Railbird 2004–2019

Horses Archive

More on Alex’s Retirement

Trainer Tim Ritchey believes Afleet Alex’s stumble in the Preakness could have caused the injury that led to his retirement on Thursday:

“I was always amazed that he showed absolutely no problems after the Preakness,” Ritchey said. “Even though he appeared sound and never took a bad step, he probably bruised something in the Preakness. If that’s the case, and it makes sense to me that it is, that was probably the cause of the hairline fracture of the cannon bone.”

Dick Jerardi allows that as one possibility, but also wonders:

Was it there all along and just not detected? Did the postoperative training cause it?… Was it inevitable because of the stress of racing?

Bob Ford argues the fault lies with the last.
More from me on this story later in the week …

Posted in Horses on December 3, 2005

Afleet Alex Retired

Because of a recently discovered leg injury. The problem, a wedge-shaped bit of abnormal bone, was uncovered during a scan of the colt’s injured left front leg, in which Alex was diagnosed with a hairline fracture of the cannon bone last July. Dr. Patricia Hogan described the wedge as “essentially an island of brittle bone that was once badly bruised, and over time has slowly lost its blood supply,” and said,

“We talked to Dr. (Larry) Bramlage about it and he said if it ever healed at all it would have taken months, and I don’t think we’d ever feel confident radiographically that it would look normal enough for the horse to return to racing.”

Chuck Zacney, managing partner of Cash Is King stable, said everyone involved was “disappointed and frustrated”:

“We were really looking forward to racing Alex next year and to showing just how great a horse he was. I don’t think horse racing fans saw the best of Alex. They saw a lot of very good races, but, the way he was growing and maturing, I really feel the best was yet to come.”

If I may be allowed a moment of cynicism and snarkiness (I’m so disappointed at this news — there’s no horse I’ve wanted to see race again as much as I did Alex): It seems to me that any letdown the Cash Is King crew feels will be overcome by the giant piles of cash coming their way. No word yet on where Afleet Alex will stand at stud, but talk earlier this summer suggested the Preakness and Belmont winner was worth upwards of $20 million in the breeding shed.

Posted in Horses on December 1, 2005

Return to the Winner’s Circle

Evening Attire brought his nine race losing streak to an end on Saturday with a win in the Stuyvesant Handicap at Aqueduct. “When he is up there, stalking horses, he is happy,” said trainer Pat Kelly. “I was glad to see him up there. He is not done yet. He is hanging in there.” Kelly said the seven-year-old gelding could start next in the Queens County Handicap on December 10.

Posted in Horses on November 21, 2005

Taste of Paradise Retired

Breeders’ Cup Sprint runner-up and Vosburgh Stakes winner Taste of Paradise has been retired. The six-year-old has a tendon injury, discovered by trainer Richard Mandella after a recent gallop:

“When I ran my fingers down his leg, there was just the slightest little bump…. We took an ultrasound to see if there was a little swelling because he had hit himself or because there was actually a tear, and we found just a tiny lesion on the tendon. It was only about the size of a teardrop, but he wouldn’t have been able to perform at the level he had been his last few races, and it probably would have turned into a bow had we continued to race him.”

Mandella had hoped to run Taste of Paradise in the Cigar Mile on November 26.

Posted in Horses on November 11, 2005

Alex Out Until 2006

The latest news on Afleet Alex is hardly surprising: Trainer Tim Ritchey was still talking about the Cigar Mile last week, but Cash Is King managing partner Chuck Zacney all but said Alex was done for the year. This weekend came the announcement that x-rays showed the colt’s hairline fracture isn’t completely healed and that he won’t run again until 2006, when he may start in the Sunshine Millions Classic at Santa Anita in January or the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream in February.
Despite Alex’s long absence from the races, Ritchey believes the dual classic winner should be named Horse of the Year. “I’d like to congratulate (Breeders’ Cup Classic winner) Saint Liam and his connections, but I think my horse should be Horse of the Year. He had the most dominating races of the year; I would love to see it.” At least one voter agrees.

Posted in Horses on November 6, 2005

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