SUMMER BIRD TO UNDERGO SURGERY AFTER RETURN TO U.S.
Trainer Tim Ice said he hopes to ship Summer Bird back to the United States Wednesday on a flight that would also include Marsh Side, one of the American starters in Sunday’s Japan Cup. Summer Bird came out of a Sunday morning workout at Hanshin racecourse in Osaka, Japan, with a vertical, non-comminuted fracture of a bone in his right front leg that will require surgery. A decision has not been made whether to retire the three-time Grade 1-winning son of Birdstone or put him back in training in 2010.
“One of the surgeons we’ve consulted with (in the United States) has already seen the X rays and says the prognosis is excellent,” Ice told the Paulick Report Monday morning (Japanese time). “It will take one screw to put it together and should be no problem.”
Ice explained how some confusion over the type of injury Summer Bird suffered may have occurred in the racing press. The Paulick Report, which first reported on the injury, referred to it as a medial fracture of the carpal bone after speaking with the trainer Sunday afternoon. Other news outlets, which contacted Dr. K.K. Jayaraman, who bred and owns Summer Bird with his wife, Vilasini, called it a bone chip, based on early information provided to the Jayaramans. The Jayaramans had arrived in Tokyo shortly before the injury occurred and had not yet had the opportunity to travel to Osaka and see the horse or look at the X rays. Ice confirmed Monday that the injury is a fracture to the medial, or inside, front portion of the right ankle. The Jayaramans were to arrive in Osaka later Monday.
“The first impression I got was that there was a chip,” said Ice, who relayed that information to the Jayaramans. “Once I was able to see the X rays myself, I could see that it was a fracture, not a chip. I don’t think the communications was real clear between the (Japanese) interpreter and myself.”
Summer Bird is resting comfortably and in no distress, said Ice, who said a cast was applied to the leg as a precaution.
“I’ve been out with him all morning, and checked on him last night,” Ice said. “He’s able to lay down and takes care of himself. He’s always been an intelligent horse and I think knows to take weight off it. He knows something happened. He’s a horse with a very good attitude. We have a cast on him right now, but he probably doesn’t need it. We’re just giving him extra protection.”
The 35-year-old Ohio native took a minute to reflect back on a year that included wins by Summer Bird in the Belmont Stakes, Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup, victories that make the colt the favorite to win an Eclipse Award as 3-year-old male champion. “These horses are hard to come by and what he’s done for me this year and for my career is something that I can’t really put into words. But you’ve got to take the good with the bad and this is part of the business we are in.
“I’m thankful for the year I’ve had with him. If he doesn’t come back to run again he doesn’t owe me anything.”
Ice said Summer Bird was doing very well in his training in preparation for the the Japan Cup Dirt, which is to be on a very sandy racetrack whose surface he compared with Belmont Park. One challenge would have been the clockwise-style of racing done at Hanshin, in contrast to American racing, which is all counter-clockwise. “He had adjusted to the turns,” Ice said, “and handled both turns well in Sunday’s breeze.”
Summer Bird worked five furlongs in 1:02 4/5 Sunday morning and pulled up without incident. It was only after being unsaddled back at his stable that Summer Bird began showing signs of the injury that will require surgery back in the United States. Ice could not confirm who would be performing the surgery or where it would take place.
Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report
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Tags: hanshin race course, Horse Racing, japan cup dirt, kk jayaraman, Paulick Report, racing injury, Ray Paulick, Summer Bird, tim ice
November 30th, 2009 at 5:52 am
I am glad Tim Ice took a moment to explain the reason for the discrepancies in the news reports about the injury. Just as I figured, the Paulick Report got it right
November 30th, 2009 at 7:27 am
What a great horse and such a disappointment for his connections and fans. Save travels Summer Bird and get well soon.
November 30th, 2009 at 7:45 am
Thanks for the update, Ray.
I would be curious to know if having to run turns on his right lead had anything to do with it. That would be a new, unfamiliar stress to the horse.
