Derby favourite Western Legend dies

GUINEAS runner-up, WESTERN LEGEND, who established himself as an early favourite for June's Jamaica Derby, after smashing the stakes record in winning the 1820-metre Simply Magic Cup by 15 lengths, died of colic Monday morning at Caymanas Park.

The speedy chestnut colt was trained by Fitznahum Williams and owned by Glen Mills, former coach of retired double sprint Olympic world record holder, Usain Bolt.

Mills, a longtime racing enthusiast, ventured into owning horses in recent years under the nom de plume Golden Stables and, lately, M&S Syndicate.

"Disappointing," Mills said on Monday. "I was hoping he would have had a successful career but it's just one of those things. He certainly is (sic) the best three-year-old."

Dr Jason Wright tried to save WESTERN LEGEND from colic, a blockage of the intestines. Colic is the leading medical cause of death in horses. A gastrointestinal condition, colic, which causes severe abdominal pain, can occur due to a change of diet, lack of roughage or parasites.

AN IMPACTED

The veterinarian said he was alerted by Mills at approximately 5:45 p.m. on Sunday. WESTERN LEGEND, Wright confirmed, succumbed sometime after 9 this morning.

"To the best of my info, it was around 5 p.m. that the horse started exhibiting signs. He appeared to have had an impaction, a type of colic. The bowels stopped moving, nothing goes all the way through. That's the working theory we're on, without having a post-mortem as yet," Wright said.

A winner of two starts from five races, WESTERN LEGEND won his second outing, March 3, cruising home in a maiden race by almost nine lengths in a fast 1:06.3 for 1100 metres.

He finished fourth in his third race, the March 17 Prince Consort Stakes, which was won by EL PROFESOR, who had also beaten him into third place on his February 17 debut.

However, WESTERN LEGEND returned a much-improved runner in the 2000 Guineas at a mile on April 15, when treated with the anti-bleeding medication, lasix, losing by a head in a driving finish to COMMANDER TWO in the season's first classic race for colts and geldings.

With his form exposed, WESTERN LEGEND surprisingly returned to the races a day shy of two weeks for the Simply Magic Cup, which he romped to win by a city block, causing jockey Robert Halledeen to immediately confirm the colt as his Derby ride.

Wright, who lamented the death of the promising runner, said a proposal has been mooted by the private team of equine vets who operate in around the Caymanas Park area, to have practitioners on retainer at the racetrack up to 10:00 p.m. and on-call afterwards, up to 6 a.m.

"I didn't get to reach the track until 8:00 p.m. Mr Mills called me around 5:45 p.m., but I couldn't get away from what I was doing," Wright said on Monday.

"The promoting company would have stood the retainer and on-call fee, while the actual treatment would be paid by the owner of the animal," he explained.

"With a vet at the track at night, any sick animal would be given a fighting chance to recover as best as possible," Wright added.