Knee Fracture Ends Career of Now I Know
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Graded stakes winning filly Now I Know emerged from the first-ever loss of her career Saturday with a knee fracture and has been retired according to her co-owner/breeder and trainer Don Von Hemel.
The 3-year-old daughter of Pure Prize won the Dixie Belle in January to run her career record to 6-for-6 but was unable to hold off Amie’s Dini in the Martha Washington Stakes last weekend. Von Hemel said x-rays revealed a fracture in her left front knee and she is being shipped to Oklahoma City for surgery. The injury is not life-threatening, but Von Hemel and co-owner Wayne Stockseth agreed to end her career now.
“We didn’t want to take the chance of cheapening her up,” said Von Hemel Tuesday. “She’s already done more than most horses ever do.”
An Oklahoma-bred, Now I Know started her career last summer in her home state and quickly ran off four wins at Remington Park, mainly in races restricted to fellow Oklahoma-breds including the Oklahoma Classics Lassie last October. It was when she took her front-running style under veteran jockey Perry Compton to the Delta Princess Stakes (G3) in Louisiana that she began to emerge as a nationally ranked filly. She started her 3-year-old campaign with the Dixie Belle win, and until the stretch of the Martha Washington, she had never been headed in her career. She tried to fight back against Amie’s Dini, but ran out of time in the one-mile race, losing by almost two lengths.
Von Hemel said Dr. Mike Major would perform the surgery and that a screw would likely be inserted in the knee. It is too late to make this year’s breeding season, but a broodmare career is what her connections are looking forward to now.
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