So long to T.H. Approval
After winning the San Juan Capistrano Handicap for the second consecutive year with T.H. Approval in April, trainer Eduardo Inda talked about winning the race again in 2007 for an unprecedented third time. But that possibility came to an end this week with the retirement of the 5-year-old horse, who fractured his sesamoid while finishing a disappointing seventh in the Grade I Turf Cup at Hollywood Park last Saturday.
"It was a great run," Inda said. "I'm going to miss him." T.H. Approval was Inda's meal ticket. The horse also won the Sunset Breeders' Cup Handicap and the Del Mar Handicap this past summer -- an unprecedented sweep for distance grass horses. Inda is one of the more popular trainers in the Southland. Before T.H. Approval won this year's San Juan, he received greetings from many well-wishers on the backstretch the morning of the race.
You gotta feel for Inda. T.H. Approval accounted for 33% of his barn, but 100% of his success.
Hopefully, Inda can get a new client that can bring him some horses.