by Mike Curry
Grade 3 winner Terrain was euthanized after he suffered a condylar fracture and a fractured sesamoid in his right front leg Friday night during the Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows Racetrack.
Terrain settled in seventh early and appeared to be running comfortably under jockey Robby Albarado. Terrain was steadied on the backstretch and pulled up by Albarado near the three-eighths pole before he was vanned off and diagnosed with catastrophic injuries to his right front leg.
The Sky Mesa gelding won the Mountaineer Juvenile Stakes at Mountaineer Race Track and the Arlington-Washington Futurity (G3) at Arlington Park as a juvenile (video). He also finished fourth in the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) at the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita Park for trainer Al Stall Jr. and owner Adele Dilschneider.
Terrain was third this year in the Louisiana Derby (G2) and fourth in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) before finishing seventh in the BlackBerry Preakness Stakes (G1).
“He probably wasn’t the most talented horse; he made up for it by giving you a good effort every time,” Stall said on Saturday. “He really fought his way to where he ended up. He was a classic over-achiever, there’s no doubt about that.
“He took us a lot of places from West Virginia to California and a lot of places in between.”
Out of the stakes-winning Forty Niner mare Minery, Terrain won three of ten career starts and earned $512,084 in two seasons. He was from the immediate family of 1990 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner and champion Unbridled.
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor