Afleet Alex Retired

[HP]

According to the radio, Afleet Alex has been retired due to \"new injuries.\"  HP

[jbelfior]

As Ralph Kramden said when he entered his apartment expecting his birthady party to be waiting for him, \"OH, WHAT A SURPRISE.\"



Good Luck,
Joe B.

[sighthound]

Excerpted from DRF: Afleet Alex retired from racing By DAVID GRENING

Afleet Alex, winner of the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, has been retired from racing due to the degeneration of bone in his left foreleg, doctors said. The injury is believed to be what caused the hairline fracture Afleet Alex suffered in July.

According to Dr. Patty Hogan, who performed surgery on Afleet Alex in July, Afleet Alex has developed avascular necrosis, a loss of blood supply to the bone. Thus, the bone becomes more brittle and less able to withstand the rigors of racing. It is a similar injury suffered by multiple-sport star Bo Jackson, who had to retire from baseball and football in the 1990\'s.

\"It\'s in the spot where condylar fractures begin,\" Hogan said. \"I think he would have another one.\"

Trainer Tim Ritchey said Thursday: \"I always thought it was the best thing for the horse, the best thing for the owners, the best thing for racing if he could have come back at 4. I still feel too many of these horses are being retired too early.\"
-----------

I\'m imagining the breeding industry (which I love, btw) trying to maintain financial viability when the only thing left becomes attempting to get a young horse through a few preps and then winning a good stallion-making G1 or two, so the owner can recoup the investment and get the horse into the stud.

Sometimes it appears as if developing, conditioning, and running elite athletes is almost an afterthought.  A necessary gauntlet to run only in order to help set stud fees.

Thank goodness for those that at least attempt to support that diminishing thoroughbred horse-industry offshoot known as racing. There should be million-dollar rewards for those that can successfully campaign a horse in the public eye for two or three years.  That\'s the real point of it all, no?

[RICH]

It couldn\'t have been those 2 a day, 4 mile gallops. Come on, he wasn\'t coming back ever.

[phil123]

Everyone mocks Perfect Drift and Funny Cide.  Well not from this corner.  Of course if they were not geldings we\'d have all forgotten about them by now, as they\'d surely be out to the shed too.


Bloody Hell.  Point Given, Empire Maker, Smarty Jones, Ghostzapper, Afleet Alex.

What a waste.

[MO]

Greed breeds speed, not stamina.

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

Too Bad. He was clearly the best 3YO of the Crop.

You never know for sure, but that Preakness incident certainly could have been the beginning of it. Never seen a horse recover like that and never expect to see it again. If anyone doubts what a tremendous athletic feat that was just video review Alysheba\'s stumble in the 1987 Kentucky Derby, it seemed like a big deal at the time. Compared to Alex in the Preakness, it was nothing.

http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2005/derby_history/derby_charts/years/1987.html

I just wish we\'d seen him fit and on form at 10 marks vs the likes of Saint Liam. I know what the numbers say, but the older horse wouldn\'t have been close.

[P-Dub]

I don\'t know if I would say that it was nothing.

Afleet Alex didn\'t have around 16 horses ready to trample him at the 1/8 pole. If he had fallen, he was coming out of the turn with not many horses directly behind him. It wouldn\'t have been the catastrophe that would have occurred if Alysheba had fallen.

Alysheba was in a drive and although maybe not quite as dramatic a stumble, was impressive in his ability to not only keep from falling but go on to win the race. Agree with you that the incident with AA was rare indeed.

[MO]

And don\'t forget, after Alysheba almost went down, Bet Twice bore out and nearly dropped Alysheba AGAIN. Sorry Bud Delp, but Spectacular Bid had nothing on Alysheba.

[richiebee]

How to \"incentivize\" longer racing careers:

  1) Purse enhancements for older horses (older horse, larger purse)

  2) Purse enhancements for geldings (geldings run for higher purses).

Add these to my previous suggestion that \"clean\" (unmedicated) animals are eligible for purse enhancements.

[bobphilo]

Interestingly enough, a poster to my group from South Africa decries how often colts are gelded there. Apparently the sport is driven more by racing than the breeding industry there.

Bob  

[sighthound]

Avascular necrosis is something that just \"happens\" during fracture healing, unfortunately.  Unpredictable.  I think the two-a-day, 4-milers are just what\'s needed - it puts a solid base on a not-yet-fully-mature horse without the added stress of speed, increases bone density, cardiovascular fitness, etc.  If Alex  hadn\'t had that base, I doubt there would have been any talk at all of coming back from the injury when it initally happened.

Hats off to all the trainers with 10 stalls filled with claimers that manage somehow to make payroll week after week; the 7-year-old local legend gelding dependably in the money the last 16 of 20, and the guy with 60 acres who hits the farm home run out of the last Keeneland catalogue and sells a foal for $20K.   Wish there were million-dollar year-end rewards for these supporters of the industry.