Contender for Derby Euthanized After Illness

By BILL FINLEY - NYT
Published: April 24, 2006

The Kentucky Derby contender With a City was euthanized yesterday after it became apparent that he was not going to recover from a mysterious illness.

With a City, who was the winner of the $500,000 Lane's End Stakes at Turfway Park last month, became ill Wednesday at the Churchill Downs Training Center, in Louisville, Ky., where he had been stabled. Two days later, he was taken to the Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Lexington, Ky., where his condition continued to deteriorate.

"We been trying to figure out for four, five days what happened to him," said Ron Peltz, who heads the equirace.com racing syndicate that owned With a City, the son of City Zip. "We took him to the best veterinary clinic in the world, and they have no idea, either."

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This is a tough pill to swallow so close to the derby. I know they were selling 10% of the horse for $200,000 prior to the Arkansas race, but hadn't found any buyers.

Just goes to show how difficult it is to even make the derby, let alone win the race.