Multiple grade II winner Onlyforyou was euthanized March 15 after breezing at Palm Meadows, owner John Greathouse of Glencrest Farm confirmed.
The brilliant 3-year-old Malibu Moon filly sustained a displaced condylar fracture while galloping out. She was being prepared for a start in the $300,000 Gulfstream Park Oaks (gr. II) March 29.
"She had a complex condular fracture that was displaced and irreparable. She worked and a little bit more than an eighth of a mile into the gallop (out) she took a bad step," trainer Todd Pletcher said.
Undefeated in four starts for Pletcher, Onlyforyou won the Davona Dale Stakes (gr. II) Feb. 22 at Gulfstream Park after taking the Forward Gal (gr. II) a month earlier in her stakes debut. She was favored each time she ran and always won in sparkling fashion. She had been considered a key contender for the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I).
"She was on the gallop out after working this morning; I guess she made a bad step," Greathouse said. "I haven't seen the report yet so I can't say much. I don't know what leg it was, but it was multiple fractures; sesamoids weren't involved but there was so much of it that they just couldn't do much."
Onlyforyou was credited with a five-furlong move in 1:02 flat on the Palm Meadows tab, her second breeze since winning the Davona Dale.
"Obviously, it's a sad moment for everybody," Pletcher said. "The barn takes it hard when stuff like that happens, especially when it's a filly like that who was perfect her whole career. It looked like she had a big future ahead."
Bred in Kentucky by Elm Tree Farm and Popatop out of the Tactical Cat mare Erhu, the bay filly was a $115,000 purchase from the 2012 Keeneland September yearling sale.
"We did have a lot of fun with her, but we were hoping to have a lot more," Greathouse said.
