IN a blow for the stable in Dubai, the well-performed and popular five-year-old entire Ertijaal (AUS) fractured a sesamoid shortly after the start of the Gr1 Jebel Hatta over 1800m at Meydan. He was humanely euthanized.

Mike de Kock commented: “This put a dampener on our night after our wonderful day in South Africa and it’s a big blow for us.  Ertijaal had recovered well from a throat operation and we had him right for this race, we were expecting a good run tonight.”

Ertijaal (AUS), the horse with fire in his eyes, the way we’ll remember him. (Liesl King)

Ertijaal was slightly slow out of the gates and moved up into contention on the outside of runners when he appeared to falter and was immediately pulled out of the race by jockey Jim Crowley.

“Jim said he heard something snap and that was it, Ertijaal started limping and had to be brought to a halt. Our condolences to Sheikh Hamdan. We’ve lost a good horse and it’s very unfortunate,” Mike lamented.

Ertijaal, a son of Hard Spun, won his first four races on the trot, including the Gr1 Cape Derby on Met Day in 2015. Exported to Dubai, he finished third in the 2016 Jebel Hatta, followed by a close fourth in the Gr1 Dubai Turf.