Remembering Disdainful(IRE)

As we may have mentioned, our whirlwind trip to Ocala, Florida to see our six 2YOs was motivated by the fact we lost Disdainful without ever having the chance to meet him in person. It was truly heartbreaking, and we didn't want to miss another opportunity. Having six of our seven 2YOs all in one place at one time is something we'll never have the chance to take advantage of again, so in spite of a few misgivings, off we went to Ocala last weekend.

Seeing our young prospects got me thinking about Disdainful again, and how he might even have been on the Derby trail about now. That made me go track down the footage of him running in Keeneland a week before the Breeders Cup -- his only start on US soil. This race defined his talent and ability, and though he came in 2nd, it was after a troubled start, a tough trip and at the close, he fought hard for even stride of that placing, losing to a very nice Into Mischief son named General Jim. He defeated some very talented horses that day. 

Disdainful's next start was to have been a Grade 3 stakes race at Del Mar, where he was flown soon after his appearance at Keeneland. But it was not meant to be. He cast in his stall just days before the race, and we lost him to Peritonitis a few weeks later. :'(

We're posting this coverage here so we have it captured as part of his record on this site, because we know we'll want to view it again as long as it's available to watch. 

Here's the race -- The Elm Tree Allowance for 2YOs. This was live coverage of the entire day of racing, but it's set to begin during the paddock time before his race. If you want to skip that and advance to his race, you can do that by hovering your cursor over the footage, then moving the bar the appears at the bottom of the video (move it just a small amount because this is a lengthy video of the entire day of racing). If you want to back it up a bit to see an appearance by the Headless Horseman (being this was almost Halloween) just before his race coverage, you should be able to do that, too.  

Disdainful was the #3 horse in this race, ridden by John Velazquez. 

Disdainful, you were a true talent, and we are so saddened that you never had a chance to show the world how great you were. Rest in Peace.