Racing has always been a game of 'ups and downs' and soon after experiencing the 'up' of training their 3000th winner the Mike De Kock team experienced the 'down' of losing Ertijaal (Aus) (Hard Spun) after he was pulled up injured by Jim Crowley in the G1 Jebel Hatta at Meydan on Saturday. A Group 1 winner in South Africa when winning the G1 Investec Cape Derby at Kenilworth in 2015, Ertijaal broke a sesamoid joint on Saturday and could not be saved. “This put a dampener on our night after our wonderful day in South Africa and it's a big blow for us,” said Mike de Kock. “Ertijaal had recovered well from a throat operation and we had him right for this race, we were expecting a good run. 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,” De Kock added. Ertijaal had been a regular competitor at the Carnival the last two seasons and he had finished third to Tryster (Ire) (Shamardal) in the 2016 Jebel Hatta and also fourth in the G1 Dubai Turf behind Real Steel (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) on Dubai World Cup night last year.
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