By Mike Dillon
Outstanding racemare Gold City dropped dead ninety minutes after winning Saturday's $25,000 Waikato Stud Stakes at Matamata.
Gold City suffered a burst aorta and drowned in her own blood after just arriving back at the stables of local trainers Ray and Sharon Johnson.
The half million dollar winner began showing mild signs of distress as she was cooling off after Trudy Collett had steered her home by three quarters of a length over Back On Track and dead-heaters Oregon Power and Montreal Star.
"She was walking around as if she was starting to tie up so I got our vet Jim Marks to give her an injection," Ray Johnson said yesterday, trying to relax through a round of golf.
"When we got her home she was sweating heavily and her neck was like it was ice cold.
"I dashed inside to watch Sunline's race from Melbourne on television and when I came out she was lying down and couldn't get up.
"She was dead within a few minutes."
An autopsy performed yesterday morning revealed the major artery had burst.
Gold City was owned by Australians Mac Whitehouse, a hotel owner, and Peter Newsom, who is involved in air travel.
"They heard the race down a telephone line yesterday and were understandably delighted, then I had to call them back and tell them their mare was dead," said
Johnson who confirmed that Gold City had been insured.
Gold City had a spring nomination to be mated with boom sire Zabeel and had immense value as a broodmare.
"If she hadn't made it into Zabeel's book they were going to send her to Australia to be mated with Octagonal."
That would have made for an interesting pairing.
It was Gold City who stretched Octagonal's neck in the group one Australian Cup at Flemington before a breakdown seriously interrupted her career.
The Johnsons did a wonderful job of getting Gold City through tendon problems and back to winning form only to lose one of New Zealand racing's most valuable racemares to freakish misfortune.
To prove when your luck is out it is out, Ray Johnson lost the money at golf as well.
Horse racing: Mare's great comeback ends in tragedy
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