Geaux Rocket Ride Succumbs to Injuries

GI Haskell S. winner and GI Breeders' Cup Classic contender Geaux Rocket Ride (Candy Ride {Arg}–Beyond Grace, by Uncle Mo), who was pulled up with an open condylar fracture earlier this week in routine morning work at Santa Anita, has been euthanized, his connections announced Wednesday afternoon. He had undergone successful surgery Sunday evening, but did not recover as well as hoped, owner Pin Oak Stud had originally said in a Monday update.

Pin Oak gave a final update on X, formerly known as Twitter, late Wednesday, saying, “Our hearts are broken but Geaux Rocket Ride is at peace. We will miss you forever, Rocket.”

Pin Oak's official statement said: “It is with very heavy hearts that we report that, at the recommendation of the medical team, Geaux Rocket Ride has finally reached peace. His mind and his spirit never quit, but his body never recovered from surgery. He had a very rare response post-op and he wasn't able to stand up again. He fought hard and our team of vets tried everything they could.

“We are grateful for Dr. Bramlage, Dr. Carpenter, Dr. Slovis, Dr. Klohnen and all of the other doctors and medical staff who helped Rocket. We are appreciative of all of the support that we've received from everyone. We made sure he knew how loved he was. Geaux Rocket Ride was the first member of our Pin Oak family and he will never be forgotten. We will miss you forever, Rocket.”

Bred by OXO Equine LLC in Kentucky, Geaux Rocket Ride was a $350,000 purchase on behalf of the Pin Oak team at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select Yearling Sale in 2021. Sent to Hall of Famer Richard Mandella, he burst onto the scene this January with a 5 3/4-length maiden special weight win at Santa Anita. After winning the Affirmed S. in June, he shipped across the country to Monmouth Park and won the TVG.com Haskell S. He also placed in both the GI Fanduel Racing Pacific Classic and the GII San Felipe S. His final record was 5-3-2-0 with earnings of $980,200.

The Breeders' Cup also released a statement late Wednesday, saying: “The immense effort that went into Geaux Rocket Ride's medical care following Saturday's injury is a testament to his team's deep commitment to his wellbeing. Our thoughts are with Pin Oak Stud LLC, Richard Mandella, and everyone affected by his loss.”

The post Geaux Rocket Ride Succumbs to Injuries appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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La Crete Undergoes Successful Surgery

Stonestreet homebred La Crete (Medaglia d'Oro), pulled up and out of Saturday's GII Rachel Alexandra S. Presented by Fasig-Tipton, underwent successful surgery Sunday to repair a condylar fracture in her right front leg.

The farm tweeted: “La Crete had a successful surgery at LSU (Louisiana State University Sunday) to repair a condyle fracture. She is doing very well this morning. She will return to the farm once she is cleared to travel. Thank you to everyone who has taken care of our girl.”

Ian Brennan, who trains the Stonestreet horses at their Florida farm, told Daily Racing Form that Dr. John Madison of Ocala Equine in Florida was flown in to perform the procedure.

A daughter of treble Grade I-winning 'TDN Rising Star' Cavorting (Bernardini), La Crete is a half-sister to last year's GI Cotillion S. and Rachel Alexandra S. winner Clairiere (Curlin) and was a 2 1/4-length debut winner at Churchill Downs Nov. 20 before taking the Silverbulletday S. at the Fair Grounds Jan. 22. She made the running in Saturday's race beneath Joel Rosario, but took an apparent bad step with about five furlongs to race, was eased and was vanned off. Stonestreet tweeted the nature of the injury late Saturday.

The post La Crete Undergoes Successful Surgery appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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All-Time Minnesota-Bred Earner Mr. Jagermeister Retired, Stud Plans Pending

Mr. Jagermeister, the all-time leading Minnesota-bred money earning Thoroughbred, was retired Saturday following a workout at Tampa Bay Downs in which he was preparing for next week's Pelican Stakes.

The 7-year-old, who had earned $700,839 in 37 starts, returned to the barn following the workout when it was discovered that he had suffered a condylar fracture of the left front.

“We breezed him and everything went fine,” trainer Valorie Lund said. “He came back off. At first we thought it was his foot.” But the veteran trainer quickly knew it was something more and called for an x-ray. It was then the fracture was determined.

