Rest in peace, Second of June
 

... confirmed on another forum. He broke down this morning and didn't make it.

Rest in peace, beautiful boy.

no way....
i swear sometimes i hate this damn sport.

I know.....

oh no! this is awful.

Where was he training when this happened? Florida?

you're kidding!!!!! NO!

Here.....

http://thoroughbredchampions.com/for...p?topic=7741.0

Poor baby.

and i cleaned up my post above....jesus.

.....i always liked this horse, he was one i thought had a shot back when he was on the t.c. trail...never seemed quite able to stay healthy long enough, couldn't put it all back together after that great race early in the spring when he was three.

i'm really getting sick of eulogizing these beautiful, wonderful horses. rest in peace is starting to sound less than meaningful.

he had a hell of a race with premium tap. i'm sorry that's the last i'll ever get to see of him.

this one breaks my heart I LOVED that horse....

BLAST! We never got to see the best of this one. Got fried in that Gulfstream race with Read the Footnotes when he was too young for that sort of effort (second of June was his birthday), never seemed to fully come back from it.

RIP! I want to comment on modern breeding practices once again but this isn't the time or place to go off on a tirade...poor guy, you deserved so much better as do they all!

Same here. I even thought he had a decent shot at the BCC, and said as much here. Now, just when he finally seemed to be getting close to where he was as a 3-yr-old, this. It truly sucks.

Couldn't believe it when I read the title of this thread...didn't want to click on it.

--Dunbar

Same kinda deal as what happend with Barbaro. Feel bad for Billy hes a super nice guy, and loved that horse. Had lots of offers on the animal and wanted to run him himself.

Yeah,
after he broke his maiden at age two gong 7F at Calder, one of the stipulations he had on a possible sale was that he would only sell 50% of the horse and he would continue to train it. This I know for a fact. He did love that horse.
I'm very sorry for him, very. I thought he would make an attractive stallion prospect someplace and was wondering where he was gonna stand. He had all the marks you wanna see. Won early and sprinting at age two, won graded stakes at three, and performed well in a grade one stakes race as an older horse. He was also by a sire undergoing a resurgence in Louis Quatorze who may have a champion this year in Bushfire, and is Maryland's current leading sire.
He would have made a very nice stallion prospect and its a shame we won't get to see that happen either.
Its just an overall tragedy, and my condolences go out to Bill Cesare, and I believe his Mom owned part of the horse as well.

Very upsetting. Poor horse was always battling injuries and is finally taken from us. R.I.P.

He had a small insurance policy, but it was his baby. Yeah Oracle, his mom and him shared the ownership. He spent a lot of time on that horse, its a very sad situation when any horse is put down, but the good ones hurt a little more. It was a compound fracture, he said noway could they save the animal.

Its so very sad. I just had someone inquire about 3 weeks ago about what it would cost to land him as a stud someplace. Never called.
I do remember calling him to see if he was for sale after his debut. The man was very, very, very nice and courteous. You could hear how excited he was about the horse in his voice. He could have cashed in on him after his debut and been set with a pile of change and a minority interest in the horse for stud. A lotta guys in his shoes woulda gone down that road.
Guy had guts and loved his horse. Of all the deaths recently, this is the one that sickens me the most. I'm real sorry for that guy and his horse. They both deserved better.

Came back with wraps. Tough injury to get over, never that sound to begin with. Ran too big early in his 3yr old season. Very sad.

RIP boy...

I can't believe all of the deaths, lately. This is devastating. :(

RIP you beautiful boy. I will never forget your game effort in the FOY.

From BH...

http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=35500

Rest in peace sweet boy.

a crying shame, love this horse, was rooting for him in The JCGC. RIP..........

Exactly my seniments...RIP 2ofJ

Florida-bred Second of June suffers fatal injury in training mishap

Edited Churchill Downs Press Release


LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Barbara Cesare’s Second of June, runner-up in the Woodward (Grade I) and a contender for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic powered by Dodge, suffered a fatal injury on Wednesday during a workout at Churchill Downs.

The 5-year-old son of Louis Quatorze was nearing the completion of a one-mile work for trainer Bill Cesare in preparation for next week’s Jockey Club Gold Cup (GI) at Belmont Park when he suffered a major injury to his right hind ankle. Second of June was vanned off the track and was euthanized a short time later. The track was rated “fast” at the time of the mishap on a sunny morning at the historic track.

Cesare said that Second of June had been training very for the Jockey Club Gold Cup and had been scheduled to leave for Belmont Park on Sunday. A strong effort in that race would have earned Second of June a start in the Breeders’ Cup Classic over his home track at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4 - a race that was scheduled to be his final career start.

“The vet went over him from head to toe just yesterday,” said Cesare. “He couldn’t have been any better.”

His runner-up finish to Premium Tap in the Woodward on Sept. 2, in which he led until the final furlong and was beaten by only a half-length, improved Second of June’s career record to 4-6-2 in 14 races and boosted his earnings to $528,800. Second of June had emerged as a Kentucky Derby contender in 2004 with a victory in the Holy Bull (GIII) and a narrow loss to Read the Footnotes in the Fountain of Youth (GII) at Gulfstream Park, but he came out of the latter with a fractured leg that knocked him out of the Derby and kept him away from competition until the end of that year.

The hard-luck Second of June raced four times before he was sidelined again by inflammation in an ankle that knocked him out of a scheduled start in the 2005 renewal of the $750,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) at Churchill Downs. He did not return to competition following that setback until mid-June of this year, when he dropped a nose decision to Suave in a one-mile allowance race at the Louisville track.

