Strapping Groom injured, retired at 7

Strapping Groom, the winner of the Grade 1 Forego at Saratoga in 2013, suffered a broken bone behind his right knee and will not race again, but he could have a career as a stallion, trainer David Jacobson said Sunday.

Strapping Groom was injured when he fell past the finish line after finishing sixth in Saturday night’s $200,000 Fabulous Strike Handicap at Penn National. Strapping Groom was vanned back to New York in the early hours of Sunday morning and was then vanned from Aqueduct to the Ruffian Equine Medical Center across the street from Belmont Park.

Jacobson said veterinarians at Ruffian told him the horse could recover and return to the races at some point, but Jacobson said, “As far as I’m concerned, his racing career is over.” Jacobson trains Strapping Groom, a 7-year-old son of Johannesburg, for Drawing Away Stable.

Jacobson and Drawing Away claimed Strapping Groom for $35,000 in May 2013 after the horse had been away from the races for 11 months. He won four of 11 starts for Drawing Away and Jacobson, including the Forego at odds of 15-1. This year, he won the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap. Following a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Carter in April, Strapping Groom was hampered by foot problems.

Jacobson said going into the Fabulous Strike, Strapping Groom “had never been sounder.”

Jacobson said that in addition to the broken bone in the knee, Strapping Groom had abrasions around his eyes.

Bred by the Steinbrenner family’s Kinsman Stable, Strapping Groom ends his career with a record of 10-6-2 from 29 starts and earnings of $931,713.