End of the road for Ghostzapper
Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Ghostzapper has been retired after suffering an injury.
US Horse of the Year in 2004, the five-year-old returned to the track a fortnight ago and won the Grade One Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park by over six lengths.
According to www.bloodhorse.com, the decision to retire him came after the detection of a small hairline fracture of the left-front sesamoid.
He will stand at owner Frank Stronach’s Adena Springs Farm in Kentucky.
“After the race, he had some filling in his ankle,” trainer Bobby Frankel told the website.
“I sent him to New Bolton (Medical Center). They did a nuclear scan and found a hot spot. Then they took an X-ray of the spot and discovered a small crack.
“He looks great and he’s walking perfect. You couldn’t tell anything was wrong with him.
“It’s disappointing, but it’s almost a relief. At least he’s going home in one piece. God forbid he would have broken his leg in a race and had to be put down.
“He impressed people in the Met more than he did in the Breeders’ Cup, and he ended his career in style.”
Ghostzapper won nine times from 11 starts and earned 3,446,120. He beat Roses In May by three lengths at the Breeders’ Cup in Texas last October.
