I wish neither to defend the decision to return Lava Man to the races nor do I wish to praise the decision to retire him. Rather I am here to ask a simple question to his connections: If the decision was made to bring him back to the races after a year and a half retirement, why not give him a chance?
He is an exceptional horse who accomplished countless great things and he deserved his retirement, especially considering the condition of his legs. I fully understand why so many racing liberals (for lack of a better word) actively petitioned against his return to the races. For safety sake. He has accomplished more than enough to live out the rest of his life of R&R. Fair enough, I will not disagree.
Lava Man underwent stem cell treatment that revitalized his legs. He was once again primed to be the great athlete we saw in his glory years, or so we were told by his connections. He would be a stakes horse again and purse winnings would go to good horse causes. He was a horse who missed the action and rush of the races, and simply was not happy as a retiree. Fair enough, I will not disagree.
I will disagree however, with the decision to bring him back and then retire him after one race. He led for much of the recent Grade 2 San Gabriel, only to fade in the lane. He finished last in the field of seven, but was he embarrassed? No. He lost by just over six lengths to a couple of very good turf horses. Lava Man was short. After 18 months off…what a surprise! If he improved, as most horses coming back from a long layoff do, who knows what he could have done in the California handicap division. We will never know, he was not given a chance to show us.
Lava Man is a great horse who deserved better. They could have done two things to do right by the horse. Leave him in retirement the first time and find a way to keep him happy, or bring back the horse with renewed vitality and give him a real opportunity to see what he could do. They chose neither. Too bad.
Photo by Marti Guzman
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