Bet on Esk at your own risk

[Funny Cide]

I\'ve known of the rumor regarding this horse, that he has a suspensory that they\'re managing and trying to nurse through the Derby.  I\'ve hinted at what I know by posting a photo of his legs from his last race and hinted with my words.  I\'ve been waiting for someone in the press to step forward, and Privman did, though he is hinting himself:

Eskendereya had a workout planned for Saturday postponed because of wet weather, and while Eskendereya did have a routine gallop, there is at least circumstantial evidence that Pletcher is trying to nurse Eskendereya through some issues. After training hours on Saturday, every horse at Pletcher\'s barn who was walking the shed row had their training bandages removed except for Eskendereya. This follows a postponed final prep, from the Florida Derby to the Wood Memorial two weeks later, and the addition of front bandages for the Wood Memorial.

[sekrah]

Looks like a possible IWR/Saturday morning scratch.   Anyway it\'s an extremely high probability IMO that he regresses significantly off his previous two efforts.

[nyc1347]

i feel like im reading the tabloids! did eskendereya also walk on the moon with baffert while eating chicken nuggets jogging with anthony dutrow?  lmao!   its amazing the things that come out when derby approaches us.  Take the numbers for what they are.  Last time a horse ran a number like that, Big Brown romped and the last time i heard a horse being \"sick\" before a big race was Invasor just before he won the Classic... so do what you want with the information cause if your basing your opinion on this then your wasting your money on thorographs.  IF there was a serious problem then I am sure they would scratch him.

[sekrah]

> IF there was a serious
> problem then I am sure they would scratch him.


They are 7 days away from making that decision.

[nyc1347]

Yes they are and nothing has been done yet so I will trust Todd Pletcher in making the correct decision.  If the horse runs as he should my personal opinion wont change because of \"rumor\" or \"he said she said\".. why would it?!

[MO]

\"Eskendereya wore front bandages for the first time as a precaution. Pletcher said one of his horses earlier on the card burned his heels in the race, so he put front bandages on all his stakes horses Saturday, including Nite Light and Munnings, who both lost. \"

[Funny Cide]

MO Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> \"Eskendereya wore front bandages for the first
> time as a precaution. Pletcher said one of his
> horses earlier on the card burned his heels in the
> race, so he put front bandages on all his stakes
> horses Saturday, including Nite Light and
> Munnings, who both lost. \"

Which doesn\'t explain why his legs were clipped.

You and nyc can take it for what it\'s worth, but the rumor among everyone in Lexington is that the horse has a suspensory, and that would explain why his legs were clipped.  I think bettors deserve to know everything, even if no one has the ultrasound to post, and then you can bet as you please.

[properch]

Don\'t fear the man on the grassy knoll, he\'s just trying to build a price!

[RICH]

Come on guys, put a thumb over the last, and take a long look, then look at the big neg, this guy is a major bet against at 2-1, his line isn\'t that good

[sekrah]

But, but, but.. Because Big Brown did it once that means for sure Eskendereya will do it again..  Don\'t you know this?

[slewzapper]

Of course the horse comes first.

The owner doesn\'t really care about winning this race, or how winning (or not winning) would affect his horse\'s worth in a court-mediated mandatory sale to get out of bankruptcy.

If there is any fire underneath all this smoke, Pletcher won\'t be his typical happy-go-lucky self that we all know and love this week.

Update: surely enough time has passed to have replaced the white Mercedes...anybody know what the new model is?

[rhagood]

Shaved above the knee, yes but the suspensory isn\'t on the kneecap last I checked.
If this was your horse would you have worked in the slop?  Sadler chose to but here is what he had to say:  

\"He\'d never been on an off track,\" said John Sadler, the trainer of Sidney\'s Candy. \"I crossed my fingers when he went out there.\"

Considering an old hoof issue one can see why:

Sidney\'s Candy has a quarter crack patch on the inside of his right front hoof, but Sadler said the patch is several months old.

I love the conspiratorial sound of the following Jay Privman piece for DRF:

\"Eskendereya had a workout planned for Saturday postponed because of wet weather, and while Eskendereya did have a routine gallop, there is at least circumstantial evidence that Pletcher is trying to nurse Eskendereya through some issues. After training hours on Saturday, every horse at Pletcher\'s barn who was walking the shed row had their training bandages removed except for Eskendereya.\"

My take:

Why on earth would Pletcher leave the polo bandages on after his gallop during his cooldown - maybe as a precaution for a potentially very valuable animal so he does not nick himself is a silly barn incident.  I think TAP is being extremely cautious because for once he has the horse to beat.

Overall I have heard of no missed training for Eskedereya this year and you can\'t train an unsound horse. TAP has commented in the past how Esky has thrived on the regimen to get to this point.  Get really worried when he doesn\'t leave the barn in the am or just jogs when he should be galloping.  Empire Maker missed time before the Derby and came up short and Big Brown missed alot of time before the Belmont and came up real short.

[Silver Charm]

I agree all of these Conspiracy Theory\'s make me SICK!!!

Privman is so in the tank for Baffert he would do anything to try and get this horse removed from the race by some sort of BOGUS Vet Exam to help Baffert win.

But it is worth asking why they waited so long before naming a rider for Rule who Johnny V was also riding?? Was he concerned Esky might not make it to the race and he would be left without a ride???

[martoon]

Funny Cide has Good info obviously.  Good call!   Wow this race is wide open now.

[Silver Charm]

Well where there is smoke there is fire and nice job of reporting by Mr Privman.

One thing that does now stick out in my mind is Rule did not have a rider named as late as last Sunday. Youu have to believe, knowing what we know now, they were waiting as long as they could for Johnny V\'s sake.

Now he is on the outside looking in......