November 30th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Our prayers are with you, Summer Bird. We Thank the Lord you have a Great Owner, Trainer and Grooms who will give you the best of care. Have a Safe Flight Home and We Love You!
November 30th, 2009 at 10:52 am
Thanks for the update. I’m happy to learn that Summer Bird is comfortable and in no distress.
I am going to keep tabs on Summer Bird through your reporting, because you seem to have the most complete and updated news.
My thoughts and prayers are with Tim Ice, Liandro, the Jayaramans, and Summer Bird. I hope that Summer Bird heals well and has an opportunity to race again in 2010, continuing his fantastic legacy. He is a very special and intelligent horse whom I got to spend some time with at Saratoga this past summer.
Please relay my sentiments to all of Summer Bird’s family.
Thank You.
November 30th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Good question Tiz. I wish that our horses were offered the chance to train and race both ways, around wider turns and in a straight line.
“It was only after being unsaddled back at his stable that Summer Bird began showing signs of the injury that will require surgery back in the United States.”
This is exactly why I wish Barbaro had been scratched out of the Preakness after pushing his gate open with hind legs doing most the pushing, spread very wide and at an extreme angle below the hock, clearly visible in the slow-motion instant-replay. It is unlikely that a horse as hot as Barbaro was that day, with adrenaline pumping and all, would show lameness a few seconds after suffering non-displaced fracture(s). Only instant imaging technology could have assured that Barbaro was sound to race following his gate incident.
November 30th, 2009 at 11:36 am
there are quite a few trainers in this country train their stock both ways in the AM
i used to go a 1 11/4 the normal way & the next day JOG 3 miles the oppisite way on the outside fence —— some tracks dont allow the wrong way…
November 30th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Eugene, jogging the “wrong way” is better than nothing, but it is not the same than galloping and working out both ways or around wider turns like at Belmont Park, if not in a straight line, in order to better balance the body, avoid over-stressing one side and to discover those horses that clearly favor racing one way over the other.
November 30th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
WELL, I GUESS I DON’T HAVE THE EXPERIENCE THAT YOU HAVE
November 30th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
MY EXPERIENCE ONLY GOES BACK TO MY MENTOR> “SUNNY JIM” & “PRESTON BURCH” ( ELLIOT’S FATHER)
November 30th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
You are both correct, exercising both sides of a horses’s body would be optimum. However, I have witnessed 6 fatal head on collissions between horses traveling in opposite directions on the track. Often, one horse was jogging or backing up when run into and the speed of the galloping horse made it impossible for the rider to get out of the way. The only somewhat practical solution would be for a track to allow wrong galloping only during specific hours either before training.
November 30th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Eugene (and I’m asking this sincerely), does jogging the wrong way on the outside fence put much stress on the inside legs — and I mean enough stress to prepare a horse for breezing or working the wrong way on the inside rail?
December 1st, 2009 at 12:27 am
first of all>stress is one thing…legging up is another… stress to me is when a horse is not fit
& has been over worked..
#2 to work or breeze a horse the wrong way at the RACES & i dont know any track that would allow it..if u have a farm with a training track…sure its a nice way to train your horse that way…
#3 if one wants to work or breeze the wrong way,find a small training center and ask if u can have the track for 10 minutes..
you cant do that at nyra, or churchill, or at the races…
December 1st, 2009 at 12:30 am
SUSAN>
WHAT TRACK DID YOU SEE THAT MESS HAPPENING??????
December 1st, 2009 at 7:59 am
Could we please use some term other than “wrong way”; like maybe clockwise, counter-clockwise?….”wrong way” is totally conditional (location, time, loose v. mounted horse,etc). And frankly I think the horses could care less about their direction of movement, it’s instinctive. It’s the humans that manipulate the direction. And frankly, counter-clockwise ALL-THE-TIME (US) is unnatural for the animal. And let’s face it, it’s done as a convenience for the humans for a variety of reasons.
And I mean’t to say “Safe travels”, not Save in my first post.
Speedy recovery, Summer Bird.
December 1st, 2009 at 4:12 pm
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