Re: RC: RE: 'cheap' horses in endurance / no $ in owning astallion

[Bette Lamore <woa@stormnet.com>]

Hi Lif
I know of one: On a High who belongs now, I believe, to Red Shield. The
reason I know is that my best friend, trainer Bev Scott, originally
broke him at Los Alamitos. Although he did not have the speed for the
short run, she sensed he was just "warming up" and recommended he go
into endurance.
I don't know if you'd call my offspring a "cull" but Pico Nightrider
broke his maiden by 7 and 1/2 lengths when the trainers decided he could
do better with steroids and lasix. I was the one who convinced the owner
to let me sell him to Valerie Kanavy before they killed this poor horse.
He was covered with scabs when I got him for lay-up after his season at
Los Al due to throwing himself on the ground after the last 3 races,
writhing in pain from leg cramps caused by potassium depletion. It took
Val over a year to rehab his mind after such trauma and now he is doing
well (she believed they also used cattle prods at the gate from his
reactions to things).
So I know it is possible to get great ex-racetrack horses and I know
Boyd Haley has sold quite a few of his good ones as has Bev Scott
herself. You just have to be real careful of leg injuries and no brakes
(as well as teaching most even to respond to legs as many trainers just
train to the whip---jockies can't use legs)
Bette

Lif Strand wrote:
> 
> At 07:32 AM 4/22/00 -0400, Truman wrote:
> 
> > The are not broken down, they are not necessarily culls - they
> > either didn't have th speed for 6 furlongs, they hadn't matured
> > sufficiently by 2 yo to be competitive on the track, etc.
> 
> Isn't that the definition of a cull?  A horse that isn't good enough
> for the job it's been asked to do?
> 
> > Many go on to make wonderful endurance horses - even world
> > champions.
> 
> You are not talking about Thoroughbreds I suppose, if you're saying
> "many" go on to endurance, unless you've got a lot of TB endurance
> horses in the SE.  Curious to know which world champion endurance
> horses were race track culls.  Thanks, Lif
> 
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-- 
Bette Lamore
Whispering Oaks Arabians, Home of TLA Halynov
http://www.stormnet.com/~woa
I've learned that life is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer it
gets to the end, the faster it goes. Smell the roses!