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Danthebluegrassman Out Of Kentucky Derby
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 4, 2002) -- Mike Pegram's
Danthebluegrassman was declared out of the Kentucky Derby Saturday
morning by trainer Bob Baffert after the colt tied up while cooling out
from a morning jog.
The defection of Danthebluegrassman, on top of the declaration
of Buddha the day before because of a suspected bruised left front foot,
marked the first time since 1962 that two or more Kentucky Derby
starters had scratched out of the race after entering. Three scratched
out of the 1962 race.
"After a routine jog this morning, Danthebluegrassman, when he
came back to the barn and after we bathed him, we noticed he was walking
a little short in behind," Baffert said.
"We called over our vet, Dr. Doug Berry, and he looked at him
and said he was tying up. It's like a muscle tightening. We had to treat
him. If you don't get on it right away, it could injure him. He could
tear a muscle in his back. We had to give him some muscle relaxers and
you can't run a horse after you give them all that.
"He is going to be OK. It's a shame for the connections. He's
done this before, but not for a long time.
"After the work (1:11.80 for six furlongs on Tuesday), I walked
him for two days to freshen him up. Yesterday, he galloped great and
today I just jogged him. He came off the track full of himself. I think
he just worked himself up a little bit too much."
BOB BAFFERT, Trainer of DANTHEBLUEGRASSMAN
On the scratch of Danthebluegrassman...:
"We took him to the track today. We just jogged him and he was really
full of himself. He really felt good because I backed off of him after
that good work. We noticed when he came back and he was cooling off
after his bath he was stepping a little short. He has done it in a long
time. It's been a while, but I think he just started tying-up. So the
doctor came over here and said he definitely was tying-up.
Describe "tying up" for the layman...:
"It's like a nervous reaction. It's like getting cramps in your back.
The muscles in your back get tight and if you do something with them,
they can tear. So you've got to be really careful with them. As a
matter of fact, after that I was going to job War Emblem and I just
galloped him because he's feeling really great, too. He felt good. Man,
he felt good. For a couple of days there he was kind of knocked out,
but he came out of it. But that's something that can happen when you
get to feeling too good."
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