Second of June failed to win in seven starts since his initial injury in the 2004 Fountain of Youth, but turned in strong performances in those races that included a third place finish to Badge of Silver in the 2005 New Orleans Handicap (GII), a narrow loss to Grand Reward in the 2005 Oaklawn Handicap (GII), and a third place finish to veteran stars Suave and Perfect Drift in this year’s Washington Park Handicap at Arlington Park.

“Life is hard sometimes,” said Cesare. “He gave us a lot of good times. It just wasn’t meant to be. We were only going to run him a couple of more times.”

Cesare’s mother owned Second of June, who was named for the birth date that he shared with his trainer.

Churchill Downs, the world’s most legendary racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing and presented America’s greatest race, the Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875. Located in Louisville, the flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN) also operates Trackside at Churchill Downs, which offers year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track. Churchill Downs will conduct the 133rd running of the Kentucky Derby on May 5, 2007. The track’s 2006 Fall Meet is set for Oct. 29-Nov. 25. Churchill Downs has served as host to the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships a record five times and will host the event again on Nov. 4, 2006.

[quote=Cunningham Racing]Florida-bred Second of June suffers fatal injury in training mishap

Edited Churchill Downs Press Release


LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Barbara Cesare’s Second of June, runner-up in the Woodward (Grade I) and a contender for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic powered by Dodge, suffered a fatal injury on Wednesday during a workout at Churchill Downs.

The 5-year-old son of Louis Quatorze was nearing the completion of a one-mile work for trainer Bill Cesare in preparation for next week’s Jockey Club Gold Cup (GI) at Belmont Park when he suffered a major injury to his right hind ankle. Second of June was vanned off the track and was euthanized a short time later. The track was rated “fast” at the time of the mishap on a sunny morning at the historic track.

Cesare said that Second of June had been training very for the Jockey Club Gold Cup and had been scheduled to leave for Belmont Park on Sunday. A strong effort in that race would have earned Second of June a start in the Breeders’ Cup Classic over his home track at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4 - a race that was scheduled to be his final career start.

“The vet went over him from head to toe just yesterday,” said Cesare. “He couldn’t have been any better.”

His runner-up finish to Premium Tap in the Woodward on Sept. 2, in which he led until the final furlong and was beaten by only a half-length, improved Second of June’s career record to 4-6-2 in 14 races and boosted his earnings to $528,800. Second of June had emerged as a Kentucky Derby contender in 2004 with a victory in the Holy Bull (GIII) and a narrow loss to Read the Footnotes in the Fountain of Youth (GII) at Gulfstream Park, but he came out of the latter with a fractured leg that knocked him out of the Derby and kept him away from competition until the end of that year.

The hard-luck Second of June raced four times before he was sidelined again by inflammation in an ankle that knocked him out of a scheduled start in the 2005 renewal of the $750,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) at Churchill Downs. He did not return to competition following that setback until mid-June of this year, when he dropped a nose decision to Suave in a one-mile allowance race at the Louisville track.

Second of June failed to win in seven starts since his initial injury in the 2004 Fountain of Youth, but turned in strong performances in those races that included a third place finish to Badge of Silver in the 2005 New Orleans Handicap (GII), a narrow loss to Grand Reward in the 2005 Oaklawn Handicap (GII), and a third place finish to veteran stars Suave and Perfect Drift in this year’s Washington Park Handicap at Arlington Park.

“Life is hard sometimes,” said Cesare. “He gave us a lot of good times. It just wasn’t meant to be. We were only going to run him a couple of more times.”

Cesare’s mother owned Second of June, who was named for the birth date that he shared with his trainer.

Churchill Downs, the world’s most legendary racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing and presented America’s greatest race, the Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875. Located in Louisville, the flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN) also operates Trackside at Churchill Downs, which offers year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track. Churchill Downs will conduct the 133rd running of the Kentucky Derby on May 5, 2007. The track’s 2006 Fall Meet is set for Oct. 29-Nov. 25. Churchill Downs has served as host to the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships a record five times and will host the event again on Nov. 4, 2006.



Thanks Joel.

Man this is a very sad few months in our sport.
None of us will ever forget that brilliant FOY finish with Read the Footnotes.
Comes right after one of his best recent efforts, what a tragic shame. RIP.

Having been born on June 2nd myself, I always liked this horse. RIP.

Me too. What a terrible year.

RIP.

Unbelievable...when is this year going to be over? RIP buddy.:(

damm*t....this crap has got to stop.
:( :(
RIP big fellow...enjoy running on the big racetrack in the sky.

My friend on another board wrote:

This year has been just miserable with all these losses, young and old. It's kinda like the Racing Gods said "We'll let you keep Barbaro, but it will cost you...."

Another sad day for racing.
I also had high hopes for
him on the TC trail. It seems
like he couldn't catch a break
with his injuries. My condolences
to all his connections and fans.
Second of June-
May you RIP and Fly with the Angels.

:(

What a heartbreaking article in the Blood-Horse, such love and dedication by his owner....run fast and free in heaven Second of June.

Wow, just got the news this morning. I had to read it twice before it sunk in. I'm pretty torn up by the loss of Second of June. I just re-watched all of his races. This was a truly gutsy horse, all class. I was really looking forward to his future, both on the track and as a sire.

RIP, Gorgeous Boy

Thats a beautiful quote Merasq. Thanks for posting.