Posted By:
J PaulEarlier in this thread you made a comment that a jockey will keep riding a horse with a broken leg in order to get a piece of the purse...if you honestly believe that, I suggest you have a friend let you ride on the hood of a car, get it up to 40mph and have him slam on the brakes, throwing you to the pavement face first. That's what a jockey faces pushing an injured horse.
A jockey will pull a horse up at ANY sign of distress - doesn't matter if it's a cheap claimer at Finger Lakes (by the way there is no $1500 claiming level at FL either) or the Breeders Cup Classic. His/her own safety is at stake with the risk of injury, paralysis, or death.
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You also said that you believed that Sham broke down in the Belmont Stakes won by Secretariat. A little fact checking would be in order but by the tone and off the cuff remarks you've made here facts aren't your cup of tea. Sham did NOT break down in the Belmont.
Sham had run two races in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in 1973 that in any other year would have put him on the cusp of winning the Triple Crown. However he had the unfortunate destiny of being born in the same year as perhaps the greatest race horse of all time, the immortal Big Red. In the Belmont Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr was told to keep Sham running alongside Secretariat from the start. The two of them basically sprinted for a mile until Sham could no longer keep up. The poor guy had given his all but Secretariat was just too much horse. Pincay eased up on Sham who finished last of five while Big Red just kept on going in what most consder the greatest performance ever run by a race horse.
Sham was kept in training, and was preparing to meet Secretariat yet again at Saratoga. He was retired to stud in July when a hairline fracture was discovered a leg. Later, Secretariat was upset by Onion in the Whitney Stakes at Saratoga.
Ironically Sham outlived Secretariat. He did at the age of 23 from a heart attack. Big Red was euthanized at age 17 due to complications from laminitis, the same painful condition that ultimately claimed Barbaro.
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You're going to believe what you want to believe and you are entitled to your opinion. But by the same token I have 25 years in the racing industry and feel compelled set the record straight when facts are being twisted.