A very disturbing story.

Without knowing all of the details, it seems as if the connections of NJJ were more concerned with getting NJJ off the Stewards List and back to the races than they were with taking the necessary time to determine WHY the horse was bearing out. And what is the point of having a Vets List or a Stewards List if a horse
is back on the track working ten days after the event which lead to the animal being placed on the List in the first place?

The study of breakdowns too often focuses on track surfaces and not on trainers and their methods. Are state vets monitoring which trainers' horses are suffering catastrophic breakdowns?

IMO horses are being overtrained between races. Older horses who have reached a point where they are racing fit are sent to the track 5 or 6 days a week and it is probably not necessary.

IMO as a general statement horses are worked too far, too fast, too frequently.

Especially in California, it seems that there are a lot of unraced 2 and 3 year olds who have worked six or seven furlongs before their first start. You rarely see ANY horse from the barns of Bill Mott or Shug McGaughey with a work longer than five furlongs.

Bottom line: Lots of trainers, but not so many horsemen.