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Shamardal (foaled March 27, 2002 in Kentucky) is a Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in the United Kingdom and in France and was voted the 2004 European Champion Two-Year-Old. ==Background== Bred at Watercress Farm in Paris, Kentucky, he was sired by a son of Storm Cat, the 2000 European Horse of the Year, Giant's Causeway. He was out of the mare Helsinki, who had been only an average runner, but who was a full sister to Street Cry. Shamardal's damsire was Machiavellian, a son of the Leading sire in North America, Mr. Prospector. In November 2002, his breeders put him up for sale at the Keeneland Sales but when the bidding failed to meet their reserve price they decided to wait until the following year to auction him again. In early 2003, the yearling began to exhibit a subtle lack of coordination and an abnormal clumsiness in his gaits. He was soon diagnosed with a Grade 3 level of Cervical Vertebral Malformation Syndrome, a spinal disorder commonly referred to by horsemen as the "wobbles." The disease means the horse will likely never race and usually results in them having to be euthanized because their condition can cause them to collapse without warning that could result in severe injury to a handler. Shipped to specialists at Ohio State University, x-rays and a myelogram confirmed the condition. As such, his breeder/owners filed an insurance claim and turned ownership over to the insurance company where the colt became a standard case for euthanasia. Richard Ketch, a former show horse trainer and farrier, became involved with the case as an adjuster for the insurers. As someone very familiar with the disease, he believed that there were alternative treatments that might save the colt's life. On Ketch's initiative, an agreement was reached with the insurance company to turn the colt over to him and his associate Herwig Schoen, a self-proclaimed "energy healer." Some call their treatment program "voodoo medicine," pointing out that research has shown that in about ten percent of these cases within twelve to fifteen months a horse will recover on its own. Nonetheless, under Ketch and his associates the colt made a full recovery. Certified sound by multiple professionals, Richard Ketch sent him to the October 2003 Tattersalls Houghton Yearling Sale at Newmarket in England where Sheikh Mohammed's Gainsborough Stud, acquired the colt they would name Shamardal. However, the string of bad luck continued as he was sold for the very small price of 50,000 guineas after an endoscopic test of his breathing passages had erroneously diagnosed him as have breathing problems. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Shamardal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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