This is so sad. Such mixed feelingsāpart of me canāt blame the owners for bringing him back to the races after he proved sub-fertile, part of me wishes he had been retired from both study duty and racing.
And, yes, I know, they break their legs just playing in the field.
Just saw thisā¦like a kick in the gutā¦
I wish he had been able to stay retired and safe but hindsight is 20/20, condolences to the connections.
fly free Battle of Midway 
Bad day at Santa Anita. 
Battle of Midway was one of two to be euthanized during training this morning. Battle of Midway experienced a fracture of a hind pastern. Maybe he should have been retired but Iām not so sure. His return to racing after a sub fertile breeding career was, IMO, successful with multiple graded stakes placings. He was being considered for a run in the Dubai World Cup and was in discussion as one of the top older horses in the country after Accelerate and City of Light retired.
Just Forget It was an unrated 4 yo gelding tho also broke down this morning. Just Forget It was injured near the wire while Battle of Midway happened at the top of the stretch.
Oh, no. I know the breeders. They are so devoted and exceptional owners and breeders.
So very sorry for the connections.
Talk about the ups and downs of racing.
This morning Battle of Midway from Jerry Hollendorferās barn.
This afternoon, Vasilika also from Jerry Hollendorferās barn won the G2t Buena Vista Stakes. IIRC, she was a $40k claimer by Hollendorfer (sheās got 29 starts with many of the early ones claimers so not sure when was her last claiming race.) Career earnings of $818k.
I have to say when they announced they were bringing him back I had this sick feeling this was going to happen at some point. a great horse, a hard trier. I am so very sad for him. He was one of my favorites.
Different injury- same outcome- asā¦was his name George Washington? Help me hereā¦the horse who was subfertile, as well, although heād been a wonderful race horse. Returned to racing, and also broke down and was euthanized?
Godspeed, great one. You gave all you had.
Sweet! What a lovely legacy.
Thanks, I would never have seen that photo if you hadnāt posted. Perhaps heāll be like War Emblem, and the few that he had will be mighty.
Ok. Dumb question. When did they start putting neck straps around foals?
Canāt answer that one, I have only seen it on the mares and yearlings. Probably safer than a halter for all ages though.
Iām sure it has nothing to do with being brought back. Heās run quite successfully since and had a shorter āretirementā than some who are just laid up. From what I hear, 19 horses have broken down at Santa Anita this year already. It sounds like somethingās up with the surface.
19 horses in less than two months? Is that only an unusual occurrence, or is it unprecedented?
It seems quite a high mortality rateā¦
Agree. I have not been paying close attention, but from what Iāve heard theyāve had a lot of rain, and have had to frequently seal the track.
Thatās what I heard, lots of rain, so maybe there is something going on with the surface.
In better news, Chilly Bleak Farm in Virginia reported that at 2:55 am this morning one of their mares foaled a healthy Battle of Midway colt. Iām not crying, youāre crying. Stupid onion-cutting ninjas.
From watching TVG (mostly as background news but also as a semi-weather predictor of what may be headed east to AZ) Santa Anita has had a ton of rain. Sloppy, sloppy tracks (yes, sealed). Many days off the turf course.
I donāt know enough about surfaces to really understand why wet, wet, sealed followed by drying out would cause breakdowns.
Saw that Battle of Midway had his first foal. He only got like 6 of the mares bred in foal so definitely not a performer in the shed. Was happy to see that he was able to sire a few before loosing him.
Santa Anita will be closing the main track for a safety evaluation 2/26 (will be closed to training). Will be evaluating sub-surface conditions such as moisture content and soil consistency.
If the evaluation indicates the track is in prime condition, regularly scheduled training will resume 2/27.
The training track will remain open.
Originally, the track was supposed to be closed both today and tomorrow (2/25 & 26) but multiple trainers voices concerns to management (including Jerry Hollendorfer and Bob Baffert) who indicated they had important works scheduled for today and were comfortable working their horses over the surface.
Since the season opened 12/26, 18 fatalities. Of the 11 during racing, 6 from the main track, 5 on turf. 7 fatalities in training, one of which was āsudden deathā; the remaining 6 were all on the main track.
Interesting comment from Ritvo is that the SA main track has more clan than East Coast tracks that handle rain better. When heavy rains hit, the clay gets more compact.
I paraphrased from the complete articleā¦ https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/232241/santa-anita-to-close-main-track-to-evaluate-safety
Charmer John euthanized today following injury to his LF fetlock
121 horses worked on the main track today including top horses for both Baffert and Hollendorfer (Galilean, Game Winnter, Improbable, Instagrand, McKenzie) finished okay.
Main track will be closed tomorrow to training.
Part of me says the trainers felt the track was safe so the riders must have relayed that to them. However the part of me that fell in love with charmer John at the yearling sale and gave his half brother tons of extra love tonight thinks why the *uck would a trainer work their horse over a track that has claimed so many lives in a short time. I hope they get some answers. Run free Charmer John (Iām assuming he was named after his owners grandson John Henry)
bob and jerry protesting to keep the track open yesterdayā¦ and another horse dies. Is it just me or do these big trainers with these massive strings of horses not seem to care? They have enough in the barn that if one drops dead for any reason, just fill itās stall with the next potential. They have enough in the stable to warrant pushing the good ones hard and taking the risk when they KNOW that sending the horses to the track in the AM is a giant risk in this case. SHAME on those who sent horses to that track to train.
I am sorry, but Ritvo shouldāve pulled up his big boy pants and told them both NO the track was going to be shut down for evaluation no questions about it, feel free to use the training track on offer. Couldāve saved one more from shattering its leg and dying in pain.
Dig the track up and re-surface it. Or address the real problem in racingā¦ the medications, the overtraining, the lack of warmups for these horses prior to breezing, the unsound horses still making their way to the track every morning, and the cold hard fact that modern day breeders have bred the soundness right out of the thoroughbred.
Go back 5-70 years and the Thoroughbred was running on tracks much, much worse than those today with no special surfaces, running 10x more throughout the year and in many cases running for many years of their lives. They did not have catastrophic breakdowns at the rate seen today. And donāt tell me that modern breeding practices are not to blame. Stallion barns in KY are filled with one hit wonders whoās racing careers were cut short due to injuries, only racing a handful of times. Meanwhile, stallions who raced for years, were consistent winners at the top for many years SOUND, have been passed over because they werenāt āfashionable enoughā and the big time breeders at the big sales wont ever patronize these stallionsā¦ HOPPORTUNITY.
The entire industry from the top to the bottom is to blame for the amount of fatalities that are growing in occurrence every year across north America. This isnāt just a Santa Anita problem. I love racing, I try to go to a few big races every year, I admire following the sport. BUT it is getting increasingly difficult to follow and admire and support a sport when the fatality numbers are astronomical and we have a track management that is trying to do right and shut the track down but the big boy with deep pockets are obviously controlling the situationā¦ with little regard for the horses in their stable. Its sickening.
