Green Light Go euthanized after injury during workout

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Green Light Go, a 5-year-old son of Hard Spun who seemed to have rediscovered his graded stakes-winning juvenile form, broke the sesamoid bone in his right foreleg during a workout Friday morning at Belmont Park and had to be euthanized, trainer Jimmy Jerkens said.

Green Light Go was inside the eighth pole of his Friday morning work over the training track when he was pulled up by exercise rider Kelvin Pahal. A boot was placed on Green Light Go’s right foreleg, and he was vanned off. A follow-up exam revealed the injuries were unsalvageable.

“It looked like he was just cruising,” Jerkens said of the work.

Green Light Go, owned by Stronach Stables, was preparing for a start in the Grade 3 Westchester Stakes on May 7 at Belmont Park. He was coming off a fourth-place finish behind Speaker’s Corner in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap on April 9 at Aqueduct.

Prior to the Carter, Green Light Go had won the $125,000 Stymie Stakes and a third-level allowance and was beaten just a head by Hopeful Treasure in last November’s Grade 3 Fall Highweight Handicap.

Those performances were reminiscent of his 2-year-old year when he won his debut at Belmont at first asking and then the Grade 2 Saratoga Special. That October, he finished second as the favorite in the Grade 1 Champagne, beaten by the New York-bred Tiz the Law.

Green Light Go finished his career with a record of 5-3-1 from 14 starts and earnings of $545,102.