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ARCADIA, Calif. – Paynter, who has not raced since taking ill following last year’s Haskell Invitational, returned to the track for training at Santa Anita on Saturday morning, the first steps toward what months ago seemed like an improbable comeback.
Paynter had to be hospitalized in clinics on the East Coast, once immediately following the Haskell, and then anew after becoming seriously ill a month later at Saratoga. But after months of rehabilitation, and apparently staving off laminitis, he has returned to training.
Baffert said he took the shoes off Paynter on Saturday morning before training so he could examine his feet.
“I was a little leery, but he looked good,” he said.
Thus satisfied, Paynter went out for a jog after being re-shod.
“What an amazing journey it’s been,” Baffert said. “He’s a tough horse."
In addition to his victory in the Haskell, Paynter was second to Union Rags in last year's Belmont Stakes.
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get back to post..... soon.......cant wait..
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Paynter, may I call you Anikulapo? It means 'he who carries death in his pouch.' From the great musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Will be rooting for you every step of the way.
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Someone commented earlier about Paynter racing at the end of the Santa Anita meet and that he would have to make his first start in California or there would be a riot.
First of all, the SA meeting will close in 3 months + maybe a week. It's absurd to think that Paynter will run in a race before that. I will be surprised if we see a real work or breeze from him until sometime in March. Even a race at Hollywood is a stretch, in my opinion, and I'm not sure they would want to run him on the Del Mar poly (keep in mind that Hollywood's Cushion Track is as close to dirt as any surface could be that isn't dirt).
As far as the California thing goes, Paynter is NOT regional any longer. His two huge career performances both came on east coast tracks, and after that, his life-and-death struggle which, by the way, happened on the east coast, captivated the entire horseracing nation. If Paynter progresses, God willing, in his journey back to the races, it won't matter a whit to anyone where it happens. And that's coming from someone who has Santa Anita about a 15-minute walk from her front door!
Ahmed Zayat went through a horrible ordeal with Paynter, a horse that he and his family obviously love, and he could have put both he and his horse out of their misery with a needle. He didn't. Something told him that, as long as Paynter's discomfort could be managed by outstanding veterinary technology, care, and love, and as long as the horse continued to show courage and will in the battle, he had to be given a chance. He was.
If he never makes it back to the starting gate, the battle is still won. If he does, it's only so much gravy......and more gravy than most anybody thought possible.
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Is the above picture recent? He looks terrific.
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Here we go again.........
Everyone here that thinks Paynter should be retired because he went through so much should inject themselves with cancer and then have it fester for a year (relivent time to a horses life vs Paynters desease) Then get lots of Chemotheropy and for the ones that survive, DON'T YOU DARE ENJOY YOUR LIFE..........JUST REFRAIN FROM DOING THE THINGS YOU LOVE TO DO MOST IN LIFE, wheather it be shopping, fishing sex or whatever. This is what you are telling them to do with Paynter. Horses are bred to run and they enjoy it more than eating hay.
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Union Rags
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There's no way they're going to push him his first race back, so don't place a win wager on him. I'll bet him his second race back, though. What a horse, and what a job they did medically. Love this story.
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Late Santa Anita Allowance race ? or feature race at Betfair. Nothing Back east or all of Southern California will riot
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horse was on his death bed twice, so lets put him back in training lol...
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John Howland,
I have a little piece of history for you to read in your reply.
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Best Bets
MONCLOVA galloped out strongly after closing belatedly in her second trip postward May 26, from which the runner-up exited to graduate with a 68 Beyer. The daughter of Queen's Plate winner Niigon is bred to run long, and can break through with the stretchout from six and a half furlongs to a mile and a sixteenth. BE MIND PHIL is returning on short rest off a closing second in her debut, going a mile around one turn on the grass. She has a blend of speed and stamina in her pedigree.
