Ballydoyle laments George Washington

Michael Kinane returns for some Bank Holiday Monday action at Leopardstown following a miserable Breeders' Cup experience at Monmouth Park on Saturday night that reached a tragic finale in the $5 million (€3.5 million) Classic with George Washington having to be put down.

The former champion jockey pulled up the Aidan O'Brien trained superstar in the straight and an immediate decision to put George Washington down was taken after a consultation between O'Brien and the racecourse vet.

It brought to an end an unhappy meeting for the European raiders who failed to notch a winner for the first time since 1998. Dylan Thomas's defeat in the Turf race, when only fifth to English Channel, was a big surprise, but it all paled in comparison with what happened in the following Classic.

George Washington was well beaten long before the finishing straight, as Curlin powered home to win, but last year's top rated miler sustained fractures to both seasomoid bones on a dirt track that was sloppy after two days of rain.

A dejected Kinane said: "He did well to stay up. He was brave. He didn't go down. He stayed up on it. He saved me."

O'Brien later paid tribute to the brilliant horse. "He was an unbelievably talented horse," O'Brien said, just hours after the horrible incident that cast a pall over Curlin's Classic victory.

"He broke his canon bone and misplaced a joint so it was a straightforward decision," said the champion trainer.

"The bone had gone through the skin so there was no chance of surgery. To try and get him back together, he would have suffered a lot more so it was the right thing to do."

The Monmouth track vet, Dr Wayne McIlwraith, concurred. "Typically these injuries occur in the last part of a race. They are more fatigued so they have less support for the joints.

"The decision was made quickly. Aidan O'Brien made the request for euthanisation. He was with the horse."

George Washington was having a second run in the Classic and was set for another attempt at a stud career afterwards having proved to be sub-fertile in his first season as a stallion last spring.

However it was on turf that he made his greatest impression, beating the subsequent Derby winner Sir Percy in the 2,000 Guineas and also scoring in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.

George Washington was also the champion two-year-old of 2005 after a wide-margin victory in the Phoenix Stakes.

"He had a big attitude and a big ego," said O'Brien. "He believed he was the best and he knew he was the best.

"He was just one of those freaks that don't come along very often - he was a natural athlete," he said.

Séamus Heffernan, the number-two jockey at Ballydoyle, rode George Washington in his work and also in this year's Eclipse Stakes at Sandown when the enigmatic horse was third to Authorized and Notnowcato.

"He was one of the most talented horses I've known but extremely temperamental," Heffernan said yesterday.

"I had the pleasure of riding him in the Eclipse. He was difficult going to the start but was as fresh coming back after the race. He was very difficult but the character of the yard. He was the daddy."

John Murtagh will also be in action at the Foxrock track after coming nearest of all to winning on Saturday when Excellent Art was runner up in the Mile.

O'Brien's international focus will now switch down under to Australia where both Mahler and Scorpion continue their preparations for tomorrow week's Melbourne Cup but the champion trainer has pulled a surprise rabbit out of the hat for today's featured Killavullan Stakes.

The highly-touted Jupiter Pluvius made a belated winning debut at the Curragh eight days ago, after which O'Brien said he would be put away with next year's 2,000 Guineas a possible date. However, the Johannesburg colt is among the 15 lining up for today's Group Three which O'Brien won three years ago with the subsequent Newmarket Guineas hero Footstepsinthesand.

Dermot Weld has also used the Killavullan for some star names, particularly Grey Swallow in 2003, and he gives Famous Name a third start of his career. The Juddmonte-owned colt was well beaten in the National Stakes but looked a real prospect on soft ground at Naas in July. Famous Name's big problem today, however, could be a 15 of 15 draw.

This afternoon's other black-type event is the Listed Trigo Stakes and although a longer trip might be more suitable for Ezima, there was no doubting how impressive she was on her last start at the Curragh when scoring by four lengths.

The impeccably bred Plan, by Storm Cat out of the Breeders' Cup winner Spain, can be expected to do much better for the experience picked up at Cork earlier in the month in today's seven-furlong maiden.

Last year's leading novice hurdle Clopf is an interesting runner in the amateur flat race at Galway while the stamina test of the Beginners Chase will play into the hands of Noel Meade's Bridge Run.