A younger horse might return from such a setback but Lund knew it was time for Mr. Jagermeister to retire. “I'm sorry to see him go. He was such a joy,” she said. Plans are in the making for a potential career in the breeding shed.

Mr. Jagermeister returned to his barn in Ocala where Lund keeps a string of 30.

“He was wanting to play in the aisle,” she said. “He's feeling fine.”

Mr. Jagermeister exploded onto the scene in the summer of 2017 when as a 2-year-old he broke his maiden at Canterbury at first asking by 11 1/2 lengths. His second start was a runner-up finish in a Prairie Meadows stakes race followed by the easiest 15 1/2 length win in the Northern Lights Futurity, the premiere race for state-bred 2-year-olds. A month later he met the talented Amy's Challenge in the Shakopee Juvenile. That battle became one of the most memorable at Canterbury. The filly defeated Mr. Jagermeister by a fraction of a length after the two dueled down the stretch.

Mr. Jagermeister would continue to face top competition throughout his career. While he is the all-time leader for state-breds in earnings, he is seventh overall in money earned racing at Canterbury. The son of Atta Boy Roy, who Lund also trained, made much of his purse money the hard way.

“He always met tough horses,” Lund said. “He was really an astounding racehorse.”

He won 13 of 37 starts with six seconds and four third-place finishes in a career that will lead to a Canterbury Hall of Fame induction.

In 2018 Mr. Jagermeister finished second to Mitole, then one of the nation's fastest sprinters, in an Oaklawn stakes. Later in his career he was second to Whitmore, a future Breeders' Cup Sprint winner. His brilliant speed carried him far. In his final race on Jan. 9, a Tampa Bay Downs sprint that he won by seven lengths going away, Mr. Jagermeister recorded a career best 100 Beyer Speed Figure.

It was a race in his 3-year-old season that Lund remembers the most. That year began in the Grade 2 San Vicente at Santa Anita where he tired on a blistering pace. He next romped in a Turf Paradise allowance before facing Mitole and heading south to Shakopee. He went favored in the 10,000 Lakes against older statebreds and won by eight lengths. Mr. Jagermeister was and is the only 3-year-old to win that race in 28 renditions.

Following a tenth place finish in the Mystic Lake Derby, his first turf try, Mr. Jagermeister went on a three-race sweep of the Victor Myers, Minnesota Derby and Minnesota Classic Championship. It was the Derby Lund recalls fondly.

“We wanted to keep him off the rail. He won by so far. Leandro [Goncalves] was standing up and cruising in,” she said. He won by 10 lengths in 1:40.37, just .17 seconds off the track record established in 1985. “Four off the rail all the way around. Geared down,” she remembered.

Family was planning to come to Tampa for the $100,000 Pelican Stakes, which was to be Mr. Jagermeister's next start, this coming Saturday. They will still visit and Lund hopes she can enter a maiden 3-year-old she has high hopes for.

“They will still come,” Lund said. “We will party but instead it will be a retirement party.”

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MRI Study Hopes To Turn Skeptics Into Believers

Efforts to stop racehorse breakdowns have increased exponentially in the past decade, with many high-tech tools being brought into play. The learning curve on these advanced diagnostics can be steep and additional complexities surface when veterinarians are expected to draw conclusions from current images without access to previous medical records: Something that may appear “significant” on an image may be an old, non-issue to the horse, reports Thoroughbred Daily News.

A study funded by the Oak Tree Charitable Foundation will be launched in Southern California to help racetrack veterinarians who use MRIs decipher what the images are telling them. The study will use 23 Thoroughbreds Dr. Tim Grande, the chief official veterinarian of the California Horse Racing Board, has deemed lame in their fetlock. The lame horses will be chosen from a pool of horses that are a morning-of or race-day scratch; those that are lame in the test barn or after a scheduled work or race; or those that have a voided claim.

A group of 23 control horses that show no signs of lameness will also be used; these horses will be similar in age, sex, and class to the lame horses. Researchers will be looking for changes in density within the proximal sesamoid bones and distal cannon bone, swelling in the cannon bone, and bone bruising. Each of these relates to fetlock failure and condylar fracture.

Though the MRI is not new, there is still skepticism about what it can “tell” veterinarians. Researchers hope the study will increase belief in the machine's ability to assist horses and their owners.

Read more at TDN.

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