Champion filly Tempera euthanized

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - , winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and the Eclipse Award for top 2-year-old filly last year for Godolphin Racing, was euthanized late Sunday after developing colitis, then laminitis.

Tom Albertrani, assistant to trainer Saeed bin Suroor, said Tempera had been stricken with a fever Friday and was transported the next day to Hagyard-Davidson-McGee equine clinic in Lexington. The filly's condition deteriorated through the weekend, and the decision was made late Sunday by Dr. Doug Byars to end her life.

"We're all still pretty much in shock," Albertrani said Monday morning at Godolphin's Churchill Downs barn. "You take all the precautions, and then something like this happens. I haven't seen anything like this happen in years. It's been pretty upsetting for everybody."

Asked whether he or Byars knows what caused Tempera to deteriorate so quickly, Albertrani said: "There's no way to know. She was getting a bit colicky on us Saturday before we sent her to Hagyard's, and obviously we were a bit concerned about that. It's just unusual for something like this to progress so rapidly that the horse has to be put down as quickly as she was."

Tempera arrived at Keeneland from Dubai on April 17. After clearing quarantine, she and her Godolphin stablemates, Essence of Dubai and Imperial Gesture, were moved to Churchill. Tempera was scheduled to run Friday in the Kentucky Oaks, a race in which Imperial Gesture will still run, said Albertrani. Essence of Dubai will run Saturday in the Kentucky Derby.

Tempera, by A.P. Indy out of the Mr. Prospector mare Colour Chart, was bred in Kentucky by Darley Stud Management. Trained last year by Eoin Harty, she won a maiden race at Hollywood Park in July in her second career start, then won the Sorrento Stakes before finishing third as the 1-2 favorite in the Del Mar Debutante. In her next start, she won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Belmont Park at nearly 12-1 under David Flores, as her longshot stablemate Imperial Gesture finished second.

Taken to Dubai for the winter, and turned over to bin Suroor, she ran second to Imperial Gesture in her only two starts at 3, the Feb. 24 Moonshell Mile and April 13 UAE Oaks.

The loss of Tempera is yet another setback for Godolphin since the powerhouse stable began bringing horses to run at Churchill several years ago. Three other Godolphin horses have missed major races here because of injury or illness after arriving: Daylami (1998 Breeders' Cup Turf), Aljabr (2000 Derby), and Street Cry (2001 Derby).