Now, He’s Truly A Stud Injury Won’t Keep Holy Bull From Starting Breeding Career

Holy Bull’s fan mail now will be in the form of get-well cards.

And get well, veterinarians feel, is what the gray colt will do.

But the 1994 Horse of the Year will never race again.

“I was sad yesterday, but I was so happy that he was on all fours that I didn’t cry,” owner-trainer Jimmy Croll said Sunday, the morning after Holy Bull was injured in the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park. “All that happened is his career ended yesterday.”

Now Holy Bull is to begin a breeding career at Jonabell Farm at Lexington, Ky.

Holy Bull was running second, a length behind Cigar, when jockey Mike Smith suddenly pulled him up at about midbackstretch. Cigar won the race.

Veterinarian Foster Northrup said Smith’s quick action saved Holy Bull from serious injury.

“On a scale of one to 10, 10 being horrible, we’re below five,” Northrup said Sunday after using ultrasound to determine the extent of damage to the colt’s left front leg.

He said there is a minor injury to a tendon that runs from just below the knee to where it is attached below the ankle and that the worst damage is in the lower part of the tendon. He also said that a ligament that wraps around the ankle is enlarged.

X-rays Saturday showed no fractures.

Northrup and Peter Hall, Holy Bull’s regular vet, felt that in 30 days the colt could walk around the barn, but that complete recovery would require six months to a year.

Holy Bull, however, could be bred this year and could go to Jonabell Farm in two weeks.

Jim Bell, of Jonabell Farm, said there has been great interest expressed in breeding to Holy Bull. Just when that would begin would be determined by veterinarians, Bell said.

Holy Bull, who gets mail daily from people from 9 to 90, was making his second start as a 4-year-old in a bid for his seventh straight victory.

The colt, roundly applauded when he appeared on the track, veered in sharply from the outside post, causing jockeys on two inside horses to check their mounts.

Hall said it was uncertain just when the injury occurred.

Jerry Bailey, Cigar’s jockey, said Sunday that he heard a pop just before Smith pulled up Holy Bull.

“It wasn’t like a stick breaking,” Bailey said. “It was like a muffled pop. I thought it was a piece of equipment.

Northrup said it could not be determined what caused the pop or what it signified.

Holy Bull finished his career with 13 wins in 15 starts and earnings of $2,481,760. Croll had planned to start him next in the Santa Anita Handicap on March 11 and conclude his career with the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 25 at Belmont.

“The other day I was thinking his last race will be the Breeders’ Cup and that will be a sad day because I’m sentimental and the tears will flow,” he said.

There was a sadness in Croll on Sunday, but no tears. He still had his horse.

After watching the vets work for awhile, Croll got his binoculars and headed for the track to watch some of his other horses train. It’s the way of the world of horse racing.