NEWS
Second of June euthanized after shattering ankle
Posted: Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Grade 3 winner Second of June shattered his right hind ankle near completion of a one-mile workout on Wednesday at Churchill Downs, and he was euthanized at the Louisville track.
Trainer Bill Cesare said Second of June was examined on the backstretch after the injury in hopes that surgery could save the horse's life but the veterinarian determined that the injury was too extensive.
"He gave us a lot of great memories and there just aren't many like him," Cesare said. "He did everything we could have asked and more. It's just one of those things that happens in horse racing—happens in life really."
Cesare said Second of June was thoroughly examined by a vet one day before the workout.
"That's the one thing, sometimes you can do everything right and these things can still happen," Cesare said. "The track was fine. I wouldn't even say he took a bad step. He changed leads fine and then it just happened as I was watching him in the stretch."
Cesare was preparing the five-year-old Louis Quatorze horse for a start in the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) on October 7 at Belmont Park. Second of June was scheduled to be shipped to Belmont on Thursday to prepare for that race. A top effort could have landed him in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) for the final start of his career.
Cesare purchased Second of June for $7,500 for his mother Barbara at the 2003 Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. winter mixed sale in part because he shares the same June birthday as the horse. The Cesares then named the colt in recognition of the Thoroughbred's late birth date.
Once on the track, the late foal arrived early. He won three of five starts at two, including a victory in the $100,000 What a Pleasure Stakes at Calder Race Course. In his first start at three, he forged his way into the 2004 Triple Crown picture with a clear victory over eventual Grade 1 winners Silver Train and Friends Lake in the $100,000 Holy Bull Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park.
Second of June then finished a hard fought second to Read the Footnotes in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) but came out of that race with a condylar fracture of the cannon bone and missed the Triple Crown races.
He returned late that year with a runner-up finish in an allowance/optional claiming race on December 27 at Calder Race Course. After hitting the board in a pair of graded stakes in three starts last year, Cesare saw Second of June return to top form in 2006. Although he failed to win, he hit the board in all three starts this year, including a runner-up finish to Premium Tap in the Woodward Stakes (G1) on September 2 at Saratoga Race Course.
"We just had everything in this horse, so … this hurts," Cesare said. "I'd just like to thank all of the people who followed this horse's career. He had a lot of fans. I was reminded of that when I went to Keeneland [after the Woodward] and so many people were asking about him and were happy he was doing so well."
Second of June won four of 14 starts and earned $528,800. Lambholm and Felcher bred him in Florida out of the stakes-winning Spectacular Bid mare Whow, granddam of Grade 3 winner Bohemian Lady and a half sister to Grade 2 winner Alias Smith from the immediate family of champion Phone Chatter.—Frank Angst
