Point Given’s Career Cut Short by Injury

A week ago, trainer Bob Baffert, owner Prince Ahmed Salman and jockey Gary Stevens were celebrating another tour de force by Point Given in the $1-million Travers Stakes at Saratoga. Little did they know that would turn out to be the final start for the 3-year-old son of Thunder Gulch.

A tendon injury in his left foreleg has ended the career of the strapping chestnut, who rebounded from a puzzling failure in the Kentucky Derby to win the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.

He followed those victories with two more in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park and last week’s 31/2-length victory over E Dubai in the Travers. Certain to be the champion 3-year-old of 2001 and the runaway leader in the horse-of-the-year race, Point Given appeared to emerge from his final win in good order.

“I’m devastated and so is everybody else at the barn,” Baffert said Friday. “He’s already stamped himself a great horse and he hasn’t even fully tapped into what he’s got to offer. We never got to see his full potential. This is the only part of the business I hate. I’ve lost Michael Jordan from my team. It’s going to take awhile to get over this.”

Full of himself after returning from New York to Baffert’s stable here Monday afternoon, Point Given was going to be taken to the track Thursday morning. But after his bandages were removed, heat was detected below his left knee.

“We thought this isn’t good,” Baffert said. “It was warmer and thicker than it should have been. He had been jumping around and we thought maybe he had just rapped himself. We iced him and it seemed to be OK, but [veterinarian] Dr. [Vince] Baker suggested we do an ultrasound [late Thursday afternoon].

“The ultrasound showed a little strain that went down a ways on his leg and if you continued with him, it could lead to a tear and a lot more damage. After the races Thursday, the Prince and Richard Mulhall [racing manager for the Thoroughbred Corporation] came to the barn and we talked about the situation. Dr. Baker said it would take four, five, six months to get him right and there could always be a little weakness in that area.

“The Prince wanted to run him in the Dubai World Cup [next March], but he said the horse doesn’t owe him anything and has been so good to us that he didn’t want to take any chances.

“You have to enjoy them while you have them. But ... you have to look forward. We have a barn full of horses and having [unbeaten 2-year-olds] Officer and Habibti helps take some of the sting away. The Prince has both of those horses and that will help.

“The injury probably happened in the race and he might have aggravated it playing around since then, but I’m not sure how it all came down. He was fine right after the race and he was fine the next day. You just don’t know with these things.

“The Kentucky Derby [where Point Given finished fifth] was the only blemish on his record, but he came back and showed everybody he was the horse we all thought he was.”

The news was also difficult for Gary Stevens, the colt’s rider in his final nine races, seven of which were wins.

“It’s devastating,” the Hall of Fame jockey said. “It’s just pretty hard to swallow. It feels like a family member has died. I’m kind of in a state of shock.

“I thank God it isn’t life threatening and it didn’t happen during a race. He went out in a blaze of glory. It hurts. It’s tough to see a horse with so much potential and who was so good for racing have his career end so early. I don’t think we had seen the best of him.”

No decision has been made on where Point Given will stand at stud. For now, he will remain with Baffert. The trainer said the horse is in no pain.

“He’s still a handful,” he said. “I’ve had some really good horses, but never one like this. You wait all your life for one like him.”

For his career, Point Given, whose other graded stakes wins included the Kentucky Cup Juvenile at Turfway Park, Hollywood Futurity, San Felipe and Santa Anita Derby, finished with nine victories and three seconds in 13 starts. His purse earnings were $3,968,500.

Salman, whose decision to breed Thunder Gulch to his mare Turko’s Turn led to Point Given, had dedicated the colt’s victory to his brother, Prince Fahd Salman, who died of a heart attack in July.

“This horse has meant so much to him,” Baffert said. “He lost his brother and this horse helped pull him out of that depression. But he was concerned about the horse. He didn’t want worse things to happen.”

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THE CAREER

A glance at Point Given:

* Record--Nine wins and three seconds in 13 starts

* Earnings--$3,968,500

* Of note--Followed his disappointing fifth-place finish as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby with victories in the other two Triple Crown races, the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

Missing the Point Already

Point Given’s career:

*--*

Date Track Type Of Race Finish Aug. 12, 2000 Del Mar Maiden 2nd Aug. 26, 2000 Del Mar Maiden 1st Sept. 16, 2000 Turfway Park Cup Juvenile 1st Oct. 14, 2000 Belmont Park Champagne 2nd Nov. 4, 2000 Churchill Downs Breeders’ Cup Juvenile 2nd Dec. 16, 2000 Hollywood Park Hollywood Futurity 1st March 17, 2001 Santa Anita San Felipe 1st April 7, 2001 Santa Anita Santa Anita Derby 1st May 5, 2001 Churchill Downs Kentucky Derby 5th May 19, 2001 Pimlico Preakness 1st June 9, 2001 Belmont Park Belmont Stakes 1st Aug. 5, 2001 Monmouth Park Haskell 1st Aug. 25, 2001 Saratoga Travers 1st

*--*

Career totals: 13 starts, 9 wins, 3 seconds, 1 out-of-money finish. Earnings: $3,968,500