bellamy road was retired
 

this horse has been retired.

Thanks for the offical news Rev.
I think most of us have thought this for a long time now. Too bad. Its always the fast ones who go bad, the slow ones don't run fast enough to get injured.

That is a legitimate observation imo. But the breeding plays a part in soundness too. Bellamy Road has 4 Native Dancers which is not a sire known for soundness.

In this case, it wasn't the horse's fault. It was the connection's fault. They should have never run that horse in the Travers last year. That horse's splint was not healed yet. A friend of mine who is one of the best horsemen in the business was at Saratoga on Travers day last year. He told me the horse's ankle was still a mess and that the horse should not be running. He told me the horse would never run again. He said that you could see the splint was starting to push in on the suspensory. He said that the horse probably needed about 3-4 months at the farm after the Derby and the horse would have probably been fine. They only gave him about two months because they were so desperate to make the late-summer and Fall races. They started back too soon with him before the splint had healed and they have nobody to blame but themselves.

disappointed, but not surprised.

Agreed,
he was pushed hard to make a race he had no right to be in. Despite not having the proper foundation for that race, he ran an amazing second place.
And it wasn't Nick's idea either.

:(

He was one of my favorites and had lots of potential, but once the entry slip was filled out in the Travers I was worried it would be his last race. Darn.

He would have obviously been better off running in the King's Bishop than the Travers, but the truth of the matter is that he shouldn't have run in either. He should have still been at the farm letting the splint heal. They were working on that ankle right up to the Travers. My friend told me that on Travers day you could see that the ankle was all shaved and they had been working on it.

If they would have given him all the time he needed, he wouldn't have been ready to run until December. If you give a horse 3-4 months at the farm, they're not going to be ready to run for 6-7 months. They would have missed all the big races in the Fall and they didn't want to do that. They should have done that because he could have made all the big races this year. Instead he ran once and that was it.

I knew he was retired. Why does this come as "news" or a surprise. Did anybody actually think they were going to bring this poor horse back for more suffering...again? They're evil and greedy but not that bad!

They were trying to bring him back. He actually had a 4 furlong work in July.

Poor horse. Could have been great as a 4 year old. But greed got in the way.
Maybe they learn from this.

Somebody started a thread about this a few weeks ago and I said he had been retired, at that time, over a month. They refused to publicly confirm the story. Perhaps they were working on a syndication deal.

Too bad...he was a very good horse. I don't understand how there is no backlash against Ed Sexton. This horse should have been given to a real trainer.

There is no backlash against Ed Sexton becaue he is a delusional amatuer that no one expected anything from.

The "they" everyone is referring to is George Steinbrenner's Kinsman Stable. They are the owners.

Blackthroat,
The backlash against him should not be for his "attempt" at training.
The true tragedy of this horses demise lies with him. But as you also know the same guy as me I'm sure you have the details.
This is a horse whose true talent will never be known or appreciated.

You are being way too kind cannon Shell.
Gosh what a screen name. I remember that old boy from the days of my youth. Sprinter and quite fast!!!

Name his trainer for a special prize

Steinbrenner bought Bellamy Road for $87,000 on the recommendation of his farm manager, the Irish born trainer Ed Sexton, who had worked with Bellamy Road when he was a yearling at Ocala Stud Farm.

I would have called sexton a dirtbag but that would be insulting to all the dirtbags I know.

Chester....


emm-effing

Ross.....