Tragedy unfolded in the closing stages of the $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1) for 3-year-old sprinters Saturday at Saratoga Race Course when favorite New York Thunder appeared en route to a clear victory but fell near the sixteenths pole. The Nyquist colt suffered a catastrophic injury to his left front fetlock and was euthanized on the track.
Jockey Tyler Gaffalione was on his feet and walked to an ambulance, visited first aid and was uninjured.
With the undefeated colt down, One in Vermillion ($41.40) went on to the token victory in the seven-furlong race.
Entering with four wins from as many career starts, including the Amsterdam (G2) July 29 at the Spa in his most recent start, New York Thunder was the 3-2 favorite. He sprinted from the gate to the early lead and opened a five-length advantage in early stretch. The son of Nyquist out of the Midshipman mare Start Over was trained by Jorge Delgado for AMO USA Racing. He was bred in Kentucky by Gatewood Bell and Forgotten Land Investments Inc.
New York Thunder was the second fatality on the Travers Day card. Qatar Racing's Irish-bred Nobel, making his U.S. debut for trainer Brendan Walsh, suffered a catastrophic injury while galloping out after the fifth race, an allowance contest, run over turf course rated “good.”
Eight horses have suffered fatal injuries while racing during the current Saratoga meet, with another four fatally injured while training.
In the Jerkens Memorial, One in Vermillion raced far off the pace at the rear of the field down the backstretch and made a strong sustained run under Irad Ortiz Jr. to pass rivals entering the stretch, winning in a final time of 1:22.63 at odds of 19-1 for trainer Esteban “Steve” Martinez's first career graded stakes victory.
Verifying finished second, 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Arabian Lion. Fort Bragg and Drew's Gold completing the order of finish.
Jonathan Kalman's One in Vermillion, a California-bred son of Army Mule out of the Any Given Sunday mare Given Star, entered from a third-place finish in the West Virginia Derby(G3) on August 6 at Mountaineer, and has now finished in-the-money in each of his last six starts.
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