Fairytale sprinter Live In The Dream ‘nearly died' and unlikely to race again after serious injury
FAIRYTALE sprinter Live In The Dream is highly unlikely to race again after suffering a life-threatening injury.
The six-year-old spent several weeks in a veterinary hospital this spring and definitely won't see a racecourse this year.
1
Nunthorpe winner Live In The Dream is unlikely to race again
Credit: Steve Davies
The horse was responsible for one of the most memorable big-race results in recent memory when winning the Nunthorpe Stakes at York.
He caused a huge 28-1 shock on the Knavesmire two years ago to give Epsom-based Adam West his first Group 1 win, and then took his trainer and owners on the trip of a lifetime to the Breeders' Cup in America.
But he never quite scaled the same heights and missed last year's Nunthorpe with a foot injury, and when West moved his operation to France he was taken out of the yard and sent to Ed Walker.
He hadn't been at Walker's yard for long when he became sick, and his condition deteriorated to the point when his owner Steve de'Lemos thought the horse might die.
De'Lemos said: "He had a cyst in his stifle joint and needed an operation and was recuperating at Donnington Grove.
"He nearly died, he got a really bad infection and one of the vets there Henry O'Neill saved his life, he was superstar. They said a lot of people would have had him put down, but that was never an option, I told him to do everything he could for the horse.
"He was in there six or seven weeks, he was on a drip a lot of the time. Sir Gino came and went while he was in there, that's how bad he was.
"Henry had to take a screw out where the cyst was and he is still a little lame now, but he's been moved now to Surrey to a friend of ours and is recovering out in the field.
"I don't know if he'll ever make the track again, but if there is a happy ending to the story it's that his life has been saved.
"I still hold on to hope that maybe he can come back next year, if the racing Gods smile on us, but we will do what's best for him.
"It's been a real emotional rollercoaster, there were points when I thought we were going to have to put him down, but they did everything they could to save him.
"We owe him everything, he's given us the best days as a family."
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