'TDN Rising Star' Battle of Midway (Smart Strike–Rigoletta, by Concerto), the 2017 GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile hero, broke down during a breeze at Santa Anita Saturday morning, shattering his right hind pastern. Blood-Horse was first to publicize the news, with co-owner Don Alberto Stable's racing manager Fernando Diaz-Valdes initially indicating to the publication that the outlook was bleak before later reporting that the 5-year-old had been euthanized.
“He gave us so much, and it's such a terrible loss. We are devastated,” Diaz-Valdes said when reached by TDN to confirm the reports. “We were so excited about him. He was coming into peak form and we were excited for the future of this year–the Breeders' Cup, [G1] Dubai World Cup, you name it. We tried our best to save him, but the vet said there was nothing we could do. We had do what was best for the horse.”
Bred in Kentucky by Erik and Pavla Nygaard's Thor-Bred Stables LLC, the $410,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling was runner-up in the 2017 GI Santa Anita Derby and a longshot third behind Always Dreaming (Bodemeister) in that year's GI Kentucky Derby. After earning a first graded success in the GIII Affirmed S., he added an open-lengths tally in the Shared Belief S. and belied odds of 14-1 to upset Sharp Azteca (Freud) in the Dirt Mile at Del Mar.
Returned to the barn of Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer after getting just five of 60 mares in foal at his co-owners' WinStar Farm, Battle of Midway won three of his five appearances, including the GIII Native Diver S. in November and a gritty defeat of fellow 'Rising Star' McKinzie (Street Sense) in a sloppy renewal of the GII San Pasqual S. Feb. 2. He had since been green-lighted for a run in the desert Mar. 30.
In a statement released Saturday afternoon, Breeders' Cup mourned the loss of Battle of Midway, saying: “Battle of Midway was a gifted and extremely accomplished racehorse. We extend our deepest sympathies to Don Alberto Stable and WinStar Farm, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and all those who took care of Battle of Midway during his brilliant racing career.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
