He said no this morning, that could change !

Short notice. Doubt it. When do the jocks get together and stop riding for Teflon Bob? If Medina gets DQ'd, Johnny V. loses out on his share of the winning payout.

.....and Rick Dutrow's still barred from training 13 years later???

After the Derby, Cox said his horses were both skipping the Preakness.  I think his hand's been forced, Mandaloun deserves a shot.  It'll ultimately be Juddmonte Farm who'll decide.  

I think Cox remarked that it is never actually good for a horse to wheel back in a competitive race 14 days later.... most trainers feel that way, but the prestige of the Preakness, coupled with the fabled Triple Crown gets in the way of better judgment

100%

That's exactly it, and why you see so many Derby also-rans skip it. 

Although years ago horses often did run every 2 weeks, there was even a time when horses would run in the Derby Trial Stakes and come back in less than a week for the Derby.  

It looked like Smith and Rosario were riding for Teflon Bob in the derby

I think the horses could come back quicker when not on Lasix

Gerh said...

I think the horses could come back quicker when not on Lasix

That's exactly right. 

I have always had suspicions about Baffert for a number of years.  Someone with eczema or poison ivy would have had to slather a lot of that kind of cream on their hands, then be doing a tongue tie or something. 

But given the nature of politics these days and how unhappy many people are with the "saudi connection" you never know what some xenophobic "patriot"  extremist is going to do.   It's the one time I'm giving Bob the benefit of a doubt here.....I can't believe I'm doing that myself, but there it is.  

The manner in which i have heard many horseplayers denigrate foreign entries isn't my imagination (often to the point where they are considered "invaders" of sorts)...... so I expect it could be done with owners as well.  The owner seems like a very nice and humble man.  And our breeders sure don't mind taking their $$$.    so there's that......

I certainly don't believe in mixing international politics with horse racing, and have never engaged in such behavior.   These are horses, not heads of state.