By Ed McNamara
No sport can match the highs and lows of thoroughbred racing. Within seconds on Saturday, a front-running triumph by a 53-1 shot on the international stage morphed into disaster.
A few strides after setting a Meydan Racecourse record with a runaway victory in the $1.5 million Dubai Golden Shaheen, American-based Zenden broke down, severely injuring his left foreleg and unseating Antonio Fresu. The 5-year-old son of Fed Biz had to be euthanized.
The Italian was celebrating a five-length victory, tapping Zenden’s neck once with his right hand before he went flying off and landed on his backside in the middle of the track. Fortunately, the trailing horses avoided him as they charged past, although Fresu had to roll to the left to get out of the way of one of them. After some nervous moments, Fresu got up.
Carlos David trains Zenden, who paid $108.70 after going 6 furlongs in 1:09.01 for his first Group 1 victory. David spent five years as an assistant to Jason Servis before going out on his own in 2018. David, a 37-year-old native of Colombia, is based in Florida. Zenden prepped for the Golden Shaheen by winning the Pelican Stakes on Feb. 13 at Tampa Bay Downs. He won six of 15 career starts for LLP Performance Horse.
