St Nicholas Abbey Update: Healing Leg Fracture and the Origin of His Name

Champion racehorse St Nicholas Abbey in his stall at the Fethard Equine Hospital in Ireland, where he is recovering from a fractured pastern suffered while training at the nearby Ballydoyle training center of Coolmore's racing division head trainer Aidan O'Brien.

Today Coolmore Stud released an update on injured racehorse St Nicholas Abbey:

"While still having a guarded prognosis St Nicholas Abbey has had his best week since his initial surgery!

Vet Video: Fractured Pastern Surgically Repaired on Champion St Nicholas Abbey; Details on Work by Irish-American Surgical/Medical Team

A report on the injury, surgery, illness and recovery of Breeders Cup winner St Nicholas Abbey has been provided by Coolmore Stud, ten days after the initial injury, which happened at the training center in Ireland.

Irish Super-Star Thoroughbred Camelot and His American Farrier Jeff Henderson Are Two-Thirds of the Way to Winning the British Triple Crown

Jeff Henderson shoeing Camelot today at Ballydoyle Training Center in Co. Tipperary, Ireland. Camelot will attempt to win the British Triple Crown on Saturday, September 15.

Time flies: Just 90 days ago, racing fans in the United States were on the edges of their seats. It was time for the Belmont Stakes, the third leg in the Triple Crown. I'll Have Another had won the first two legs.

Would we finally have a Triple Crown winner? No horse has won the American Triple Crown since 1978. It's been a long 34-year drought.

As we all know, it wasn't meant to be. The afternoon before the race, I'll Have Another was scratched and retired. He's now hard at work as a breeding stallion in Japan.

But hang on a minute. We might have a Triple Crown winner, after all. 

This video documenting Camelot's rise to superstardom is 18 minutes long. A highlight is when Aidan O'Brien nonchalantly describes Camelot's movement: "He moved more like a dressage horse than a racehorse, which was very unique. Usually horses that move like that are too good-looking to be true."

Spin the globe halfway around. Drop a map tack on Doncaster, England. That's the place to be on Saturday, September 15, 2012.

Perhaps no horse has won the USA's Triple Crown since 1978 but consider this: no horse has won the British Triple Crown in 42 years. The last winner was the great Nijinsky in 1970.

This third leg of England's Triple Crown is the St Leger, at slightly longer than 1 3/4 miles. Like most European races, it's on the grass.

And the horse with two-thirds of the Triple Crown already on his resume is named Camelot. 

He might be the horse to re-write the record books.

Jeff Henderson in Camelot's stall at Ballydoyle with the handsome champion colt.

Jeff Henderson, staff farrier at the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital's Podiatry Center in Lexington, Kentucky was in Ireland this week with Camelot, as part of his consulting service for Coolmore trainer Aidan O'Brien, and will travel with the colt to England for Saturday's race.

Jeff shod Camelot on Friday at Coolmore's Ballydoyle training center outside Cashel in County Tipperary, Ireland. Here's what he had to say:

Hoof Blog: Tell us about this horse!

Jeff Henderson: Camelot is shod and ready to run, his feet look good and he nails up well. I just shoe him with Kerckhaert raceplates and he gets nothing special. 

Hoof Blog: He's shod the day before the race?

Jeff Henderson: I try to keep it business as usual and just shoe him the same as any other time, so we do not get caught up in the hype.

Hoof Blog: What's the extent of your consultancy for Aidan O'Brien?

Jeff Henderson: I look after 20 to 30 horses in Ballydoyle and during racing season they are shod every 21 days. I spend 2 weeks at home and 1 week in Ireland from about March through November. I have to give a lot of credit to my wife for putting up with the schedule and handling everything at home while I am away. 

Hoof Blog: It must take a tribe of farriers to shoe all the horses at a center like Ballydoyle.

Jeff Henderson: There are two full-time farriers who work at Ballydoyle. I work closely with them when I am here and they deal with lost shoes and basically hold it together while I am gone. I have all the tools and gear here and can fly with just a carry-on bag and do all I need.

Hoof Blog: Possibly American readers don't know the type of operation you're describing. There's nothing like it in America. How do you get a contract like that?

Jeff Henderson: It is quite a privilege to get to work on a horse of this caliber. This is my third racing season shoeing for Ballydoyle. Dr. (Scott) Morrison and I came over three years ago for two days to do some consulting and I ended up staying for a week. 

Hoof Blog: How does it feel to be on the verge of making history with this horse?

Jeff Henderson: It is great to be part of a historic event and I hope for a fast and safe trip for all the horses in the race.

• • • • • • • • • •

Camelot's trainer, Ireland's Aidan O'Brien, can't say enough good things about this horse: “He looks different; everything about him is different. He’s flesh and blood, but there’s a vibe around this horse. There’s a bigger aura around him, and there has been from Day One,” he said today in an interview with Jennie Rees of the Louisville (Kentucky) Courier Journal.

He'll be ridden by the trainer's son, Joseph O'Brien. He's been trained at the same center as Nijinsky. He has a Japanese exercise rider. And an American farrier will be at--and on--his side on Saturday.

