THanks Michael.

I know that plenty of trainers don't like bends or mc's and never use them. Shug and Mott dont use them ever i don't believe.

There was actually a picture of Barbaro on the front cover of the DRF a few days before the derby and you can actually see the bend shoe. So, i'm guessing he was training in them before the Derby.

Also, another thing to ponder, maybe you guys have a thought on this.

Go back and watch the replay of the Holy Bull at Gulfstream on Feb 4th. In that race on a sloppy track, barbaro wore front bandages and won all out. Do we know if he wore mud caulks in that race? The track seemed to be really loose on top. I've seen tracks like this and it appears like the horses go right thru the slop and hit the bottom. Not only that, but Barbaro makes a really funny 'bobble' in midstretch and appears to shy away from his right rear leg. He was flipping to his incorrect lead, so maybe that was the reason for the bobble there. (he also flip flopped leads in the stretch of his first lifetime start. A race which the racing form notes, "hard to load")

Go back and watch the stretch head on of Barbaro in the Holy Bull and let me know what you think. If he wore caulks in that race and was hitting the bottom of the track, i have to imagine there was a chance he came out of that race dinged up someway.

But, you might say, "Well, he won 2 grade 1 races after that race" and to that i would say that i've seen horses gallop out bad, return bad and then they come back and are actually able to run well once or twice before disaster strikes. Why, i don't know, but it happens.