We had some bad news this week. Well Shuffled, who looked to be a promising two-year-old, went to the clinic Tuesday to get gelded and have a treatment done on a suspensory injury. As regular readers know, there was always a question of whether or not his second testicle had descended properly for gelding. It turns out it hadn’t, so he had to have general anesthesia rather than a local for gelding. When he woke up, he panicked and flung himself into the wall, breaking his neck and dying instantly. It was a freak accident, and shocking news.
Well Shuffled was the first foal the second mare I trained, Well Done Clare. Clare carried me through a dozen or so races, and she won a race (not with me on her back) and placed several times (in spite of my jockeying, not because of it). She is a tough cookie with a strong character, and Shuffles took after that. Really, we had no expectations for him, but when he came into training he quickly turned heads as a well-built quick little guy. It is a shame we will never get to see what would have happened. This kind of news is particularly hard to take after a long summer that has not gone as I had hoped. But surely, this HAS to be the bottom of our run of bad luck. We have to look forward. Triple Tonic, Shuffles’ full sister, is a yearling now and almost ready to be backed. Clare is in foal to My Risk. We move ahead.
What a shame! So sorry for your loss.
That must be upsetting for you Gina – never nice to lose a horse at any time, especially when you are so hands on and involved with them (as you are). Yes hopefully it is all up from here on in. All the best.
Gina, I really feel for you. So sorry.