1) Champion sprinter Lostinthefog has been diagnosed with terminal cancer in his abdomen and spleen. The horse won his first 10 starts and entered last year's Breeders Cup sprint as the favorite but was beaten badly. I wonder if the cancer played any role in that poor performance; the doctors said that it was likely in his body for the last 4 months to a year. It surely affected him this year, when he won only 1 of 3 starts. There is an excellent article about Lostinthefog here.
Lostinthefog was the pride of the 2nd tier NoCal racing scene.
He was the best horse to come out of the Bay Area in quite some time. His owner has returned him to his stable at Golden Gate Fields to live out his remaining few weeeks as long as he is not in too much pain. It was nice to hear his trainer say:
"We'll keep him in the stall for a week or 10 days... This would be the best thing to do, get him back with his groom. I just couldn't leave him up there (at Davis) to be euthanized and thrown in the bone yard... We're fine with a week, 10 days, maybe two weeks... But you get beyond that, his quality of life wouldn't be good. This way we'll let the people who have always been around him take care of him. We'll bring him home and make him as happy as we can for awhile."
2) In more shitty news, 2005 Horse of the year, 2005 Champion Older Male Horse and 2005 Breeders Cup Classic winner Saint Liam has died. He suffered a fractured hind leg yesterday while being led to his paddock and the damage was such that surgery could not have saved him so he was euthanized.
Saint Liam winning the 2005 BC Classic.
I know that everyone ridicules the "sport" of horse racing as nothing more than a cruel business that exists only because of betting, but there millions of people who love and genuinely care about these amazing animals. I am one of them, and I am really sad and sorry for the connections and fans of these two great horses.
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