Article: Rockport Harbor Retires With Leg Injuries
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Rockport Harbor Retires With Leg Injuries
Mar. 20, 2006 7:19PM (ET)
link -> http://sports.iwon.com/news/03202006/v1761.html
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) - Rockport Harbor, a one-time Kentucky Derby hopeful and second-place finisher in last year's Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park, has been retired.
Trainer John Servis said Monday that Rockport Harbor will go to stud for the 2007 season. Servis, who trained Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones, made the announcement at his barn at Oaklawn after conferring with Dr. William Hawk, the attending veterinarian.
The gray colt, nicknamed "Rocky," fought leg injuries, including an ailing right rear hoof, and missed several days of training in 2005. An infected baseball-sized blood clot was discovered in the horse's neck on April 2, 2005, forcing several more missed workouts.
He returned to Oaklawn this spring, winning the Essex Handicap by 2 lengths. But after a fifth-place finish in the Razorback Breeders' Cup Handicap, Rockport Harbor's leg injury resurfaced.
"We decided we were fighting a losing battle," Servis said. "It's the right thing to do for the horse. It would not be fair to put him in a competitive position again."
