appreciate the response

I don't have knowledge in this area, but the 8 weeks off followed by 5 weeks was a red flag. In the end I concluded there was a reason for it and the 2 weeks and big effort were decisive. Chances are we will never know what the connections were privy to, especially if the horse doesnt pull through.

alm Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Simple xrays don't reveal condylar problems as
> they are under the bone, which sits in a socket at
> the top of the hoof.
>
> So Barbaro's xrays were probably normal looking
> and he was very insurable.
>
> However, the trainer knows when a horse is gimpy
> and it is possible to study the problem through a
> procedure called nuclear scintigriphy. Also, it
> is very expensive.
>
> Most trainers will just tell the owner the horse
> is a little sore and use pain killers to keep
> training and racing them. It's done all the time,
> every day. It's part of the business.
>
> If the horse is valuable, you can ease off them
> and wait until the bones harden and form normally.
> If the horse is a Triple Crown athlete, it's a
> tough call, because you can only enter once. I
> think that's what happened to this horse.
>
> In fact, it's possible Prado was warming him up as
> much as he did to try to work through the
> gimpiness before the race. Gary Stevens commented
> on it and was surprised.
>
> I'm not trying to blame anyone. I'm only saying
> it's a shame that such a good horse was put in the
> position this horse was, due to the nature of his
> quest. Given six months off he would have
> retained his quality and had a much longer
> career.
>
>
>
>