Giant Oak pulled out the Grade 1 Clark Handicap due to an injury he incurred while training
Third in the Grade 2 Breeders’ Cup Marathon, 5-year-old Chris Block trained horse, Giant Oak was pointed toward the fall meet’s first Grade 1 event, the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs but after a incurring an injury while training for the race, Giant
Oak has been pulled out of the Grade 1 Clark Handicap.
During a training mishap, Giant Oak suffered a hind end injury on 17 November 2011, but the specifics of the injury hasn’t come out on the surface yet but what’s certain is that he is out of the race and his 2011 season is certainly done for.
It all depends on the nature of the injury, and if he can recover from it by the time next season starts Rudy and Virginia Tarra, the owners of Giant Oak will bring him back for the 2012 season but if he is badly hurt than he will be pointed to stud in the
upcoming breeding season.
Giant Oak was training on the club house turn at Hawthorne where Dale Bennett trained horse got spooked out from something and knocked Giant Oak pretty hard, who was galloping in the middle of the track.
He was immediately taken back the Block’s barn in a horse ambulance, but the good news is that Giant Oak wouldn’t require any emergency veterinary care, and he will be stall bound at Hawthorne.
After assessing the situation Chris Block will send Giant Oak to a vet clinic in Lexington, Kentucky area next week.
"We'll get a firmer idea of what the future holds then," said Block.
It was an unlucky incident for both trainer Chris Block and Giant Oak, because to avoid heavy horse traffic Chris Block usually trains Giant Oak late in the morning, but it had to happen so it happened.
"It wasn't till a quarter of 10 that he started doing anything," Block said. "There couldn't have been 10 horses out there."
Giant Oak apart from a Grade 1 win in the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park in his season opener, is winless in 7 starts, where he managed to finish third on three occasions.
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