Tragic Start for Oak Tree

In his office at Santa Anita’s barn 96, trainer David Hofmans reached into a desk drawer for a notebook that cataloged the short-lived career of Siphonic, who not so long ago was rated one of the country’s best 3-year-olds.

Hofmans ticked off the dates. “June 1st,” he said, “he came back to me from the farm. The end of July, he had his first breeze [workout].”

On Wednesday, about 15 minutes after the third race on opening day of the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita, the information in Hofmans’ notebook became meaningless. Siphonic, running for the first time since March 17, finished second by a head, but then in the receiving barn, where beaten favorites are tested for prohibited drugs, the colt collapsed twice and died, probably of a heart attack.

“It’s unbelievable,” said a shaken Hofmans, back at his barn. “It’s real bad. This was a healthy, sound horse. He came back from the race looking good, maybe a little tired, but I thought he looked pretty good. He was as good a horse as I’ve ever trained.”

Hofmans scratched Adoration, a filly he was scheduled to run in the Lady’s Secret Handicap later in the day. Both Siphonic and Adoration are owned by John and Jerry Amerman of Palos Verdes Estates, who are on vacation.

B. William Bell, a state veterinarian, said that another veterinarian, Rod Daniel, was unable to get a heartbeat after Siphonic had fallen a second time. The first time he fell was in the receiving barn’s walking ring, after he had been given a bath. His handlers, including Grant Hofmans, the trainer’s son and assistant, got the horse back on his feet and put him in a stall before he went down again.

Grant Hofmans called his father and said: “We’ve got a real bad situation here.”

Hofmans hurried to the receiving barn, but by the time he arrived, his horse was gone.

“There was no sign of anything wrong,” Hofmans said. “No trauma, no blood. He must have taken three deep breaths and it was all over.”

Bell said that a post-mortem examination would be done.

“All we can do is assume that he bled internally somewhere,” Bell said. “Either [in] the thoracic cavity or the abdominal cavity. We probably won’t have an answer for a couple of days.”

Hofmans said that the Amermans had insured Siphonic, but he wasn’t sure of the amount. They had bought the colt for $210,000 at a yearling auction at Keeneland in 2000, and after Siphonic ran third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last October and won the Hollywood Futurity in December, he became one of the early favorites for this year’s Kentucky Derby. When Jerry Bailey got off the horse after the Breeders’ Cup race, he said to Hofmans: “I’d like to ride him again. I’ll even pay my own way if I have to.”

Siphonic was taken off the Derby trail in March, after a second-place finish in the Santa Catalina Stakes at Santa Anita and a third in the San Felipe. He was the odds-on favorite in both races. Hofmans said that he twisted his neck as he stumbled out of the gate in the Santa Catalina. The colt spent two months at the Amermans’ farm in Temecula, where he was treated by a chiropractor and an acupuncturist, before he returned to the track four months ago.

Siphonic’s record was three wins, two seconds and two thirds in seven starts, with purses totaling $774,778. Hofmans had long-range goals of reaching the Strub series at Santa Anita this coming winter. Mike Smith rode Siphonic for the first time Wednesday, when after a stiff stretch drive he was beaten by a head by Resolve in a seven-furlong race. Smith later won the Lady’s Secret with Azeri.

“He was breathing hard after the race,” Smith said of Siphonic, “but that’s natural for a horse who’s been away that long. There was nothing to think that he was in distress. He was bouncing after the race. My heart goes out to all the people connected with this horse. This game’s a real roller-coaster ride, isn’t it?”