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Benny the Bull retired after injury
Benny the Bull retired after injury
By DAVID GRENING SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Benny the Bull, the leading sprinter in the nation, was found to have a chip in his right front ankle on Wednesday and has been retired from racing, his connections said. Benny the Bull had worked six furlongs in 1:14.29 at Aqueduct on Monday, and on Tuesday trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said he was very much looking forward to running him in Saturday's Grade 1 Forego at Saratoga. But on Wednesday, Dutrow noticed some filling in Benny the Bull's ankle, and subsequent X-rays revealed the chip, according to Michael Iavarone, the head of the group that owns majority interest in Benny the Bull. Iavarone said the chip could be easily removed surgically, but that the horse would not be able to make it back for this October's Breeders' Cup Sprint. Iavarone said plans were for the horse to be retired at year's end. "There's ups and downs in this game, but I don't even view this as a down," said Iavarone, co-president of the International Equine Acquisitions Holdings Inc. Stable, which purchased Benny the Bull privately last summer. "The horse has retired without something terrible happening, and hopefully he'll live a happy and healthy life." Iavarone said stallion plans are pending for Benny the Bull, a 5-year-old Florida-bred son of Lucky Lionel who won 9 of 17 starts and earned $2,221,630. Benny the Bull won his last five starts, including the Grade 1 De Francis at Laurel Park last year, the Sunshine Millions, Grade 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen, Grade 2 True North, and Grade 2 Smile Sprint Handicap this year.
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Me and PP at Lanes End |
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Spin it how they may, I don't expect to see blue hen mares lining up to breed to a son of Lucky Lionel.....
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Hate to hear that.. I looked forward to his return.
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The way he ran in his last two starts combined with his very infrequent works, something was likely up with him to begin with.
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Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren't very new at all. Abraham Lincoln |
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I also agree that these morons are dreaming if they think a son of Lucky Lionel is going to be some hot commodity at stud (same goes for Kip Deville), but I don't see the sense in bringing him back at six either. |
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six isn't that old, really. and considering the dearth of top horses, he could win quite a few races next year. well....considering who the trainer is, maybe not quite a few. but the few he enters.
as for raising or lowering his value...i'd think he hasn't got much value anyway. now watch him take off at stud. yeah, right.
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Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren't very new at all. Abraham Lincoln |
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I don't think he has much value at stud either, but whatever value he does have is probably at its peak right now (it'll be even higher once he wins the Eclipse), so I don't quite see the point in bringing him back at six. |
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He's done enough. Winning a major competition multiple times is not the cool thing to do in this sport.
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I think there's very little chance anyone else wins the Eclipse, but even if it happens, that wasn't my main point. My point was that I can see why IEAH wouldn't feel the need to bring this horse back at six. |
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Thor's Echo is a better example than Reraise. He hadn't won a race in a year and a half - and he only entered the Ancient Title a few weeks before the BC Sprint because an allowance race didn't fill.
TE was 2nd to Bordonaro and parlayed the Sprint and DeFrancis Dash to an Eclipse. Reraise was just awesome all year long in '98. Winning all four of his six furlong races in dominant wire-to-wire fashion after displaying razor sharp speed. His only loss a 2nd at Del Mar to Young At Heart going 7 furlongs where he went way too fast early and came apart in the final furlong. The only race in his 8 race career in which he didn't dominate. He was close to untouchable at three quarters. |
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Didnt they get rid of the De Francis this year. I could have sworn I read that LRL got rid of most of their major stakes races this fall. |
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