Sweet Catomine Retired...

[Mintano]

The 2004

2-year-old filly champion, Sweet Catomine, whose fifth-place finish as the favorite in the

April 9 Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) was followed by a controversy over her physical condition,

has been retired.
"After the Santa Anita Derby, I had Sweet Catomine evaluated when she was

in the barn of John Shirreffs," owner and breeder Marty Wygod told The Blood-Horse Wednesday.

"Based on what the veterinarian said, I have decided to retire her and breed her to A.P.

Indy. I wanted to retire her while she was sound. She will be shipped to Kentucky in the next

two days and will be at Mill Ridge Farm."

Wygod would not provide any details on what

aspect of the veterinary inspection led to his decision to retire his prized Storm Cat filly.

She was transferred from trainer Julio Canani to Shirreffs after the Santa Anita Derby, in

which she was beaten five lengths by long shot Buzzards Bay. It was the first time in seven

career starts Sweet Catomine had finished worse than second.

After the race, Wygod said he

had considered scratching Sweet Catomine from the Santa Anita Derby because she had bled in

her final workout and was in season. Wygod also said he told Santa Anita officials the filly

might be scratched. Five days before the race, Sweet Catomine was shipped to the Alamo

Pintado equine medical clinic several hours north of the Los Angeles area. She was treated in

a hyperbaric oxygen chamber at the clinic.

Following Wygod’s comments the California

Horse Racing Board launched an investigation and subsequently filed complaints against Wygod,

Canani, and the van driver who allegedly transferred Sweet Catomine to the clinic. The CHRB

alleged Sweet Catomine had been misidentified to security personnel as a stable pony when she

left and returned to the track by horse van the following day.

More recently, an

individual who said he wagered on Sweet Catomine in the Santa Anita Derby has filed a lawsuit

saying he and others were defrauded because the filly’s health problems were not disclosed

prior to the race.

Wygod has denied any wrongdoing in the wake of the CHRB charges and the

lawsuit brought by the racing fan. "I believe (the suit) is without merit, and we intend to

defend ourselves vigorously," he told The Blood-Horse.

Sweet Catomine won five of her

seven starts, losing only her maiden debut at Del Mar last July 31 and the Santa Anita Derby.

All of her wins were in graded stakes, three of them grade I: the Del Mar Debutante,

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, and Santa Anita Oaks. Produced from the Kris S. mare Sweet

Life, Sweet Catomine earned $1,059,600.

“She was a brilliant filly,” said Wygod, who

bred and owned Sweet Catomine with his wife, Pam.

Copyright ? 2005 The Blood-Horse,

Inc. All Rights Reserved.

That was quite…sudden. I like this filly, I

wonder what in the world caused Wygod to retire her…and what made him so sneaky around the

clinic and his refusal to give a reason as to why she was being retired…weird.

:blink:

[Kirsten]

The reason they decided to

retire her. Is she Bled after her final workout. Ahe was also Ovulating for the first time.

Which could cause problems in racing.

Champion filly Sweet Catomine

retired

BETH HARRIS
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Sweet Catomine, last year’s

champion 2-year-old filly, has been retired less than two weeks after her fifth-place finish

in the Santa Anita Derby triggered controversy about her physical condition.

Owner Martin

Wygod said Wednesday he had Sweet Catomine evaluated by a veterinarian when he fired trainer

Julio Canani and transferred her to the barn of John Shirreffs. Based on the vet’s opinion,

Wygod decided to retire the filly and breed her to A.P. Indy.

Wygod declined to be

specific about the vet’s recommendation.

"It’s the only right decision based on all the

circumstances," he told The Associated Press. "It’s not difficult for me because I’ll

always do what’s in the best interest of the filly."

Sweet Catomine will be shipped to

Kentucky’s Mill Ridge Farm on Thursday.

As the even-money favorite, she was beaten five

lengths by 30-1 shot Buzzards Bay in the Santa Anita Derby on April 9, the first time in

seven career starts that she finished worse than second.

After the race, Wygod said Sweet

Catomine bled after her final workout and was ovulating for the first time. He said he told

Santa Anita officials that he was 50-50 about scratching the filly. Five days before the

race, she was shipped to an equine clinic for treatment.

The California Horse Racing Board

has filed complaints against Wygod, Canani and the van driver who allegedly transferred Sweet

Catomine to the clinic and identified her as a “stable pony” to Santa Anita security when she

left and returned to the track.

A hearing for Wygod and the van driver is scheduled for

Saturday at Hollywood Park.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” Wygod said.

Canani’s hearing is set

for May 1.

