So Nick Smith & his team scratched John Hancock this morning after looking at him for 30 min. & multiple jogs bc it was not obvious to them. He has not run in 365+ days, passed the vet test in Fla. to run two weeks ago, & passed the... blood test. But here is a question. Ky average catastrophic breakdown in 2025 was 1.24/1000 starts. National average was 1.04/1000 for 17% improvement over Kentucky. If Nick Smith and his team are doing such a great job, then why is the breakdown rate higher in Kentucky when he scratches twice as many horses? 💁‍♂️show more

@HorseRaceSite I have said this to @EricTheTiger and he agrees and has suggested it, there needs to be a 3 judge system. Everyone looks differently at horses. This should NOT be one person’s decision.

@HorseRaceSite 30 minutes is too long . Either off or sound . If the 365 days off was a concern, California would have 20 scratches a day.

A little tip. If they’re working for the state ….. They weren’t good enough to work for a private practice!

I wish mine had jogged that sound without having to out smart the state vets like I’ve done many times over the years!! They have no clue! Not a vet in the world can tell me more what’s going on with my horse that I’ve seen and spent months with and they see for 5 mins whole life

See @SaffieJosephJr. Regulatory vets > house vets. This must change or the game will not preservere. @RepoleStable

@JonLindo60 He’ll need another layoff from jogging him to death😂. Eventually horse racing will have to take the approach of horses die, horses unfortunately do breakdown and you cannot make every horse live forever, just like people, that’s life. If racing continues on with this ideology🤷‍♂️

Or maybe it was obvious and they really didn't want to scratch a WinStar horse because they knew you'd put up a fuss like you're doing right now 🤷🏼

If it took him 30 minutes, he was searching hard for a reason to scratch him whether there was cause or not.. seems like a personal vendetta or a call from higher ups.!!

This horse looks absolutely sound to me at the jog and I am not a first timer..... Human nature. Swing to far to the left, swing to far to the right. why can there never be middle ground?

I think they have no idea what they’re looking at and they just feel a need to do things to justify the fact they have that job.

@HorseRaceSite Looks off to me.

@HorseRaceSite Where is he lame ?

Nick Smith needs a desk job.

Tender

Sore in front.

Why the year lay off? How are we supposed to be outraged with no information. Release his vet bills and notes and be transparent.

Why was he off for a year?

As soon as trainers or owners complain about getting vet scratched. The horse runs a couple more races, then retires from racing. Or never runs again....Forte, The Chosen Vron

It is quite unfortunate that this occurs with frequency in Kentucky. It’s not just pre race they are scratching on the track as well. This colt looks perfectly sound.

@LegionBldstk Control the breakdown rate for horses off plus-365 days. I suspect risk is significantly increased for horses off that long. Not saying the horse should have been scratched.

@EricTheTiger If there were only something like @sleipai that could help provide a more subjective view….

He has a strange gate in right front. It could be normal for him. His regular vet would know that.

1. The walker knows he’s at the fcckn end. No need to tell him come back. Like he’s gonna stay out there. 2. The horse is not happy about something. Some pain somewhere.

He’ll be too tired to run in the race after all jogging up and down!! Looks like they are trying to find a reason to fail the test!!

Where do they think he is lame?

BC highlighted the absurdity last year. Groom gets a bonus today I hope.

@RepoleStable

40,000 Americans die in highway accidents every year. Over 7000 pedestrians are killed each year. 48,000 America’s die by unintentional falls per year.

Sorry, but pretty obviously lame right hind. Why not assume positive intent that Nick Smithlooked for 30 mins in hopes he would NOT have to scratch John Hancock? Veterinary industry has one of the highest suicide rates and trying to shame them publicly for a tough decision is low

State vets have too much information at their disposal making it impossible for them to be objective. This horse looks a little funny behind to me but he also looks racing sound. He should have been given the opportunity to warm up in the post parade and then reevaluated.

You better give that groom a raise. PS From the looks of the groom’s gait, he may need rundown bandages for next 30 minute jog.

There is no statistical difference in these breakdown stats. All of this Hisa disruption had no change. There are just to many variables. HISA needs to focus on uniform testing and uniform penalties across jurisdictions. Maybe a breakdown penalty for trainers and owners that would discourage the running of unsafe horses. Leave the judgment of racing soundness to private track vets.

Guy running him has a nice gate...