Zenyatta News

luvsgeldings · Sat May 30, 2015 10:41 am

she was a 20 year old mare.... is that correct? is this 'normal' for 20 year old horses to be foaling? I am sick and sad for this mare - I am ignorant about horses so I apologize.... but it doesn't sound right to me that this 20 year old girl was still being bred - sorry.... but humans just make me sick - - may this dear mare rest in peace - I am so sorry sweet girl... praying you are enjoying a much better place now.

Life At Zen · Sat May 30, 2015 11:32 am

luvsgeldings wrote:she was a 20 year old mare.... is that correct? is this 'normal' for 20 year old horses to be foaling? I am sick and sad for this mare - I am ignorant about horses so I apologize.... but it doesn't sound right to me that this 20 year old girl was still being bred - sorry.... but humans just make me sick - - may this dear mare rest in peace - I am so sorry sweet girl... praying you are enjoying a much better place now.

A healthy mare can foal into her 20's with no issues. Do not think that they bred her without a care to her health. Even young mares can hemorrhage.

Insane Crazy · Sat May 30, 2015 11:37 am

luvsgeldings wrote:she was a 20 year old mare.... is that correct? is this 'normal' for 20 year old horses to be foaling? I am sick and sad for this mare - I am ignorant about horses so I apologize.... but it doesn't sound right to me that this 20 year old girl was still being bred - sorry.... but humans just make me sick - - may this dear mare rest in peace - I am so sorry sweet girl... praying you are enjoying a much better place now.

It's not uncommon. Especially for a mare who hasn't had many complications, who is in good present health, and who has regularly been bred, foaling at 20 isn't horrendous by any measure IMO. I would never breed a maiden mare at 20, but an experienced and healthy broodmare under the care of some of the best broodmare managers and reproductive vets in the country could feasibly foal into her 20s. I'm guessing this would've been her last/one of her last foals. I know people breeding stock horses and warmbloods who have had foals from mares aged 25.

Unfortunately, foaling is always tricky (as is any birthing process). A five year old mare fit as a fiddle could have complications or get injured and hemorrhage just as easily as a 20 year old horse. It's sad, but I don't personally feel like Coolmore put her in undue danger just by the nature of breeding at her age. There may have been other factors, of course, though we'd never know them.

ETA: LAZ beat me to it in fewer words. This is what I get for clicking past the warning of other posts.

Macaroni · Sat May 30, 2015 12:56 pm

flytpthestars wrote:I got an email from Coolmore just this morning. The rumor is true, she died after hemorrhaging post foaling.

Did they also confirm that that was 2 years ago, as reported via the rumors?

mariasmon · Sat May 30, 2015 1:03 pm

The whole hemorrhaging after foaling thing doesn't exactly wash, since she was bred to Tapit after having the Street Cry colt.

Macaroni · Sat May 30, 2015 1:03 pm

luvsgeldings wrote:she was a 20 year old mare.... is that correct? is this 'normal' for 20 year old horses to be foaling? I am sick and sad for this mare - I am ignorant about horses so I apologize.... but it doesn't sound right to me that this 20 year old girl was still being bred - sorry.... but humans just make me sick - - may this dear mare rest in peace - I am so sorry sweet girl... praying you are enjoying a much better place now.

Just to clarify, she would have been 20 this year, but if she died post-foaling 2 years ago, as reported, she was 17 when she was last bred, and 18 when she died. (It would also mean that Zenyatta's full brother was her last foal)

flytpthestars · Sat May 30, 2015 1:35 pm

He havent replied on my question yet. I did see that someone said her last foal after Street Cry is alive and well.

Macaroni · Sat May 30, 2015 1:37 pm

flytpthestars wrote:He havent replied on my question yet. I did see that someone said her last foal after Street Cry is alive and well.

Where did you see that? I'm curious to hear more about her supposed Tapit foal, as I haven't found much about him or that foaling in general.

Macaroni · Sat May 30, 2015 8:50 pm

Someone said Blood-Horse reported Vertigineux's death (in their publication) sometime in 2014. If anyone on here has a subscription and is inclined to check...

lurkey mclurker · Sun May 31, 2015 1:01 am

Nothing comes up in a general search of Blood-Horse... but granted I don't know if the results include subscription-only content.

https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing ... ertigineux

ETA: Also, Coolmore posted a pic of the 2013 full brother with Vertigineux a month after his birth... so it seems unlikely the circumstances described would fit that foaling. Maybe they meant the 2014?

https://www.facebook.com/CoolmoreStud/p ... 22/?type=1

Life At Zen · Sun May 31, 2015 8:52 am

I'm wonderin if it was last year she passed, after foaling the Tapit foal (presuming it didn't make it either). It doesn't make any sense for her to have hemorrhaged in '13 considering she raised that foal.

mariasmon · Sun May 31, 2015 9:08 am

I think the report would indicate the Tapit foal died. This does not say anything about the foal being born, dead or otherwise.

bare it all · Sun May 31, 2015 9:21 am

Looks like she would have died recently (spring 2015) then after foaling the Tapit?

Or I'm reading it wrong. Barren to Street Cry in 2012, foaled a 2013 Street Cry and then was bred to Tapit expecting a 2014 foal. So she would have died in spring 2014? A full year ago??

Life At Zen · Sun May 31, 2015 10:05 am

The first reports out were that she died from colic. I wonder if that's the case then. And the foal died in utero.

Someone had posted on her FB in September that she died from colic, per sources that worked at Ashford. I just don't know why Coolmore would then say it was post foaling hemorrhage?

luvsgeldings · Sun May 31, 2015 10:32 am

thank you to those of you who educated me on the issue of a mare's age and foaling - I truly do appreciate it - I learn a lot here as I truly know nothing about horses except that I love them - I admire them and respect them - so I had no clue if 20 was too old - but it sounded old to me - now I understand more about it - and I thank you again for the info - you folks are great!! regarding this mare, I am sorry to hear of her passing though - and not sure why there is such confusion on the circumstances surrounding her death - but very sorry to hear the mare is gone.

Macaroni · Mon Jun 01, 2015 4:03 pm

Not sure how reliable this is but someone on Facebook said they just called Coolmore and the person who she spoke to said "they own her and that they were not aware of her passing."

Not sure I believe that, but just thought I'd mention it just in case...

Life At Zen · Mon Jun 01, 2015 6:12 pm

What a shitstorm.

TapitsGal · Mon Jun 01, 2015 7:00 pm

No kidding....is it possible the higher ups were aware and just didn't communicate it to other staff? I mean was vertingeaux at the Kentucky farm? I thought she was in Ireland? If she was at one farm couldn't it be possible the other farms weren't informed she passed?

mariasmon · Mon Jun 01, 2015 7:20 pm

She was never exported from the US.

lurkey mclurker · Mon Jun 01, 2015 8:24 pm

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand now the source at the Zenyatta blog is backtracking:

June 1, 2015 at 1:33 pm
Here is the message that I just received from the Coolmore Manager…”Sorry Janice I had her mixed up with an other mare she did die from colic in foal to Tapit ….she has a lovely two year old .

DR

From all the information that I have gathered from many different sources, this seems correct. Another source said that she had died of colic some time in the beginning of 2014. I do not have verification on that date, but she sounds in the know.

Thank you for your patience, questions and thoughts.

However we differ on many viewpoints, I’m sure we want to pay tribute to this great mare.

http://www.zenyatta.com/news/friday-pho ... ent-514963

The 'DR' she refers to is Dermot Ryan, who is listed on Coolmore's webpage.