On Monday, a man who bet on Sweet Catomine in the Santa Anita Derby filed a

lawsuit, alleging Santa Anita, Wygod, Canani, and others committed fraud by not disclosing

the filly’s health problems before the race.

Arthur Mota seeks unspecified damages in the

Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit.

“There’s no merit to the suit whatsoever,” Wygod

said. “I intend to defend it and I hate ambulance chasers.”

The filly’s retirement was

first reported Wednesday on The Blood-Horse magazine’s web site.

[Shanthi]

Horses bleed out a ton in

racing - especially since American trainers depend on (and/or prefer to use) stuff like lasix

(or whatever the equivalent drug is now)…we breed horses who perform better on such drugs,

rather than select horses to breed that don’t need the drugs in the first place.

As far

as the ovulation thing…BS. My filly was ovulating at 18 months of age…even supposing

that racing screwed up Sweet Catomine’s biology so that she’s a late bloomer…there’s

still that lovely (yet freaky) thing called Regumate. Top show mares are put on it all the

time, why should race mares be any different?

Just my $0.02 on the matter. At least,

as they said, they retired her before she got injured. (Though that leads us into a whole

'nother debate on the sucktitude of American Thoroughbred breeding - by retiring all our

horses before they turn 4, we breed for horses that can only last that long.)

[CascadeJade]

Yeah, i was so shocked by

her retiring and really dispaointed! I enjoyed watching her race, I thought she could be the

next Azeri or even better! I wish it was made more clear on the reasons for her retirement

because racemares continue long careers while ovulating and its common for racehorses to bled

after workouts/races and such.

I hope an explanation is given eventually. Its so sad that

such potential greatness was taken from us soo soon! But I guess thats just how racing goes.

Unfortunatly.

[Sarah]

Aww that’s too bad! I

really like her I don’t follow racing much, but I watched the Santa Anita Derby and

everything about her.

[Mintano]

Yea it was quite sudden, and

the reasons coming from the owner were pretty lame, horses do bleed after works, especially

with lasix. And the fact that he was concerned with her ovulating bull; mares race all the

time and most don’t have a problem while their in season, if they do have a problem there is

Regumate.

It is fishy though, there has been no response from Julio Canini.

[hollyh1125]

Well possibly there is a

much larger underlying problem such as navicular or OCD. I know she prolly doesn’t have

navicular but maybe some type of problem that falls in those categories. He stressed that he

wanted to retire her while she was still sound and she only had 7 races. I don’t know much

about racing but i don’t think there should be any soundness issue after only 7 races unless

there is something else. But I don’t think I would want that gene to continue through

breeding anyway if that is the case. I don’t know if i would want to take the chance of

continuing any gene that retires a horse at 2 years old.

[hollyh1125]

The

American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) recommends for a horse to be declared

ineligible to race for a minimum of 10 days after the first incident of EIPH. If a second

incident occurs, recommended ineligibility is 20 days. Ineligibility for at least 60 days is

recommended for third and subsequent incidents. [b]After the third incident it is

at the discretion of the track veterinarian in consultation with the practicing veterinarian

and trainer when the horse is declared eligible to

race[/b].

maybe that’s what happened if this is the

case.

Exercise-Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage (EIPH), commonly known as

bleeding

[KindleHopeFarms]

It’s possible… but I do

agree w/ Shanthi… Nearly ALL horses are on Lasix… I feel like it’s terribly

convenient to retire a champion filly in time for the breeding season… AND! She’s booked

to A.P. Indy of all horses… The ‘Storm Cat’ for those horses who can’t be bred to Storm

Cat (cuz he’s her daddy…)
It is interesting that all the other trainers before the SA

derby didn’t give her the time of day… I couldn’t believe that when I read it in the

Bloodhorse… they obviously knew something was the matter with her… and cycling is

DEFINITELY not the major issue here to prevent her from racing… I also don’t feel like

bleeding is necessarily the top concern either… it’s fishy… I feel like there’s

something else… maybe a bone chip or something? But that can be operated on… minor

fracture? eh… I’m just speculating… maybe it is EIPH and I’m just looking for my

opinion of a more suitable ending for a horse as good as she is…
Kerry

[Andrea]

I’ve been wondering if he

retired her in part due to all the crap he’s getting for sneaking her off the track before

the SA Derby. I mean, I didn’t get to see the race, but 5th by 5 lengths against boys with

all that going on sounds awfully darn good. It’s better than Azeri did and they kept going

w/ her. I dunno, imagine he’s in big trouble for the whole incident and maybe he just

figures no one will want to bet on her after that?

I agree though, she should have been

kept running.