Final Reality. Rest in peace.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/thepres...251a21175.html
Final Reality, one of the best-performed South Island gallopers in recent years and winner of its richest all-aged race -- the $275,000 Coupland Mile at Riccarton Park last November -- had to be put down yesterday in the North Island after surgery on a leg.
The five-year-old fractured the off-front leg while recovering from surgery on the near-front leg and could not be saved.
Michael Pitman, who trained the Howbadduwanitit gelding for much of his career, was shattered by the news.
"He was the sort of horse everyone wants to own. He never went a bad race, always did his best and won a lot of money through stakes and bonus payments," he said.
Final Reality won more than $540,000 including a remarkable $100,000 in bonus payments as a two and three-year-old as a result of astute placing.
His death was also a savage blow for his breeder, Sabin Kirkland, who named the horse after his dam, Virtual Reality, which died in a freak accident on a ferry trip home from the North Island some years ago when Final Reality was a foal travelling with her.
Final Reality was apparently kicked in the leg while based at a North Island stable after his run in the Otaki Stakes two weeks ago. He had been expected to start at Ellerslie last Saturday but the injury was worse than first thought and he was withdrawn. It turned out the gelding required surgery to the leg because of its slow recovery.
As a two-year-old Final Reality won the Ryder and Castletown Stakes in the North Island, two of the most sought after winter juvenile events for his age group, but proved he was more than just a "wet tracker" running fourth in the Two Thousand Guineas and then fourth to Wahid in the New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie.
He gained a new lease of life this season after a series of consistent performances in the best of company including a second to Sir Slick in the Japan International at Tauranga.
Final Reality, ridden by Chris Johnson, won the Couplands Mile in November and went possibly his best race when a close fourth in the Group One Thorndon Mile --coming from a long way back at the turn to be right in contention.
He is one of the few South Island-trained horses to have won more than $500,000 in New Zealand.
"The Coupland was the big thrill and the Thorndon the disappointment. He would not have won to be fair but he went a terrific race," Pitman said. Kirkland himself trained the horse during his four-year-old career.
"A lot of people might have thought he was just a wet-track horse but he showed that he wasn't.
"He was a lovely horse to handle and train and never let us down in the big races.
"He still had plenty to offer. I still cannot believe it has happened," Pitman said.