Vino Rosso surged to the lead to beat McKinzie by 4 1/2 lengths in the $6 Million Breeders’ Cup Classic. Higher Power was third. War of Will led the first part of the race, faded to ninth.
Vino Rosso was ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr. who had an amazing Breeders’ Cup meet. An hour earlier he rode Brick and Morter to the win in the 1 1/2 mile Turf (bolstoring his horse of the year prospects). He also won with Four Wheel Drive in the Juvenile Turf Sprint and Spun to Run in the Dirt Mile.
After thirty-six horses died this year at Santa Anita, many safety precautions were put in place for the Breeders’ Cup and the meet was injury-free until the last race. Unfortunately, Mongolian Groom, who ran in the Classic, was pulled up after the quarter pole, after running in the front of the field, with a serious injury to his left hind. According to The Paulick Report, the gelding has multiple fractures in his lower cannon bone and upper pastern.
“It is a serious injury. They’re getting some consultation and evaluation and are going to discuss it with the connections,” said Dr. Alan Ruggles, the AAEP’s on-call veterinarian and a surgeon with Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital. “It’s obviously a challenging injury. I think what people have to realize is that (surgery) is not for every client. You have to have an honest discussion of what the options are and what the risks are. Hopefully it’s something that can be managed. Sometimes simple things don’t work out. Sometimes I’ve had fractures I fixed that I never thought I could.” The Paulick Report
Sending healing thoughts and prayers to Mongolian Groom and his connections.
Update: The Breeders’ Cup has just announced that Mongolian Groom has been euthanized. RIP
I saw it. I saw him throw his head up and his left hock go. I was angry that no one thought to mention until we were forced to watch the winner’s family celebrate for what seemed eternity.
But that’s NBC for you…trying to make money out of a horse race by making it anything but a horse race.
NBC’s coverage of ALL the races is just disgusting. It’s no longer a horse race, no, it’s all about people, the dopey hats, the partiers, the football players, the basketball stars, the actors who happen to be there, ..and the horses themselves are an afterthought. It’s 45 minutes of “People Magazine” and fifteen minutes of actual horses.
I remember watching the horses being led out for this year’s Derby, it was raining cats and dogs and laughed at the sight of the fashionistas in their goofball hats, tight dresses and high heels walking through the mud. Did any one of them understand that the race was going to be held OUTSIDE?
I thought I’d heard something that Santa Anita had already resurfaced the track. Maybe they didn’t, but it needs to have SOMETHING done. 31 horses have died THIS YEAR…and given the severity of Mongolian Groom’s injury, I really don’t expect him to be alive by tomorrow, it’s probably 32.
He never did make it to the front of the field, though, he ran second for quite a while, but then was passed up and made it to the rail.
I’m amazed people even race at Santa Anita. It’s a jinxed track, in my usually non superstitious mind.
Yeah, I could have done without all the hugging. It doesn’t look good for Mongolian Groom. That’s a very severe injury. I believe there were changes made to the track surface at Santa Anita, and all the horses were inspected for soundness (some DQ’ed). Rumor is they are going to take it back to a synthetic surface.
The announcement just came through from the Breeders’ Cup: Mongolian Groom has been euthanized. The injury was catastrophic.
I knew, without a doubt, that he’d be put down. I SAW his hock go (I don’t bet, but he was one of the three I was watching.) At first I wasn’t sure, but the replay left me without a doubt. What a shame. I read in the paper today that he was not #32. He was the 37th horse to die this year at S. Anita track. Something is very, very wrong.