Somebeachsomewhere has begun chemotherapy to treat cancer that was found in his small intestine.
The 12-year-old hall of fame pacer has been standing at stud at Hanover Shoe Farms, in Pennsylvania.
“He got a little colicky and they found the intestine was out of place,” said Truro resident Brent MacGrath, who trained the horse when he was young and is part owner. “They went in to straighten the intestine and found a mass. It was small; only about half the size of a grape. They removed it and tested and one biopsy came back positive for cancer.”
Somebeachsomewhere had his first chemotherapy treatment on Saturday, 18 and MacGrath said the horse is doing well. He is scheduled to have five more weekly treatments.
“In this case it was lucky that he got colicky because it allowed the cancer to be discovered early,” said MacGrath. “We’re hoping he’ll come through this fine and be back to normal but it’s hard to know. We just want him to be able to enjoy life.”
The horse is syndicated, but the six-member Schooner Stable – Brent MacGrath, Garry Pye, Stu Rath, Reg Petitpas, Pamela Dean and Jamie Bagnell – has retained majority ownership.
Somebeachsomewhere began his racing career in 2007.
He was retired to Hanover Shoe Farms in Pennsylvania for breeding and in 2010 was selected as Harness Racing's Racehorse Of The Decade (2000 through 2009).
He earned more than $3.2 million on the track in 2007 and 2008, winning 20 of 21.
In 2008, he had the highest earnings by a pacer in a single season, with $2,448,003.
He is the leading pacing stallion in 2017, with his sons and daughters earning more than $22 million so far this year.
Four stallion shares were to be sold at auction this month, but the shares were pulled when a decision was made to perform colic surgery.
