Big City Man third Golden Shaheen winner to pass away in midst of racing career

July 7, 10:13 PMHorse Racing ExaminerRobin Bush

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Nad al Sheba, site of the Golden Shaheen for the
last ten years.                                  Photo by Nate

The Dubai Golden Shaheen at Nad-al-Sheba has been one of the world's great sprint events for the last ten years, particularly for American competitors. But after the July 5 death of this year’s winner Big City Man from a strangulated cecum, a bit of a list is forming that now contains the names of three of the last nine individual Golden Shaheen victors—those that have suffered tragic downfalls while still in training. This statistic is coincidental and ultimately irrelevant, but it is still surprising.

The Golden Shaheen began in 1993 as the Nad al Sheba Sprint. It has been held as part of the Dubai World Cup program since 1996, and was run under its current name for the first time in 2000. This was also the year in which American-based horses really began their assault on the race. Big Jag, a Californian trained by Tim Pinfield, trounced the field that year and ran a full second faster than any other horse had completed six furlongs at Nad al Sheba, in 1:08.10. He had been one of the very best American sprinters the previous year, but achieved his finest moment half a world away in March of 2000.

Big Jag, then a seven-year-old, began the devastating domination of Americans in the Shaheen. The giant gelding placed in a stakes race the following winter, but during preparations in Dubai for a second run at the Golden Shaheen, he suffered sesamoid fractures to his left foreleg. The horse seemed to recover well over the next few months, but then developed severe laminitis in September and had to be euthanized. His life had ended at age eight.

Saratoga County was an early Kentucky Derby prospect in 2004. Things didn’t work out on the Derby trail, but his career was later redirected to the sprint division. He became a powerhouse in the winter of 2005, impressing in the Mr. Prospector (G3) in Florida, then the General George (G2) in Maryland. At the top of his game, the George Weaver trainee was shipped to Dubai. He had little problem handling that international field for his fourth straight win, and looked well on his way to champion sprinter honors. A stud deal with Vinery was made in April for the next season. But after being treated in July with an antibiotic that his owners later alleged to be improperly manufactured, mixed, or labeled, the colt became ill. As with Big Jag, the stress on Saratoga County’s body triggered laminitis, which he could not overcome.

(Sadly, that year’s runner-up, Tropical Star of Dubai, also died young—in 2007 at age seven, he suffered a paddock accident that resulted in hind end paralysis and necessitated euthanasia.)

And today, the news broke of Big City Man’s death just a few hours after a workout on Sunday. He began to display colic symptoms shortly after the work, did not respond to treatment, and was rushed into surgery, where vets were unable to save him. (The cecum is “a fermentation pouch between the large and small intestines” that must be functional in a horse’s body.)

Big City Man was gearing up for his first start since his Shaheen victory in March. He had become only the second non-American-based winner of the race since it became the Golden Shaheen in 2000, though his career had begun in the States. The four-year-old colt had been relocated to the U.S. again for the second half of his season, under the care of Jeff Mullins in southern California. The chestnut had just begun to really find himself; in all he won six races and had two seconds from eight career starts.

The other Golden Shaheen winners, thankfully, have seen much more natural ends to their careers. Benny the Bull, now the only winner currently in training, was actually returned to the track following an ankle chip and subsequent retirement last summer. The 2008 sprint champion will try to defend his Smile Sprint (G2) title this Saturday at Calder on its Summit of Speed day. He should still have a stellar season ahead of him, having finished an excellent second in the True North (G2) in his seasonal bow.

So, just as racing has lost another Golden Shaheen star in Big City Man, the previous year’s winner forges ahead, hopefully to continue and end his career in spectacular fashion and to build onto the legacy of the Shaheen champions.

*The intention of this commentary has not been to dwell in morbidity, but simply to cite a statistic. As mentioned, the fact that one-third of the Shaheen winners have died before retiring is entirely coincidental, but I hope to also honor these horses by reviewing some of their feats. They were each phenomenal competitors whose accomplishments are worth taking a second look.

For more info: 

Golden Shaheen race history