I have found all the discussion and scrutiny about Wayne taking over the unretired Azeri, after the fine job done by Laura D, very interesting. Bill Finley on ESPN.com wrote an excellent piece two weeks ago about the circumstances and it was fair and balanced. As in there are two sides of the story and perhaps only time will tell who is right, perhaps not.

What was most interesting were the comments about Vets, about the mares physical condition, discussion about the extent of the supposed(??) injury. This is something very unusual in the racing industry, where even trainers will hide the extent of an injury (quartercrack, burned heels, inflammation, etc) from an owner much less their being public discussion or debate in the newspaper or other publications. Where is this information coming, certainly not Lukas, and why is there such an urgency to investigate and report in this situation. Maybe it is because Azeri is very important to a lot of people, was and is a Great Champion.

Regardless I would like to present the following scenario to everyone. What if Azeri had run a dull Fifth and afterwards Lukas had said she was a little more short than he thought and they were still on track for Oaks Day and Sightseek. Then on Oaks Day she was again up the track and Wayne declared she still WASN’T a candidate for retirement.

Don’t you think he would be absolutely BARBECUED BY THE MEDIA??? How about if ten months later she was still in training and Wayne was bitching about being screwed by Racing Secretaries and the weights she was being assigned. Still talking about where she would run next. I think racing fans would be OUTRAGED, the Media screaming for HIS HEAD and I can’t say that I would blame any of them.

But let me asked you this—Isn’t this precisely what is going on right now with SARAVA. You remember him the Belmont Stakes winner don’t you. Did you see how bad the horse looked last year at Del Mar??? Didn’t he Colic and almost die afterwards??? What if Azeri had run like that on Saturday and was LYING DOWN ON HER DEATH BED TODAY???

And please don’t give me the Wayne has a history baloney, one thing Baffert proved with the comeback of General Challenge, he’s no Michael Dickinson. And his current four year old crop of Vindication, Kafwain, Bull Market, Chief Planner, Indian Express, Icecoldbeeratreds, Composure, and Santa Catarina, well I’m expecting really big things out of them this summer.

Or maybe we are learning that the HEALTH AND WELL BEING OF A BELMONT STAKES WINNER ISN’T REALLY THAT IMPORTANT. I doubt that TGJB feels that way having BOUGHT ONE HIMSELF and I can only imagine his OUTRAGE if what is going on with Sarava had happened with Victory Gallop. Things got so bad for me that in the last three months of Silver Charms career I COULDN’T WATCH.

Perhaps the same questions that are being asked everyday about Azeri need to be asked at someone else’s barn. I’m not holding my breath expecting it to happen anytime soon. Never has and never will.