NEWS
Promising sale topper Kinsella euthanized
Posted: Tuesday, January 26, 2010 4:36 PM
by Jeff Lowe
Kinsella, the $2.2-million sale topper in the 2007 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale of selected yearlings, was euthanized on Monday after breaking down at the conclusion of a workout at Santa Anita Park.
The four-year-old colt had been scratched from a one-mile optional claiming race on Saturday when the race was taken off the grass and moved to the synthetic Pro-Ride surface.
“Because racing had been canceled all week at Santa Anita and no horses trained or raced on the Pro-Ride for five or six days, we erred on the side of caution and took him out because we were concerned about the safety of the track,” said Aron Wellman, racehorse administrator for owner Team Valor International. “After enough horses had traveled across it without problems, we decided to let him breeze, and unfortunately this happened. It’s a real kick in the gut.”
Kinsella, by Mr. Greeley, was a debut winner on March 14, 2009, at Gulfstream Park for trainer Todd Pletcher, and he scored in an allowance race at Saratoga Race Course on September 5. Following a third-place finish in the Bryan Station Stakes (G3) at Keeneland Race Course, he switched to the Pro-Ride and finished unplaced in the Malibu Stakes (G1) on December 26 at Santa Anita.
Liberation Farm and Oratis bred Kinsella in Kentucky out of the King of Kings (Ire) mare Win My Heart.
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer
