Quote:
Originally Posted by RolloTomasi
The owner is a bit all over the place and misquoted the examining vet a couple of times if we take the actual vet report as objectively true (and the turf writer's article as accurately quoting Porter).
Porter says the vet notice the lameness right off the van, but the vet reports that it was only by jogging under special conditions (i.e., circling) that the lameness was apparent, and was "not obvious" jogging in a straight line.
Porter also says that the reason the horse had a front end issue was because of the hind end problems: "When he found out she was lame after he blocked the back, and when he got to the front end—which he thinks was caused by the back end—that was major."
In the vet report, the exact opposite is stated: "the front...problem is the root cause of her getting sore behind..."
What's apparent is that Songbird's physical issues were ongoing and did not originate from the Personal Ensign effort alone. Every race she was running in was cashing a check on her body's account. The connections, armed with the knowledge of how much her issues have progressed, are simply making a judgment call that her body can't cash any more checks.
That's fair enough, but its an imperfect science predicting the actual stopping point. There might have been one or two more checks left to write...at the same time, those checks might have bounced.
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Basically IF she had won the photo and everyone was all smiles, she would have been back to her old self rounding back into her elite form(something you suggested I sort of agreed) . She fly's home, they treat her accordingly with appropriate medication if indicated and they see if another check will clear in 8 weeks.. Just like virtually every other horse that is responsibly campaigned.
2 feet between Responsibly Retired and Responsibly Campaigned.