Hoist The Flag - Thoroughbred

https://claibornefarm.com/history/hof/hoist-the-flag/

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Foaled March 31, 1968 - Died in May 1980 (12yo)

• The Incident: March 30, 1971 (at 3yo), US

• The Injury: The horse suffered a comminuted fracture of the telson and a fracture of the canal bone in his right hind leg due to a misstep during training

• The Leading Surgeon: Dr. William O Reed

• The Outcome: A success - after undergoing surgery and recovering, Hoist The Flag served as a stallion for eight seasons. In May 1980, he was euthanised due to a fracture of his left foreleg. The horse had lived for nine years after his first surgery.

ABOUT THE HORSE

Hoist The Flag was a well-made and muscular bay standing 16.1 hands, running with a deep girth and exceptionally fluid gait. His temperament was described as ‘opionated’ and ‘studdish’, and he had a particular distaste for lead ponies.

The horse was a mythical figure at the track. Only after one month of racing, he won five of six starts at Belmont Park, he was voted the American Champion 2-yo colt in 1970. Then he won the 1971 Bay Shore Stakes represented the fastest seven furlongs ever run by a 3-yo, and set a new track record. He was being prepared for the Triple Crown races.

Jean Cruguet, the regular rider of Hoist The Flag, said he’s the best horse he had ever ridden, he had the longest stride of any horse. The horse was a wonder on the track. Who knows what he would have accomplished if not injured.

THE INCIDENT - 30 March 1971 (at 3yo)

In the training session before running in the Gotham Stakes at Belmont Park slated for 3 April, somewhere probably about a sixteenth of a mile after Hoist The Flag completed an easy five-furlong work. The colt then put his right hind foot down wrong, and suddenly, as though struck by lightning. The misstep broke his right hind leg into two places, suffering a shattered pastern and a fractured cannon bone.

This injury was catastrophic and his life hung by a tenuous thread. The colt staggered into the ambulance on his three good legs led by the staffs. As they followed the ambulance back to the barn, they all knew the situation was grave.

THE SAVING EFFORT – led by Dr. William O. Reed

Though the equine insurance company had authorized the veterinarian to humanely destroy the horse, his owner Jane Clarks decided to save him at all cost, as long as he doesn’t have to suffer. She stayed with the horse as he underwent surgery to set the fractures and hopefully save his life.

The veterinarian applied a protective splint and waited for x-rays. The x-rays showed that the last segment of the pastern of the leg was fragmented, just above his hoof, and in a running horse it bears a tremendous amount of strain. It looked like a hammer had shattered an ice cube. Obviously, the racehorse would never race again.

Fortunately, a new surgical technique and the colt’s own impeccable health would be his saving graces. At Dr. Reed’s equine hospital, a team of three surgeons worked on repairing the colt’s leg in a six-hour operation. Dr. Reed and Dr. Jenny developed the technique of open‐joint surgery, which they first performed in 1957 in Lexington. With this technique, the veterinarians could explore the damaged area on opened joint injury. This technique is used regularly now.

The cannon bone was not too badly broken, but the pastern had to be completely rebuilt. They used stainless steel clamps and screws around the break to add strength and to secure the cannon bone. Then they used bone marrow grafted from the colt’s hip to fill in the gaps in the shattered pastern while securing the bone with a steel plate and screws and even steel wire to help in rebuilding the bone as the colt healed. 

THE OUTCOME

While Hoist the Flag never raced again, his life was saved. He was retired to Claiborne Farm, where he became a highly successful stallion and broodmare sire.

In March 1980, Hoist the Flag suffered another fracture in his left foreleg when he was 12yo. Like his original injury, surgeons used plates and screws to stabilize the bone, but this time he was not able to overcome the injury. The horse was living for 9 years after saving surgery, he was put down and buried at Claiborne Farm on 17 May 1980.

Source: Claiborne Farm