Trainer Mike Mitchell tried to concentrate on work in his Hollywood Park stable office Wednesday but found it impossible to forget about grade I winner Star Over the Bay, whose winner's circle pictures hung on the wall.Star Over the Bay, a 7-year-old gelding, was euthanized on the track after breaking down with a ruptured sesamoid in his right foreleg midway through the Singapore International Airlines Cup (Sng-I) at Kranji Racecourse on Sunday.Star Over the Bay was near the front at the half-mile pole when he was injured."I just marked him off the charts this morning and I have pictures of him all over the house," said Mitchell. "I don't want to forget this horse, but the memories are real tough."Star Over the Bay won 10 of 43 starts and earned $917,353. Claimed for $80,000 last year for G Racing, Carl Van Burger and Landon Vaughn, Star Over the Bay went on to win three graded turf stakes in 2004 – the Clement L. Hirsch Championship (gr. IT) at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park's Sunset Handicap (gr. IIT) and the Del Mar Handicap (gr. IIT). He added the $500,000 Sunshine Millions Turf in January."I saw Tyler (Baze) pulling him up and didn't realize how bad it was until he came back crying," said Mitchell. "If I could have just brought him back and retired him, I would feel so much better."Mitchell had nothing but compliments about his treatment on his first visit to the Southeast Asian nation. "I couldn't have been treated any better," said Mitchell. "It was a beautiful city and a beautiful hotel, and everybody was great.
"But I would be surprised if an American horse ever wins a race like this," continued Mitchell. "It's a tough race to win. The horses are good, and the humidity is tough."