|
Charismatic
at Old Friends
Courtesy Old Friends
website
Obit
Press Release:
FEBRUARY
19, 2017- Dual classic winner and 1999 Horse of the Year
Charismatic has died. The 20-year-old stallion, who returned
to the United States from the JBBA Shizunai Stallion Station
in Japan on December 4, 2016, was pensioned at Old Friends,
the Thoroughbred Retirement Center in Georgetown, KY.
The
announcement of his sudden passing was made this afternoon by
Old Friends president Michael Blowen. The stallion was
discovered early this morning. Attending veterinarian Dr.
Bryan Waldridge was immediately called to the scene, but the
cause of death is unknown. The results of a full necropsy are
pending. "Right now, everyone is pretty much
inconsolable," said Blowen. "Last night, at 6:30, he
was fine. He was a really tough horse and he deserved a much
longer retirement. But none of us, unfortunately, has a magic
wand. Everyone at Old Friends takes solace from the few great
months that this great Champion gave us."
Bred
by Kentucky by Parrish Hill Farm and William Farish, and
trained by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, Charismatic (Summer
Squall-Bali Babe, by Drone) won, at long odds, the 1999
Kentucky Derby after vying in claiming races just a few months
earlier. He went on to capture the Preakness Stakes and found
himself an unlikely Triple Crown contender.
But
in the Belmont Stakes the chestnut colt suffered multiple
fractures in his left front leg just a few strides before the
wire. It was only through the heroic efforts of jockey Chris
Antley--who quickly dismounted and held up Charismatic's
injured left front leg off the ground--that the injuries were
career ending and not life ending.
Charismatic
earned that year's Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old colt,
as well as Horse of the Year honors, and retired with five
wins from 17 starts and earnings of $2,038,064. He entered
stud at Lane's End in 2000 and stood there for three seasons
before relocating to Japan in 2002.
More
information will be released as it becomes available.
Update
2/27/17
Charismatic,
1999 dual classic winner and Horse of the Year, died suddenly
at Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement in Georgetown, KY., on
February 19, 2017.
"A
necropsy performed at the University of Kentucky Veterinary
Diagnostic Laboratory revealed that Charismatic suffered a
severe catastrophic fracture of his pelvis that resulted in
fatal bleeding. Pelvic fractures will in some cases also
lacerate the large arteries of the pelvis and cause severe
internal bleeding. Fatal pelvic fractures are uncommon and
usually unforeseeable. It is not possible to know exactly how
the injury happened or any factors that may have led to its
occurrence."
--Bryan
M. Waldridge, DVM, MS
Diplomate,
American Board of Veterinary Practitioners (Equine Practice)
Diplomate,
American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Large
Animal)
--Rhodes
P. Bell, DVM, MS
Diplomate,
American College of Veterinary Surgeons (Large Animal)
Staff
members and volunteers at Old Friends are extremely grateful
for the heartfelt condolences and kind words we have received.
Charismatic's beauty and gentle spirit will remain in our
hearts forever.
History:
When
Charismatic started in the 1999 Lexington Stakes (G2), few at
Keeneland imagined a colt whose only wins were in two claiming
races had a chance. He and Jerry Bailey surprised the crowd
with a strong outside move that left the rest behind. When
trainer D. Wayne Lukas brought the big chestnut colt to
Louisville, even fewer figured him for a Kentucky Derby
winner. He went off at odds of 31.30. Riding him for the first
time, Chris Antley kept clear of the jostling pack, and when
asked in midstretch, Charismatic answered with his powerful
outside run, giving owners Bob and Beverly Lewis their second
Derby in three years, following Silver Charm’s in 1997.
Even so, Charismatic wasn’t favored in the Preakness.
But again he gave Antley what had become his signature move, a
confident, commanding run from outside the mid- pack, proving
beyond doubt that he was the best three year old in America.
Now the colt who’d twice been offered for a claiming tag
and the jockey who’d battled drugs and weight captured
people’s love for underdogs who beat the odds. But the
try for the Triple Crown finished in a career-ending injury.
Antley’s quick action, and the care provided by the
Lewis family, enabled Charismatic to heal. In his 17 starts
Charismatic achieved 5 wins, 2 seconds, 4 thirds for
$2,038,064. At Lane’s End Farm he sired Sun King before
moving to JBBA’s Shizunai Stallion Station in Japan.
Charismatic retired from stud at age 20 and arrived at Old
Friends in December 2016. Old Friends thanks the Robert and
Beverly Lewis Family Foundation, Tito’s Handmade Vodka,
and Charismatic’s Inner Circle for funding Charismatic’s
return to Kentucky.
|
