Spendthrift Farm's Lord Nelson, the three-time Grade 1-winning son of Pulpit and a freshman sire of 2021, had to be euthanized Thursday after a long battle with laminitis. He was 9.
“Upon consulting with a veterinarian team consisting of Dr. Scott Morrison, Dr. Jim Morehead, and Dr. Caleb Harms and our stallion manager Wayne Howard, it was determined that the only humane course of action we had was to euthanize Lord Nelson following his latest difficult battle with laminitis,” said Ned Toffey, Spendthrift general manager. “It's pretty well chronicled his long fight with the disease. After several encouraging years, it unfortunately caught up with him and we couldn't allow him to suffer after we had run out of medical options.
“It is a very sad day at Spendthrift. Lord Nelson was an unbelievably courageous horse and I think he'll always be remembered by the entire team at Spendthrift and anyone who ever got to be around him. Just a very special animal and we will miss him,” Toffey said.
Lord Nelson was one of the fastest sprinters in recent history on the racetrack, capturing three consecutive Grade 1 wins in 2016. He turned in a near-record-setting performance in the Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) at Del Mar, running six furlongs in 1:07.65, which was 0.05 seconds off the track record of 1:07.60 set in 1973, when times were recorded in fifths. He also won the seven-furlong Triple Bend Stakes (G1) and the six-furlong Santa Anita Sprint Championship S. (G1), both at Santa Anita.
This year, Lord Nelson's first crop of 2-year-olds have begun racing and include recent impressive Churchill Downs maiden special weight winner Trafalgar, Ellis Park allowance winner Bueno Bueno, and dominant debut Gulfstream Park maiden special weight winner Basking.
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