Top 25 3yo's 1987-2007

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by Athletics005

I did some research just for the last 15 minutes. The fillys name is Knights Templar.

And what did the research tell you? Was it confirmed she died of cancer?

[Athletics005]

Heres a report. Yes she died of cancer. The same type.

Two deaths with unclear link
By JAY HOVDEY
The odds that two Thoroughbreds from opposite sides of the continent could spend less than a week stabled next to each other in unfamiliar surroundings and then be killed by the same rare equine disease less than one year later are staggering.
Lost in the Fog and Knights Templar, both born and raised in Florida, were housed in the same out-of-the-way corner of Barn 11 on the Belmont Park backstretch in the days leading up to the 2005 Breeders' Cup World Championships. Lost in the Fog was taking his sterling 10-0 record into the Breeders' Cup Sprint as a heavy favorite, while Knights Templar was going into the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies off a 13 1/4-length romp in the Mazarine Stakes at Woodbine.
They both lost their races, but that did not stop their admirers from stepping up at the polls. Lost in the Fog won the Eclipse Award as North America's best sprinter, and in Canada, Knights Templar was hailed with a Sovereign Award as champion 2-year-old filly. The future looked bright.
"We had some incredible offers for her going into the Breeders' Cup," said Danny Vella, a two-time Sovereign Award winner as Canada's leading trainer, who owned Knights Templar in a partnership group called Clover IV.
"We decided, though, that this was the type of filly we'd wanted all our lives," Vella said. "We loved her, and we wanted to race her and breed her. Who knows? She might have even gone to Lost in the Fog, since he was probably heading to stud in Kentucky."
Such dreams have disappeared now, like tears in rain. Lost in the Fog died last Sunday in his stall at the Golden Gate Fields stable of trainer Greg Gilchrist. Some six weeks earlier, on July 27, Knights Templar took her last breath at Woodlands Farm, in Hillsburgh, Ontario, about a 45-minute drive from Vella's stable at Woodbine. Both young horses shared the same grim fate, wracked with lymphatic cancer and mercifully euthanized to prevent further suffering.
It was in early May, not long after she finished second in the Star Shoot Stakes at Woodbine, that Knights Templar started showing symptoms of a virus that never seemed to let go.
"We biopsied a lot of her lymph nodes when it started to get really bad, and it was a 100 percent diagnosis," Vella said. "Steroids kept her comfortable for a period of time. But she more or less wilted away and got to a point where she was so weak we had to put her down. We had talked about chemo and all that, but for me, it was pretty tough. I'd just gone through it all with my wife before losing her last year to cancer."
Danny and Theresa Vella had been married 28 years.
"You see it happen with a person, and they can make their own decisions," Vella said. "But with a horse, you like to have a little more common sense, especially when there's really nothing you can do. I went out to Woodlands to see her fairly often. The visits were hard. But in your heart, you knew you had to do it. Being a true champion, she was happy to the end."
Knights Templar was immediately cremated. Lost in the Fog, however, underwent an autopsy on Monday at the University of California at Davis, where his malignancies were first discovered in mid-August.
"The vet said, 'Greg, you have no idea how tough this horse was,' " Gilchrist reported Tuesday evening. "Not only would a normal horse have been dead two or three months ago, it was amazing this horse kept his presence, kept eating and drinking. One of the tumors was the whole length of his back, and was starting to wind itself around his spine."
Vella contacted Gilchrist during Lost in the Fog's ordeal, if only to share what Knights Templar had been through. The idea that a horse could "catch" cancer was pretty far-fetched.
"I'm doing a bit of research into it with some veterinarians that specialize in internal medicine," Vella said. "So far, all I've heard is that there's never been any research done on that type of thing with horses. But with people and with cats I'm told there is some association with a type of virus.

[SentToStud]

I'm adding one more to my list.

If Strike the Gold, Hansel, Best Pal and Corporate Report had been born another year, Mane Minister would have won the Triple Crown in 1991.

He also would have doubled his number of lifetime wins. Mane Minister makes my list.

I'm thinking about adding Hawkster as well for his efforts in 1989 when he ran 5th in each TC race (arguably harder than Mane Minister's achievement).

[philcski]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

What was the horse's name? Where is the report that backs this up? Were they the only two affected? What other possible reasons could Lost in the Fog have developed cancer?

I could go on and on. The owner gets slack because he's elderly.....but that doesn't mean it isn't BS and irresponsible. I don't believe one word of it.

