SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer David Jacobson stood a few yards away from where Saginaw was standing in his stall, munching on his hay rack as veterinarians performed X-rays on the gelding’s injured left foreleg.
“I can’t believe we’re standing here,” Jacobson said. “I thought we’d be back here after standing in the winner’s circle.”
A few minutes later disbelief turned to despair when Jacobson was told that Saginaw had fractured both sesamoid bones in his left ankle. Jacobson was advised that Saginaw, a 7-year-old gelding, would have to be euthanized.