Breeders' Cup ends on tragic note

By Steve Keating

OCEANPORT, New Jersey (Reuters) - The Breeders' Cup came to a thrilling but tragic end on Saturday.

Curlin outgunned big rival Street Sense to win the $5 million Classic but Irish raider George Washington suffered a gruesome injury and was put down on the track.

After two days of almost steady rain at Monmouth Park, the Breeders' Cup looked headed for a bright finish when the sun broke through just before the start of the showcase Classic featuring the top three finishers from the Kentucky Derby, including champion Street Sense.

The event lived up to all the pre-race hype as Street Sense, Preakness champion Curlin and Kentucky Derby runner-up Hard Spun roared around the final turn into the homestretch.

But Street Sense could not stay with Curlin whose jockey Robby Albarado pulled away for a commanding 4 1/2 length win ahead of Hard Spun on a sloppy track.

The cheers of 41,781 spectators quickly turned to gasps as George Washington, winner of four Group One races, broke down in front of the main grandstands with a shattered right front leg and had to be destroyed on the track.

"George Washington sustained an open fracture of the cannon bone in the right front fetlock and disarticulated the joint at the same time and had both sesamoids broken," Dr Wayne McIlwraith, the on-call veterinarian told reporters.

"So it was a hopeless injury as far as repair and he has been euthanised. The decision was made very quickly.