After minor surgery on Monday, 13 October 2014, Beverly D. Stakes winner Euro Charline will return to trainer Marco Botti in England for a 4-year-old campaign that will include a bid for the $6-million Dubai Duty Free at Meydan racecourse.
Her Team Valor partnership shifted focus after a minor injury ended her 3-year-old season last week. She underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a tiny bone fragment from a hind ankle. Surgeon Dr. Larry Bramlage expects her to be ready to resume training in about four weeks.
The first 3-year-old to conquer the Gr1 Beverly D., Euro Charline had been transferred to trainer Todd Pletcher to aim for last weekend’s Gr1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland as a possible prelude to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. When she developed slight lameness last Monday, veterinarians settled on a minute area of crushed bone as the culprit. “It actually was an old injury suffered a long time ago, probably as a foal or a yearling, that was fairly well hidden and imbedded in the bone,” said Team Valor CEO Barry Irwin. “Training over here on dirt must have reactivated the area.”
Irwin expects the robust filly to have a better chance to remain sound in the future on the more forgiving surfaces available throughout Newmarket, where Botti is based. He canvassed Euro Charline’s individual partners yesterday and they overwhelmingly voted in favor of sending her back home. Pletcher told Irwin “I’m sorry that it did not work out in the short term, but am happy the filly will be fine. She’s very special! It’s been a while since I’ve had a turf horse like her. She would have had a big season next year in America, but I understand your decision.”
Team Valor won the Dubai Duty Free with a female, Ipi Tombe, in 2003 and Irwin is eager to try again with Euro Charline. Botti has twice hit the board in the Dubai World Cup. Irwin said “I really think Euro Charline has what it takes to win this race and if she does, she would make her mark in the history books and make her racing partners a lot of money.”
