Lost in the Fog's cancer deemed Terminal

[WildKat]

Lost in the Fog's cancer deemed terminal
By Jennie Rees
jrees@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal



Lost in the Fog -- last year's champion sprinter who electrified the racing world with his cross-country exploits while winning 10 straight races -- was discovered yesterday to have cancer in areas outside his spleen, giving him perhaps a week to 10 days to live.

In a conference call yesterday, trainer Greg Gilchrist said the 4-year-old colt would return home to Golden Gate Fields racetrack near San Francisco, perhaps as soon as today, from the University of California-Davis equine hospital. Lost in the Fog's veterinarian, Don Smith, said the colt experiences occasional discomfort that can be treated with mild medication and is not in a lot of pain.



Gilchrist decided to bring Lost in the Fog home in what essentially is a hospice situation.

"We know the end is inevitable, and we certainly don't want the horse to go through more than he needs to," he said. " … I just couldn't really walk away from him up there and think about having him euthanized tomorrow or the next day and thrown to the bone yard."

Smith estimated it could be a week to a month before Lost in the Fog's condition would dictate putting the colt down. Owner Harry Aleo and Gilchrist had already decided to retire Lost in the Fog, who won Churchill Downs' Grade II Aristides Handicap on June 3.

Smith said two more tumors were found in the abdomen yesterday, the most critical an inoperable, football-sized mass underneath the spine.

"He's a horse who is like a brother to me," Gilchrist said. "I have more respect for this horse than probably 70-75 percent of the people I deal with on a daily basis. … It's going to be a very tough time to me."

Gilchrist said he has to leave town for a few days but vowed to be present when the horse is euthanized. "I won't let him go by himself," Gilchrist said.

Lost in the Fog won 11 of 14 starts and earned $978,099.

In what proved his last victory, Lost in the Fog ran six furlongs in a snappy 1:08.52 in the Aristides.

"The race that probably will always stand out is the race he ran at Churchill this year," Gilchrist said. "He had to be carrying some pretty good-sized tumors in him, and he still went out and got the job done."