2008 Departures

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I can only reiterate what's been said; it's tough for those of us who had an interest in Forest Perk, but harder still for John O' Callaghan who bred her and was looking forward to breeding from her after her dam Forest Gale died earlier this year. Since Forest Gale had already produced several good winners including Joe Lively, this loss will be felt most keenly by him.
 
What a drag indeed, there are already far too few national hunt bred mares so the loss of a potentially good one is really a blow.
 
So sorry to hear. Can only echo whats been said before me, and completely understand that one would need a break after. As Shadow said, they break your heart sometimes. :(
 
Confirmed by the owner on the Betfair Forum Jinny

Crow Wood had to be put down by the racecourse vet at Wetherby today after breaking his shoulder,probably going into the second last The Jockey reported that he thought it happened before the fence and he couldn't take off and just crashed through it.He was still hot from the race and would have not have suffered much.

I don't insure my horses so that no question ever arises whether to try to save them.In this case he was put down without any reference to connections so there must have been no choice anyway.

He was my biggest moneywinner ever, winning over £150,000 in prize money for me and £70,000 before I bought him as a 5 year old.He won 10 races including a handicap win at Epsom on Derby Day beating Balkan Knight and Sergeant Cecil in the year that the Sergeant won the top three handicaps.That w as a thrill, standing in the winners circle at Epsom half an hour after the Derby.He also won the Elite hurdle at Wincanton and was 3rd in the Bula.

I will miss him but am grateful to him and to John Quinn for all the fun we had."
 
I think the horse had done enough, was surprised to see him chasing. :mad:

I know not all horses enjoy retirement so some like to keep working but chasing a dual purpose horse, one that has won this much, and at his age seems risky. It's a hard call, and a real shame.
 
"...at his age..."

Crow Wood was only 9, Isinglass!! What is so risky about keeping a 9yo in training??
 
Yes, you are right he was only 9.

And there are plenty of horses who have raced more times than him, many over 100 times while his was something in the 60's. But for me a horse which is essentially a flat horse type, that is, fairly light boned and one who raced at two and was probably in training even before he turned two, being in chase races at 9 is still a long haul.

It's just my opinion but if he were mine I would not have been sending him over a fence this late in his racing life, and would have treated him a bit more delicately having given me so many seasons already. (Athough I do realise that a shoulder can also break on the flat).

A real chaser who has been shown the ropes when young, then turned away each season, would have gone chasing much younger and might still be in their prime at 9.

A friend of mine who had an Ascot Gold Cup winning gelding retired him at 7 rather than send him hurdling which was the advice he got from many quarters. He said that the reason was not the toll the racing had taken on the horse's legs and bones, but all the training from when he had been sent to the yard as a yearling.

I am not usually one to criticise other people for what they do with their horses and it is a hard enough decision, this I know only too well. Whatever the reasons for the shoulder breaking, it is a damn shame for sure and Crow Wood was a good servant to his connections.
 
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