Dr. Scott Hopper examined Spanish Fern at Rood and Riddle, where she was found to have a fracture of the left side of her pelvis, with internal bleeding associated with the fracture. She was given intravenous fluid and blood volume replacement, plus corticosteroids and treatment for shock. Though veterinarians were able to stabilize her, Spanish Fern began hemorrhaging again in the evening and died from internal bleeding around 9:30 p.m.

The following statement is from Dr. Larry Bramlage, a noted equine surgeon serving as a media contact as part of the American Association of Equine Practitioners' On-Call program: "Fractures of the pelvis are occasionally seen in the horse as the result of trauma of muscular exertion during exercise. Fractures of the pelvis are seen in horses while racing, training, or while turned out in a field. The pelvis serves as the anchorage for all of the major musculature of the hind limb. As we all watched the 'break' as the gate opened for the Filly & Mare Turf race we could see Spanish Fern accelerate and then immediately become lame on the left hind limb. She created the fracture with the force of her own musculature acceleration. The immediate swelling indicated that she lacerated one of the large blood vessels, which lie within the pelvis, when the fracture occurred. The first aid and care of this filly stabilized the situation. Unfortunately, she began to hemorrhage again late Saturday evening, a few hours after being admitted to the intensive care facility at Rood and Riddle.

"Fatal hemorrhage is a rare, but well documented sequele of fracture of the pelvis in the horse. This is one of the situations where absolute bed rest is the prescription for stabilizing the hemorrhage and allowing the vessels to clot. Unfortunately this is not possible in the horse and they become victims of their innate desire to remain mobile and unrestrained in times of stress. In this instance that instinct re-initiated the hemorrhaging and proved fatal to Spanish Fern."

Spanish Fern was trained by Hall of Fame horseman Robert Frankel, who said hours after the incident that she had never indicated any soundness problems.

Spanish Fern was a six-time winner from 20 starts and earned $748,370. Her most prized victory was the 1999 Yellow Ribbon at Santa Anita.

Meanwhile, Frankel-trained Honest Lady exited the Sprint in fine order, the trainer said. It was the sixth time a female finished second in the Sprint. Others were Pine Tree Lane (1985), Safely Kept (1989), Meafara (1992-93) and Soviet Problem (1994).

"Honest Lady came back super," Frankel said. "That might have been her best race. Kent (Desormeaux) rode her good, too. He kept to the outside and she must have come 50-wide. Those were some fast horses."

Frankel will discuss the 4-year-old filly's future with owner Prince Khalid Abdullah in coming days.

Euchre, who was scratched from the Classic after he coughed Friday, is improving.

"Euchre's not even sick," Frankel said. "He just has some mucus. With nice horses you don't want to take a chance. I'm hoping to race him in that dirt race in Japan. I think the Clark (Handicap) might end up a tougher race, so why not try for $2 million?"