The racing career of talented mare White Sage is over after she broke her leg at Royal Randwick this morning.
White Sage has been ruled out of the Coolmore Classic after breaking at leg at Royal Randwick this morning. Photo by: Steve Hart
White Sage was set to make her Group 1 debut in the 2014 Coolmore Classic (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday, but was immediately scratched from the race after x-rays showed that she had fracture her condular bone.
The stable of John O’Shea has had a terrible run with injuries, with talented sprinter Bernabeu suffering a life-threatening injury earlier this week, and the future Darley trainer was clearly devastated when he informed TVN of White Sage’s injury.
“She wasn’t even out for a gallop, less than that, she just put her foot in a hole,” O’Shea said.
“She has a fracture in the condular bone, which is the bottom bone of the joint.”
White Sage made her racing debut with a seven length victory in the Ann Tanks Fair Handicap Maiden (1200m) at Kembla Grange in May of last year and backed up three weeks later to score her maiden metropolitan win in the TAB IPhone App Handicap (1300m) at Royal Randwick on June 10.
The Reset mare returned to the races at Rosehill Gardens on November 2 and continued her unbeaten streak in the West Tradies Handicap (1200m) at Rosehill Gardens and scored another comfortable win in the Cellarbrations Scone Handicap (1350m) at the same venue on November 16.
White Sage made her black type debut against a strong field in the Listed Festival Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill Gardens on November 30 and stamped herself as a Group 1 contender by running away from the rest of the field to score an impressive win.
The talented mare stepped up to Group level for the first time in the Breeders Classic (1200m) at Rosehill Gardens on February 15 and ran home fairly to finish third, while she was slightly disappointing in the Group 3 Liverpool City Cup (1300m) at Warwick Farm on March 8.
O’Shea was expecting White Sage to produce an improved effort in the Coolmore Classic this weekend, but instead she will receive treatment at the Randwick Equine Centre before starting a career as a broodmare during the breeding season.
Catkins ($4.60) remains a clear favourite in 2014 Coolmore Classic betting markets, following the scratching of White Sage, while O’Shea’s remaining runner Gypsy Diamond is currently available at a quote of $21.
