It's Breeders Cup weekend and Hoofcare Publishing hopes you are enjoying the spectacle at Churchill Downs, as the world's best racehorses compete for fame and glory and riches. For many, these will be their last races, and the vans will take them straight to Lexington and a new life on a breeding farm on Monday morning. In the meantime, this is their chance to make it into the history books.
Many who made it into the history books at the Breeders Cup lost their lives prematurely to the terrible disease of laminitis. You may know about Kentucky Derby winners like Secretariat, Sunday Silence, and Barbaro, but many other famous Thoroughbreds couldn't beat the disease, either. And many of them were Breeders Cup champions.
Some great champions lost to laminitis may come to mind: Bayakoa, who won the Breeders Cup Distaff (know called the Ladies Classic) in both 1989 and 1990; Kip Deville who won the Breeders Cup Mile in 2007; and Sunday Silence, who won the Classic in 1989, and Black Tie Affair who won it in 1991.
Some whose deaths weren't quite so well publicized but who should not be forgotten are Arcangues, who won the Classic in 1993; Barathea who won the Mile in 1994; Flanders who won the Juvenile Fillies in 1994; Outstandingly who won the Juvenile Fillies in 1984; and In the Wings who won the Turf in 1990.
So there you have at least ten champions. Who knows how many more there may be? All had their greatest moment winning at the Breeders Cup. All probably had their worst moments experiencing the pain of laminitis; most were euthanized because of the disease, to end their suffering.
Each could beat the best racehorses of his or her generation, but couldn't beat laminitis.
Perhaps if you win big on a bet today or maybe if you just dream big of living in a horse world where laminitis is at least manageable and preventable, you'll send a donation in the memory of a fallen champion to a laminitis research charity.
The Hoof Blog recommends The Laminitis Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.
Learn how to make a donation--no matter how large or small--to the Institute by sending an email to Institute administrator Patty Welch: laminitis@vet.upenn.edu
Learn more about the Laminitis Institute at www.laminitisinstitute.org.
And, if you'd like to mark your calendar, the 6th International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot will be in full swing one year from today. The conference returns to West Palm Beach, Florida on November 4-6, 2011. Watch for news at the conference web site:
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