Wonderful Tonight (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), whose six victories included wins in last year's G1 Prix de Royallieu and G1 British Champions Fillies & Mares S. and this year's G2 Hardwicke S. and G2 Lillie Langtry S., has been retired after suffering a condylar fracture of a fetlock on Friday morning.
Christopher Wright's 4-year-old filly had been an intended runner in Sunday's G2 Prix Foy at ParisLongchamp as a stepping stone toward the Oct. 3 G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, trainer David Menuisier's goal since her Royallieu win.
“She did her final piece of work this morning and was due to go tomorrow morning first thing to France,” said Menuisier. “She cooled down fine and it wasn't until two and a half hours later that she couldn't put her foot on the ground. The vets took an x-ray and she has a little condylar fracture in her fetlock, so it is game over.”
A €40,000 Arqana August yearling, Wonderful Tonight indicated her talent with a 2 1/2-length win in last August's G3 Prix Minerve. Fifth behind the eventual Breeders' Cup winner Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) in the G1 Prix Vermeille on her next start, Wonderful Tonight had 1 1/4 lengths over the classy Pista (American Pharoah) in the Royallieu before gliding over the soft ground at Ascot last October to best Dame Malliot (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}) by 2 1/2 lengths in the Fillies & Mares S. With Menuisier vocal all season about his plans to run Wonderful Tonight in the Arc, the filly indicated her wellness with wins in the Hardwicke and Lillie Langtry before checking in fourth in last month's G1 Yorkshire Oaks over ground dryer than ideal.
“It just shows how fragile they are,” Menuisier continued. “She was in great form and we were just waiting to see if they got any rain at Longchamp before we made the final decision–fate decided for us, really.
“I'm just thankful we had her for the time we did. I'm taking her to the hospital this afternoon and I'm just relieved we can save her. She'll be a lovely broodmare and that's all we can think of really–that and the good times that she gave us. Words fail me, they really do.”
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