Summer Bird Retired

[Patrick333]

Originally Posted by Kasept

There is plenty of blame to go around in this story, but Tim Ritchey doesn't deserve an ounce of criticism. The horse hadn't been doing well at all coming back from the surgery, and just didn't heel well enough to run back. So taking the horse from Tim Ice has no bearing on the ending of the Summer Bird saga.

The Jayaramans were lucky to come up with Summer Bird in the first place, as his breeding was a complete accident, and Ice did a tremendous job with him crafting a 3yo Championship. It was the decision of the meddling and difficult couple to run in the Breeders' Cup and in Japan, both against Ice's wishes, and they are 100% responsible for the outcome. And at the same time, Ice was also 100% responsible for having been fired by them.

The net result is that the Jayaramans, who have been in racing a long time got a big horse, and Tim Ice, who was just starting out, got a jump-start on a career. Summer Bird was a nice horse who was very pleasant to be around, and carved out a darned notable spot for himself in racing lore with the Belmont-Travers-Gold Cup triple.

Well said Steve.