Celebrity News just sold for $26,000 at the Fasig-Tipton August Online Sale to Michael Martin LLC. We are very happy with this result and we wish her new connections the best of luck. We can’t wait to see her babies on the track!
The Celebrity News series will be reconciled and closed in approximately 60 days. At that time a listing of revenues and expenses will be provided in addition to any final distributions.
Unfortunately, Celebrity News has not been able to progress in her training as we had hoped. Despite the time off, farm trainer Ciaran Dunne is having the identical issues (body soreness) that trainer George Weaver was dealing with at Palm Beach Downs. Both Ciaran and George have been in contact throughout this process and believe we are left with not much choice other than to retire this filly.
Ciaran has tried using the chiropractor, acupuncture, massage blankets, and laser therapy in an attempt to loosen up her back and hind end along with taking pressure off of her, but nothing has brought any improvement.
It’s a shame as this filly showed promise in the early stages of her 3-year-old season, but soundness has gotten the best of her. She is a beautiful filly to boot and we will have to make some decisions with our partners to decide what our best option is. Regardless, this will be the end of her racing career.
Our options will be to either retire her now or wait for a sale to sell her as a broodmare. We are at a tricky part of the year, given that the breeding season is essentially over. The logical sale to consider would be the Fasig-Tipton digital sale in August. While she is currently in Ocala, Fl, if we proceeded with that option, we would need to also consider shipping her to Kentucky where more breeders can view her. As mentioned earlier, we will have to come to a mutual agreement with our 40% partners R.A. Hill Stable and Gatsas Stables.
We will follow up as soon as any decisions have been made.
Celebrity News is still struggling to progress after having her hind suspensory ligaments injected. Trainer George Weaver was able to get her back on the track, but after consistently jogging, the 4-year-old filly is now showing signs of lameness. Over the past few days, George has only walked her and will continue to limit her training for the time being.
The positive is that we do have a baseline to go off being that she went through a nuclear scintigraphy not too long ago. George and his stable veterinarian have evaluated the filly on a daily basis trying to find the root cause of the lameness. They proceeded to perform diagnostic nerve blocks in hopes that would pinpoint the cause but failed to identify a source. The inconclusive nerve blocks do tell us that the problem is likely higher up rather than below the knee. The biggest struggle we, George, and his veterinarian are having is that the bone scan she went through did not indicate any issues up high.
The most likely explanation is a muscle strain, which we will have to deal with, but in the end, no matter what she’ll need some time right now to heal. We don’t currently have the answer to the situation, but the Weaver team has given her great care during this time.
With the additional time needed and a bit of an unknown timeline, our team and George feel it is best that Celebrity News heads to the farm and as a result has been shipped to Wavertree in Ocala, Florida. In the initial stages, she will be on small paddock turnout before moving out to a larger grass paddock. We felt Wavertree was the perfect spot for her, having access to turn her out, swim, and test her on the track before returning back to George.
The results of Celebrity News bone scan returned favorable overall. The only location on her hind end which showed light up or up-take was her high suspensory ligaments. In collaboration with trainer George Weaver and his veterinarian team and given how far along she is in her training, all parties felt it was best to inject her high suspensory’s and proceed on with training, if the injection proves successful. She has since returned to the track to jog and is improving but still has a little ways to go. George will continue to monitor her and will allow your filly to tell him when she’s ready to begin galloping again.
Trainer George Weaver opted to run Celebrity News through a bone scan today at Rood & Riddle in Wellington to help us pinpoint what might be going on. We have had some trouble diagnosing the hind end lameness while being located at the track and we’re unable to locate the cause by using a diagnostic block. Nerve blocking particular leg structures is a method veterinarians can use to help locate, or confirm, the location of pain associated with lameness.
Once we receive the results, we will follow up with an additional update.
Celebrity News breezed a half mile in 50.31 (25/31) this morning at Palm Beach Downs. The 4-year-old daughter of Laoban worked on the outside of Youbetterbejoking, an impressive 2YO debut winner back in November. Trainer George Weaver remains pleased with her progress. Given her steady morning activity, with a few more breezes we should be ready to consider available race options.
Celebrity News turned in another sharp work on Saturday morning, covering four furlongs in 48.75 (3/35) at Palm Beach Downs. The 4-year-old daughter of Laoban has been ultra consistent in the early stages of her works. With three half-mile drills now under her belt, she is not far from being ready in the grand scheme of things. As we previously reported, trainer George Weaver is aiming for a mid-late February return which he is basing off of her fitness. Of course, the final timing will come down to the available options.
A few days ahead of schedule but Celebrity News is scheduled to ship to Palm Beach Downs to trainer George Weaver’s string at Palm Beach Downs. We will follow up once the filly is fully settled in.
A few days ahead of schedule but Celebrity News is scheduled to ship to Palm Beach Downs to trainer George Weaver’s string at Palm Beach Downs. We will follow up once the filly is fully settled in.
Celebrity News has begun back under tack at Mike Schrader’s In Front Training and is currently jogging a mile each day. George Weaver said that Celebrity News will stay at In Front Training until his operation heads south to Palm Beach Downs in mid-November. George has talked to Schrader who said that Celebrity News has improved tenfold after her break and believes it is exactly what she needed as we head into the winter months.