VALE MY BEAUTIFUL CITY BOY

CITY 2000 Thoroughbred, Hunter, originally uploaded by cnlizziebns.

This time last year my beautiful City 2000 died with a twisted bowel. His mother won the Easter Cup at Eagle Farm and raced in the Brisbane Cup running a creditable 6th or 7th and was a race record with Grooming winning. She was the only mare and one of a few Queensland horses running that year. She held records for 1600 metres at Toowoomba, 1800 and 2200 at Eagle Farm and was a smaller version of City. Her name was Hurley Town and City's father was Double Century. City contacted a virus at the age of two and scarred his lungs and raced once running second when he bled from the lungs. In the interests of humane treatment and the risks associated with lung bleeds in racehorses he did not race again. In Australia should a racehorse bleed twice in separate races the animal is banned for life from the racetrack. In America bleeders are still raced and are given a drug Lasix. The American racing scene is under scrutiny at the present in the wake of a three year old thoroughbred filly breaking both fetlocks crossing the line in second place in a major race in America two weeks ago.
The American racing authorities are trying to implement a regime of less drugs ie steriods in their racing animals. They also have in place a system at the yearling sales where the young animals undergo x-rays of the fetlock and kneee joints to determine whether or not the bones are developing naturally. If the animal is forced to grow unnaturally the bones will suffer. This is a good direction and let us hope this continues and improves into the future.
City I rode most every day and he competed in low level jumping eventing and working hunter at the shows. He carried me on hundreds of kilometres of pleasure riding. I helped his mother with the delivery and the stable he was born in he considered his and would get very miffed if anyone had the hide to use his box.
I let him about at times with a hand under his chin and he would snuff and fuss and just follow the gentle pressure of my hand.
I miss this beautiful animal who enriched my life at a particular time when it needed enriching.
The photograph was taken a couple of weeks before his untimely death. City was thirteen years of age.