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BREEDERS' CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPSNovember 4, 2006Michael MatzC. Wayne McIlwraithRick PorterCHURCHILL DOWNS, KENTUCKY ERIC WING: We're joined by C. Wayne. McIlwraith. He's the on- call veterinarian: Dr. McIlwraith, a couple of unfortunate incidents in the last race, one involving Pine Island, the other involving Fleet Indian. Could you tell us what you know. DR. C. WAYNE MCILWRAITH: Yes. Unfortunately, Pine Island sustained a dislocation of the left front fetlock joint. The injury was open, and because of the combination of it being open and the instability, he has been euthanized Fleet Indian sustained a lateral condylar fracture in the left front fetlock joint. So that's a lot better news and is being -- that's being stabilized and that will be a repairable injury. ERIC WING: You say that the injury is repairable{.} The horse had been scheduled to be sold I believe on Monday at Keeneland. When you say an injury is repairable, does that mean that in her case, she could have a future as a broodmare? DR. C. WAYNE MCILWRAITH: Definitely. Some of the condylar fractures, Dr. Robin White just reported to me that they -- they're pretty sure it's a lateral condylar fracture. They'll take x-rays and then can ascertain what the degree of soundness you can get. Like some of these fractures are repairable and the horses can go on and race again. But as far as this fracture is concerned, certainly for broodmare status, she'll be fine if that's all there is. They've got to take some more radiographs, so I can get back with a follow-up when we've got that. ERIC WING: I'd like to offer the opportunity if anybody here or upstairs would like to ask Dr. McIlwraith a question. Q. Doctor, in an incident like there where you have multiple injuries on the track, how many ambulances are available to respond? DR. C. WAYNE MCILWRAITH: We have two ambulances but on different parts of the track. So the ambulance that was closest went to the worst injury, which was Pine Island, and then the other one was -- I'm not too sure actually if the second ambulance went there or not. Just came straight here when we got the news on the second injury. We do have two ambulances. Q. Doctor, could you talk about, for those of us uninitiated with these injuries, why Pine Island's injury was such a bad state that it had to be put down in terms of the severity versus Fleet Indian. Tell us what the differences might have been. DR. C. WAYNE MCILWRAITH: Yes. The situation with Pine Island is that the joint was completely disarticulated and was open, so the skin was broken. So you're dealing with infection right from the start. That in itself doesn't necessarily mean that you need to euthanize, but after it was examined by a veterinarian on the backside, they relayed information to us that there was just multiple injuries -- presumably comminution, multiple fractures, as well as soft-tissue injury -- because there was no stability, and so the combination of those two things. If you have a comminuted fracture, severe fracture, you're dealing with multiple pieces. If it's closed, you've got a good -- you've still got a chance of repairing it. If you've got the combination of comminution, which means decreased blood supply, plus open, which means you've contaminated it immediately, it's not sustainable or it's not treatable. Where the other condylar fracture on Fleet Indian, that's a closed injury. There's no breaking of the skin, so you're not dealing with infection. ERIC WING: Anything else for Dr. McIlwraith? Wayne, many thanks for coming in and keeping us posted. DR. C. WAYNE MCILWRAITH: You're welcome. ERIC WING: Okay. We are back live in the interview room, and up on stage with us is Rick Porter, who is the head of Fox Hill Farm, and Michael Matz will join us shortly. Obviously, there are other events that took place in the Distaff that are -- will occupy some of headlines, but Round Pond's performance today should not be lost whatsoever, a very thorough and resounding victory in the Breeders' Cup Distaff. And Mr. Porter, I know she's always been a lost filly in her last race at Belmont. Her prep for this may have struck some as disappointing, but she showed her true stuff today. Can you talk about the ups and downs you've had with Round Pond. RICK PORTER: Well, early this year, she was doing great, and early this year she was doing great down at Oak Lawn and then had to skip the Apple Blossoms. Michael got her in June, I believe, after not running since February. There were some feed issues. Then he corrected those gradually and came up looking for a race, and he decided to go to the Molly Pitcher, then the Beldame, and Breeders' Cup was the plans that Michael had set out, and he missed some training going into the Molly Pitcher, and he missed, you know, work or two going into the Beldame, but he was able to map out a plan for this time that didn't have any hiccups, and she did beautifully. It's just a shame -- I didn't even know there was an issue in the race with Pine Island or Fleet Indian, but it certainly {takes} away from it. It's certainly sad to see those things happen. ERIC WING: Rick, you've had a long associations with John Service that has been fairly successful over the years. Can you briefly just talk about the decision to move the horse to Michael and how that -- how it was Michael who is your go-to man? RICK PORTER: Well, I think I've already addressed that issue some time ago, and there's really nothing to add to it. But I chose Michael because she's a special kind of filly, had some problems. Michael is a special horseman. He's had a lot of experience with horses for a long time before he started training racehorses. He was also at Fair Hill and had the Woodship track and everything, you know, pointed that direction, and I sure was lucky that I picked him. ERIC WING: Michael, obviously there's an old saying in life what goes around comes around, and in a very bittersweet way, that's happened for you right now. You're on the track at the very end of the story in the Preakness with Barbaro breaking down and having Bernardini's win be tempered by the sadness of Barbaro. Now you've won the Breeders' Cup Distaff with Round Pond and one fatality and one other injury in the race during it. Can you just summarize your emotions right now, both good and sad? MICHAEL MATZ: Well, I think everybody here feels the same way. Nobody wants to see a good horse get hurt and have a tragic loss like we did today. So it's very hard to see that happen, and, like I say, it happens to us all and, you know, it's an unfortunate situation that, you know, you just -- you feel for -- I feel for Shug and the Phippses and everybody associated with that horse, and I know what they're going through, and it's just a tough situation that it happened, and nobody likes to see it happen. You have mixed emotions about it and just feel -- feel heartbroke for it. ERIC WING: We knew all along Round Pond was very talented, and Rick had already mentioned she had missed a work here and a work there during the course of the season. I'm sure you were confident going in today, but did you expect that type of performance? MICHAEL MATZ: She has gone -- got into this race better than she ever did in any other races that I had had her, and after the Molly Pitcher, it was my fault. I went back to put regular shoes on. I should have just kept her in that shoe. I made a mistake and paid for it, she paid for it, and Fox Hill paid for my mistake, about not having her fit enough for that race. But after that, we corrected the situation, and she hasn't missed a bit of training, and she worked good since then, and she -- {she's} a very, very good filly. She has a huge heart, and she's a real winner. She's a champion. ERIC WING: Rick, could you discuss any future plans you might have for Round Pond? RICK PORTER: Assuming she {comes} out of this race good, I plan on racing her next year. ERIC WING: Any questions from upstairs in the pressbox or down here in the interview room for the connections of Round Pond? Well, Rick and Michael, congratulations on a terrific victory and continued success to you both. Just for the information of the media, the Stewards have spoken to Javier Castellano and he appears to be fine and should ride Bernardini. End of FastScripts |
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