Mark Kavanagh says Atlantic Jewel's injury was a sledgehammer hit as retirement becomes official
UPDATE: ATLANTIC Jewel's trainer Mark Kavanagh describes the moment he realised the mare was out of the Cox Plate. She has now been officially retired.
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IN the pre-dawn yesterday at Flemington, Atlantic Jewel was flying and I was on top of the world.
A little over three hours later, a suburb or two away at Moonee Valley, racing's sledgehammer hit.
At 5.30am my champion mare worked on the steeple grass at home - and worked very well.
She did 1800m with race jockey Michael Rodd on board with stablemate Super Cool. They went evens with their last 400m in 23.01sec.
At 6.45am I returned to the stables and we noticed that while Atlantic Jewel was cooling off there was some mild swelling on the outside tendon sheath on her off-side (right) front leg.
I wasn't panicking. We thought it could have been a knock as AJ is a flighty mare and has been to known to shy at anything.
She has had little knocks on her leg before which have meant nothing. And her behaviour wasn't abnormal.
We iced it straight away which normally does the trick and I left for the Cox Plate barrier draw at Moonee Valley thinking we didn't have a problem - she's drawn perfectly in seven.
On leaving the members dining room, I got a call from my stable foreman Merv Harvey. The swelling had reappeared.
I dashed back to the stable and we got her scanned which revealed tendon damage.
We won't know the full extent of the damage until the swelling comes down.
It's the opposite leg to last time which is normal as horses tend to put their weight on the other leg.
I am getting used to losing favourites in big races, but it doesn't make it any easier.
Maldivian was favourite in the 2007 Caulfield Cup but was scratched at the barrier.
I had the favourite for the 2009 VRC Derby, Shamoline Warrior, who was scratched on race morning.
I had the favourite four times in the Australian Cup - twice with Maldivian and twice with Shocking and neither of them got to the post.
And yesterday, just as everything was going so well - bang.
Will we see her again?
No. It's now official that the curtain has come down for the final time on Atlantic Jewel, with the super mare officially retired this morning.
Atlantic Jewel will spend a couple of weeks at her Flemington stables before spending time at Coolmore Stud in the Hunter Valley.
She will then be flown to Coolmore Stud, Ireland where she will be served by Galileo.
Twice Atlantic Jewel has bounced back from career-threatening injuries, but not a third time.
She won five from five then had a career-threatening injury with heat spots in the back.
We got her over that and she then made it seven from seven before she again had another career-threatening injury with her small branch ligament injury.
Painstakingly and only after 70 weeks out, we got her back for this preparation. She's produced two Group 1 wins, a Group 1 second and a Group 2 win.
Racing is a ruthless game. Racing isn't picky when it delivers its blows.
Yesterday I was on the receiving end but it's not how many times you get knocked down, it's how many times you get back up.
I didn't see the sledgehammer coming but there's no point getting around with your chin dragging on the ground.
And I've got to be thankful for what we've had and the enjoyment Atlantic Jewel brought us.
Ten wins from 11 starts including four Group 1s. That's some record.
She's the best horse I've trained and could possibly be as good as I've ever seen.
I was hoping to prove that on Saturday and she was ready to go.
Bottom line I could still be at Mt Gambier being worried about having the favourite scratched from the local cup.
Four years ago when Shamoline Warrior was a late scratching in Victoria Derby we bounced back three days with a win in the Melbourne Cup with Shocking.
Racing can hit you hard but it also brings fresh hope every day - and I've still got Super Cool in the Cox Plate.
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