Smart sprinter Battlefield has had to be euthanised after breaking a shoulder in an exhibition gallop yesterday at Scone.
Trained by Paul Messara, the lightly raced gelding was on the comeback trail and close to returning to the races.
Galloping in between races, he put a foot wrong on the corner and broke down, with rider Brett Marshall crashing heavily and breaking both his collarbone and a leg.
“It’s been a terrible 24 hoursâ€, Messara said.
“He’d had a couple of jumpouts at home and was there to have a nice gallop away from home. He was 100 per cent and just about ready to go”,
“He was just cruising around, not running any time, but on the corner just put his foot in a hole at the wrong angle. He fractured a shoulder and unfortunately had to be euthanised”.
The son of Choisir raced only seven times for five wins and just over $200,000 in prizemoney. Battlefield won his last four races, with the last being the Listed Ramornie Handicap at Grafton in July.
Written by Isaac Chaplin
