Wagga trainer George Dimitropoulos and connections are ‘heartbroken’ at the sudden passing of talented mare Neyla’s Girl.
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The four-year-old mare was humanely euthanised last week after a cancerous abscess was found in her stomach.
The cancer had spread too much to save the mare and connections were left with no alternative other than to put an end to Neyla’s Girl’s suffering ‘in the most humane way’.
It was a sudden turn of events that was detected after Neyla’s Girl’s most recent run, a fifth placing in the Highway Handicap at Rosehill on November 4.
Neyla’s Girl had only scored her maiden metropolitan breakthrough the start before at Warwick Farm on October 25.
“It’s very heartbreaking,” Dimitropoulos said.
”The cancer was just eating her away. They rang up and I said just do it in the most humane way.”
Dimitropoulos knew something was wrong after her performance at Rosehill.
“Coming back from Rosehill, I knew there was a problem,” he said.
“I knew something was wrong when she hit the front in the straight and then wobbled. I knew she was in trouble again.
“I tipped her out into the paddock for a few days. On the fourth day, I went to feed her, like I always do, and she was laying on the ground. I put her and took her straight to the vets at the uni.
“They had to operate and that’s when they found the abscess.
“The vets were surprised she had been performing the way she was.”
Neyla’s Girl had 11 starts for three wins, three placings and $58,000 in prizemoney.
The mare was raced by Dimitropoulos, Matt Rose and M Deweerd. The trio also raced her mother, Neylabu.
It is the second significant blow to Dimitropoulos’ stable this year after exciting three-year-old Zakynthos Regrets was sold to Hong Kong.
“To have the two best horses in the Riverina and lose them both within seven months is a great shame,” he said.
Dimitropoulos lives and works in Cootamundra but travels to Wagga daily to train his small team.
He hopes to soon be able to base himself at Cootamundra and is confident his next good horse won’t be far away.