Back To The Matter At Hand

What's wrong with this picture? There stands the DEFENDANT with Sir Tristan Antico and Comely Girl who just won the 1988 AJC Sire Produce Stakes at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney. The little runt on the right holding the umbrella would be the legendary T.J. Smith.

Before I was sidetracked by Derby doings, and this year is looking to be really entertaining, Malcom Johnson, an ex-stable rider of Smith's was quoted couple posts back accusing T.J. of playing the numbers game. He weeds out horses with rigorous training and sends the injured one's home because he can. And so Mr. Johnson provides a perfect definition for the numbers game played in the public stable concept.

Now, I happen to greatly admire the training program of T.J. Smith. Later in the blog I plan a large presentation of the method's of Tommie Smith. But, this section is on injuries, and regrettably even the great T.J. played this game. More T.J. and numbers:

"TJ has a reputation as a very hard trainer, THE hardest. He's a butcher. He just trains the hell out of them all and races the survivors." (unknown trainer badmouthing T.J.)

Dave Johnson DVM: (about horses tried out at TJ's) "They come and some of them are only there for a matter of weeks. They go and they seem to disappear off the face of the earth."

Mick Dittman (one of Australia's top jockeys about TJ's training): "Training horses hard, you do seem to go through a lot of horses..."

So, what's missing in the picture--all the horses injured to produce one Comely Girl. Is there a defense for this great trainer? I've considered some possibilities. See if these have any weight with you:

Defense #1: Everybody does it. It's ok. It's racing.
Defense #2: Malcom Johnson is a doleful, back-biting malcontent, slandering hang dog.
Defense #3: Stay with T.J., and you'll make money.
Defense #4: Horses get hurt irregardless. It's assume the risk.

I go back to our mythical auction buyers Mr. and Mrs. Joe Schmo. They might hire T.J. Smith and buck the odds. Myself, my few horses and precious resources, we'll have to find something else other than handling injuries through the numbers game.

Today's training--from bad to worse. Finally we have good weather but no horse. What a comedy of problems. I'm normally well equipped to handling the abscess, and we have the abscess expert in Mr. Nob. This sequence of events since a week ago Friday for Art: abscess right, apply boot and epsom salt paste.

Monday, abscesses left--we have only one boot to fit--think right hopefully ok--has to be in the six inch mud, and put boot on left. buckle breaks on boot so horse loses boot. It won't stay on. But, left seems to be ok by Friday. Have now lost epsom salt paste. A horse ran off with it. By Sunday he's lame again on the right. Take off shoe, and this one's a doozer. Covers whole area of sole from right of frog to hoof wall. By today the whole back one half of sole on the right is spongy to the touch and very sore. There's a big fissure right on the bar (luckily--without a fissure it would be even worse.) Absent the boot, I've tried various combos of vet wrap, duct tape and cotton along with moisted epsom salt. He keeps losing them in the mud. I'm always afraid of a big wrap on the hoof cutting of blood supply. Tonight, since the fissure is on the bar, Nob applied a shoe and we rewrapped. The comedy continued when my top horse preparing for May 1 Eureka started limping with his own abscess. Could it be worse. Of course, and for that we're thankful.