Freak Incident Ends Zipping Garth's Career

Martin and Fiona Hallinan were on cloud after Zipping Bailey's win in the Group 1 Golden Easter Egg on April 20 yet their world came crashing down Friday morning with rising star Zipping Garth suffering a career ending injury.

Trained by Jason Mackay, the black dog – unbeaten in five starts including a near record 30.09 victory over the 535m at Richmond and 29.20 for the 515m at Ladbrokes Gardens – hit the running rail in a solo trial at Maitland and shattered his near fore leg.

"It's heartbreaking but that's racing," a philosophical Martin Hallinan said.

"We breed a lot of dogs and he's one right out of the box … but you never know what the future holds.

"It was a solo trial, he just took off as normal but after 50m he hit the rail when at top speed – it was a freakish accident.”

Trainer Jason Mackay rushed the son of Zulu Zeus to his local vet and surgery was immediately undertaken.

"It will require screws and plates – it's a real mess but he will be fine in the long term but his racing days are over."

Following his Richmond win on April 17, Zipping Garth then bounded around The Gardens, winning by 11 lengths in a near record 29.20 on April 27.

"His time was only .04 outside Zipping Bailey's track record and we had an offer of $200,000 for him after that but he was never for sale," Hallinan added.

"He's got a home for life and we'll certainly use him here as a stud dog. He's a lovely big dog and his temperament is fantastic."