIM then and he came back to win his next race (the Whirlaway Stakes). HE'LL WORK ON HIM AGAIN and hopefully he'll return to the track on Friday." [NY Daily News] "His upper back was hurting him, so WE HAD ONE OF OUR VETS come out and DO SOME WORK ON HIM," trainer Frank Amonte Jr. said. Now, "he's fine." [Thoroughbred Times] Worked on him, eh? How did the vet "work" on him? Did he give him some peppermints?
So ACHILLES OF TROY was sore and had physical problems. But now, according to Paragallo in the Daily News: "He's perfect. He's mean again." He's mean again!!!? Why? How? He's rebounded on his own? With just mom's chicken soup? No? After a vet did what to him? INJECTED HIM??

Wouldn't it be nice if the public was informed of all the stuffs - feel-goods, grow-goods, steroids, pain masking agents, etc. - injected into the systems of all the horses we're asked to wager on? All that crap effects them profoundly.

JohnChance