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The BC goes another year with another tragedy. George Washington was euthanized immediately following the BC Classic where he suffered a condylar fracture, sesamoid fracture, and fetlock dislocation.
What a cruel twist of fate for this poor horse, retired last year and brought back due to fertility problems and now he is gone forever.
Added irony…he was bred by Roy & Gretchen Jackson…the breeder’s of Barbaro.
I didn’t even notice him break down I was so focused on Curlin, but it’s terrible that it happened in such a seemingly familiar way as with Barbaro. 
I felt sick when the announcers said that there was a situation…then seeing the tent go up. :’(
An article on BC Fatalities from DRF that I just found:
“Most bettors, however, are unaware, or refuse to acknowledge, that nine horses have died in only 169 races since the Breeders Cup began in 1984. All of us (and I include myself as an avid bettor) must admit that this is an inordinate amount of catastrophic occurrences in so few races. It is much higher than the normal amount of deaths that take place on the racetrack during the course of the year.”
Go For Wand - Shattered Right Front Leg (1990 BC Distaff) Euthanized
Mr. Nickerson - Heart Attack (1990 BC Sprint) Died
Shaker Knit - Severe Spinal Trauma, Fell Over Mr. Nickerson (1990 BC Sprint) Euthanized
Adjudicating - Fracture of the Right Rear (1990 BC Sprint) Retired
Mr Brooks - Compound Fracture of the Right Front Cannon Bone (1992 BC Sprint)
Spanish Fern - Fractured Pelvis (2000 F/M Turf Cup) Died of Internal Bleeding
Exogenous - Reared up out of the tunnel and hit head (2001 BC Distaff) Euthanzied <Didn’t Race>
Landseer - Fractured Right Front Cannon (2002 BC Mile) Euthanized
Funfair -Various Fractures in Right Rear (2005 BC Mile) Euthanized
Pine Island - Compound Fractures of Left Front Sesamoids (2006 BC Distaff) Euthanized
Fleet Indian - Lateral Condylar Fracture (2006 BC Distaff) Retired
George Washington - Open Condylar Fracture (2007 BC Classic) Euthanized
One to many deaths…
The 1990 BC Sprint was apparently a cursed race.
You’re not kidding! Sheesh…
So sorry to hear about this… I hadn’t a chance to watch the race myself, and now I’m sort of glad I didn’t… Poor horse… And poor owners! Ugh.
He was a great horse. I was thinking midway through watching the races that it’d been a lucky day to not have any horses break down (as Mintano said, the BC’s history is littered with too many injuries). Guess this year wasn’t meant to be for injury-free horses.
R.I.P. George Washington.
That’s horrible, he had earned an easy life although I can’t blame his owners for bringing such a talented horse back when the breeding shed didn’t seem to work out. I feel so bad about what happened to him.
He’ll be missed.
Rememeber him blitzing the field in the 2000 Guineas over here
He was a great horse. They didn’t show him breaking down during the race, nor did they announce anything until after the race was finished; in which they panned over to where George Washington was, obviously covered so the crowd couldn’t see.
My boss was at the race…she said he broke down right in front of the grandstand.
She said that everyone was so focused on Curlin then they looked back after he hit the wire and there was George Washington breaking down…the whole crowd went SILENT.
You knew when they brought out the tarp that there was no way this horse was going to survive. He was put down right on the track.
Oh, that’s terrible. I feel so bad for these poor horses. But I’ve always thought that a runner is better off running in the clouds then having in pain and not run.
It’s a sad thing. I hope no more racehorse deaths come up anytime soon. He was a beauty.
Found a really nice article/tribute to GW…
Edited by Shanthi to remove the article text due to copyright…if you have the URL, post it instead. 
That literally made me cry. Beautiful article. Thank you very much, Mintano, for posting it.