Dubai Crown prince and UAE's Minister of Defense Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed Al Maktoum plans to render the death of one of his legendary horses a starting point for a health probe that might save the life of horses that might have the disease that killed Dubai Millennium, said Gulf News.
He decided to fund a new research project to reveal the mysteries of the five-year-old fatal illness, known as equine grass sickness.
The colt won the Dubai World Cup in 2000 but was retired to stud in Newmarket after fracturing a leg in training on the gallops last August. He died in April after having three operations for colic in the last week and after days it was found that complications of the intestinal tract were inoperable.
According to the daily, the cause of the disease, first identified in Scotland in 1906, has eluded scientists around the world for almost a century, yet it kills about 200 horses in the UK every year.
But now, in a concerted move to unravel the secrets of the deadly ailment, a group of top scientists has gathered in Dubai to pool their knowledge and plan a study which, it is hoped, will find answers to almost 100 years of puzzling questions.
"His prospects were hopeless and on humane grounds Dubai Millennium was not allowed to recover from the anesthetic," John Ferguson, Sheikh Mohammed's bloodstock adviser was quoted by agencies as saying upon the death of the legendary horse.
Dubai Millennium's final race was in the Prince of Wales Stakes at Royal Ascot last June when he swept to an eight-length success - Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