TO LEARN MORE:

Camelot's Epsom Derby Victory Footnote: American Farrier Jeff Henderson on The Hoof Blog

Is Camelot enchanted? British Triple Crown would make his case by Jennie Rees for the Louisville Courier-Journal

Overlooking Camelot In Britain's Glorious Summer Of Sport by Teresa Genaro on Forbes.com

The race will be broadcast by HRTV and TVG racing networks on cable television in the USA beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday.

Story and photos protected by copyright; no use without permission. Photos courtesy of Jeff Henderson.

Click to order this usual and beautiful reference poster.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Camelot's Epsom Derby Victory Footnote: American Farrier Jeff Henderson

C A M E L O T

Trainer: Irish 

Foaled in: Great Britain

Bred by: Bahrain's prince

Owners: Irish/British

Jockey: Irish
Exercise rider: Japanese

Sire: French-trained

Grandsire: Legendary Australian sire

Farrier: American
Horseshoes: Dutch

The most exciting horse in the world today is not Australia's Black Caviar. It's not American Triple Crown candidate I'll Have Another. It's not even superstar British sprinter Frankel. Move over, Zenyatta and Totilas, there's a new horse in the headlines.

It's a horse with a list of international connections that you'll need the fingers on both your hands to count.

British Triple Crown contender Camelot has a footnote of international interest. The colt has unusual face markings and white untrimmed whiskers on his muzzle. (Photo by Monkeywing)

But when you look at his feet, forget the Irish and English stereotypes. Forget tweed caps and dark, smoky smiddies. Think stars and stripes, wide open spaces, and the Great State of Texas.

Rood + Riddle Equine Hospital Podiatry 

Center's Jeff Henderson CJF

Camelot--just like 2011 Breeders Cup Turf champion St Nicholas Abbey who won the Coronation Cup at Epsom today right after the Derby--has a special hoofcare consultant from the USA. By way of Texas.

Jeff Henderson, a transplanted Texan who continues to flourish as a Kentucky transplant, travels to Ireland to provide specialist services to the Ballydoyle training center of trainer Aidan O'Brien. 

Jeff works with Scott Morrison DVM in the podiatry referral service of Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital's Podiatry Center in Lexington, Kentucky.

Henderson has become a frequent flyer commuter to Ireland to shoe for O'Brien; he also took over St. Nicholas Abbey, who had been worked on in the past by Morrison, and also worked on Kentucky Derby starter Daddy Long Legs, among others.

Jeff said that Camelot's hoofcare needs were simple; Camelot is shod with Kerckhaert raceplates--no glue, no patches.

Ballydoyle employs two full-time farriers in addition to Henderson and Morrison's consulting services.

Today's stunning win of the famed Epsom Derby in England means that three-year-old Thoroughbred Camelot has won 2/3 of the British Triple Crown. 

St Nicholas Abbey on his way to victory in the Coronation Cup. (Photo by Monkeywing)

It's been 34 years since a horse has won the Triple Crown in the USA. I'll Have Another is 2/3 of the way there this year, and goes for the big honor a week from today at New York's Belmont Park.

But in England, the drought has been even longer; no horse has won the Triple Crown there since Nijinsky won the 2,000 Guineas, the Derby and the St Leger in 1973. Camelot may attempt the crown, or his owners and trainer might choose other options.

Camelot is trained by Aiden O'Brien at Coolmore's Ballydoyle training center in Ireland, where footnotes to victories abound. A special aspect to his victory today is that he was ridden by O'Brien's teenage son, Joseph.

The victories by Camelot and St Nicholas Abbey are especially sweet for Coolmore; both winners are  by their late, great stud Montjeu, who became ill and was euthanized this spring at the age of 16 after siring (so far) four winners of the Epsom Derby.

To increase the international connections of Camelot, his lineage goes back to the great Hungarian mare of the 1870s, Kincsem, undefeated in 54 starts, including major events in Austria, Hungary, Germany, France and England, according to the experts at pedigreeconsultants.com.

In basic American breeding terms that US Hoof Blog readers and Thoroughbred racing fans can celebrate, Camelot is from the European continuation of Canada's Northern Dancer's dynasty on the sire side and Kentucky's Mr. Prospector line on his dam's side.

Horse behavior observers may have noticed that Camelot wore the comforting Monty Roberts-designed "barrier blanket" into the starting gate yesterday. His sire, Montjeu, had to be ridden into the paddock by his groom, according to Thoroughbred Daily News.

The horse's name reflects much more than a famous Broadway musical; Camelot was the legendary mythical kingdom of Britain's King Arthur and his knights.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing; Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. Please, no use without permission. You only need to ask. This blog may be read online at the blog page, checked via RSS feed, or received via a digest-type email (requires signup in box at top right of blog page). To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness (the journal), please visit the main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found. Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.  

Follow Hoofcare + Lameness on Twitter: @HoofcareJournal

Read this blog's headlines on the Hoofcare + Lameness Facebook Page 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any direct compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned, other than Hoofcare Publishing. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.