trackjohn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Jerry:
>
> It is time to ban CTC2 forever. As a lontime
> handicapper and T-bred owner, I find his comments
> regarding yesterday's events insulting, cruel and
> ignorant. It is clear that he never has owned or
> raced horses and has no interest in this sport,
> other then to foster his own egotistical opinions.


After the Holy Bull at Hallandale, it was fairly clear that Barbaro was going to be a better horse than First Samurai or Bluegrass Cat and some went out on the limb at that time and stated so. Despite that, some of those same folks played against Barbaro in the Florida Derby, but Barbaro eked out a hard fought victory under tough conditions. Thereafter, Barbaro was training up a storm prior to the Kentucky Derby and upon that angle alone it was wise to use him lightly. However, he jumped up for a number of reasons and at arms length appeared to have humbled that field. The reality was a little different than what the eye perceived however. There was evidence that most of the field that closed wide did so in very fast time. The rail was clearly not as fast as the middle of the track the day before. Several of the very top contenders were compromised by traffic. The near rail horses, including the pace setters failed poorly to varying degrees. Barbaro was perfectly positioned both on path and his stalk position to pick up the pieces and that’s precisely what happened. It’s also precisely what happened the year before, with lo and behold near rail path questions. The reality of Barbaros Kentucky Derby was that it was a top effort, but it was also a fortuitous commingling of circumstances and after the Derby Barbaro became a target, a bet against.

The chance to beat an undefeated, gingerly raced, top running, publicly acclaimed, media hyped, Odds-On Horse in the Triple Crown comes along very rarely. When it does it can be an absolute windfall to those with the vision to try and defeat him. Commenting in victory upon the defeated horse is not cruel and it is not ignorant and that is regardless of why the horse fails to win, including injury, which is always a factor to consider in the totality of circumstances. There are people that never raced a horse and who would never race one that know more about the game, including the humane aspects of it than those who race for whatever capricious reasons. Why subject the animals to the stress of drugs and competition and the risk of injury at all if humanity to animals is paramount? The answer of course is that it humanity is not paramount. These animals would not even exist in society today but for the thrill and risk of both wagering upon them and running them at their absolute limits.

Those who think that commenting upon the events of that race or cashing upon that race taints their returns, be humane, give it all back. Tell the Service Manager or the Track Management that the money is soiled by misfortune and that you don’t want it. Tell them you’ll give it all back if it will nullify Barbaros bad luck. But just remember, it won’t and you wagered upon him going bad.

Oh, and if you don’t like the message, kill the messenger.