He's right about the filly dying of the same lymphoma and where they were stabled... but I don't buy the reason given by Aleo. There is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY they would spray a potentially carcinogenic substance into the Belmont barns with hundreds of millions of horseflesh soon to be stabled there (let alone ANY horses).

Originally Posted by Athletics005

I did some research just for the last 15 minutes. The fillys name is Knights Templar.

That is the one. Trained by Mark Casse, won a couple stakes at Woodbine.

[Athletics005]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

Oh, a post from someone on the internet backs him up.

Not to me.

Read the article I just posted. Striaght from the source. Heartbreaking. "We decided, though, that this was the type of filly we'd wanted all our lives," Vella said. "We loved her, and we wanted to race her and breed her. Who knows? She might have even gone to Lost in the Fog, since he was probably heading to stud in Kentucky.

[blackthroatedwind]

Sounds like a big leap to blame Belmont for spraying something. Coincidence? Yes.

How's the lawsuit going? I assume there is one.

[my miss storm cat]

Originally Posted by philcski

That is the one. Trained by Mark Casse, won a couple stakes at Woodbine.

Sovereign Award winner. She was really good.

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by Athletics005

Read the article I just posted. Striaght from the source. Heartbreaking. "We decided, though, that this was the type of filly we'd wanted all our lives," Vella said. "We loved her, and we wanted to race her and breed her. Who knows? She might have even gone to Lost in the Fog, since he was probably heading to stud in Kentucky.

I saw Hovdey's article you posted after I saw the internet post, which is why I deleted my post, but I still think it is incredibly irresponsible for Aleo to make the claim he did.

He was rightfully upset.

[Athletics005]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

Sounds like a big leap to blame Belmont for spraying something. Coincidence? Yes.

How's the lawsuit going? I assume there is one.

Aleo flat out admits the spray was a rumor. However, the connection between these two horses is undeniable.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by philcski

There is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY they would spray a potentially carcinogenic substance into the Belmont barns with hundreds of millions of horseflesh soon to be stabled there (let alone ANY horses).

Actually they might...but why does it only cause cancer in good horses and if something was sprayed why only these 2 stalls and why no other incidents? You would have to believe that other barns would have been sprayed with the same substance and yet there are no reports of an unusual number of cancer deaths at Belmont.

[Danzig]

"But with people and with cats I'm told there is some association with a type of virus"

that is taken from the article above, and imo is where the research needs to focus, rather than something sprayed in the barn area.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Actually they might...but why does it only cause cancer in good horses and if something was sprayed why only these 2 stalls and why no other incidents? You would have to believe that other barns would have been sprayed with the same substance and yet there are no reports of an unusual number of cancer deaths at Belmont.

exactly

Csi: Belmont

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by my miss storm cat

Sovereign Award winner. She was really good.

She ran one big race setting a moderate pace while loose on the lead.....and more than a few poor races. Let's not get carried away because she died an unfortunate death.

[SentToStud]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Actually they might...but why does it only cause cancer in good horses and if something was sprayed why only these 2 stalls and why no other incidents? You would have to believe that other barns would have been sprayed with the same substance and yet there are no reports of an unusual number of cancer deaths at Belmont.

Same reason as when one heavy smoker twin brother dies at 60 and the other heavy smoker twin is still going strong at 85?

Doesn't always make sense....

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

I saw Hovdey's article you posted after I saw the internet post, which is why I deleted my post, but I still think it is incredibly irresponsible for Aleo to make the claim he did.

He was rightfully upset.

people will make a lot of statements when they are emotional, that otherwise would never make the light of day.

it also explains why some take it so personally when a horse doesn't make a list of 25 in 20 years....

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by SentToStud

Same reason as when one heavy smoker twin brother dies at 60 and the other heavy smoker twin is still going strong at 85?

Doesn't always make sense....

None of it makes sense

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by Danzig

it also explains why some take it so personally when a horse doesn't make a list of 25 in 20 years....

I completely agree......


....you should see the hole I put in my wall when I didn't see Dynever on anyone's list.

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

I completely agree......


....you should see the hole I put in my wall when I didn't see Dynever on anyone's list.

!!OOOOOOOOOO!!

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

I completely agree......


....you should see the hole I put in my wall when I didn't see Dynever on anyone's list.

He is on my Saudi marathon horse list along with Passing Ships