Street Life in the paddock before the Travers

Trainer Chad Brown said Thursday that Street Life suffered a career-ending injury in the Travers and has been retired.

Through he's not sure where it happened, Brown said that Street Life took a bad step and suffered a rare injury, a ruptured ligament in the pastern of his left front leg. An ultrasound showed the extent of the problem after the swelling subsided.

"At this point we are focused on just getting the horse comfortable," Brown said. "He seems to be stable and comfortable where he is in his stall. We have round-the-clock vets checking in on this horse. So far, he seems like he is making some progress. You are never out of the woods with these things until the healing really starts and everything stabilizes in the leg. It’s a serious injury."

The Street Sense colt emerged as a stakes quality horse during the winter. He was third in the Peter Pan and fourth in Belmont Stakes. He earned a Travers berth with a win in the Curlin on July 27. He was the fourth choice in the wagering in the 11-horse field at nearly 7-1.

"Going into the Travers, the horse really was doing well," Brown said. "He was doing well at the right time. This edition of the Travers was not the strongest we have seen and everything was lining up the right way for us going into that race.

"To have him take a bad step somewhere and suffer an injury that is not really a common injury, it a rare injury that can happen. I have been on my own for five full seasons now and in all my tenure with Bobby (Frankel) I have never had a horse rupture a ligament in the pastern. I mean, it can happen. It's not the first time it has happened to a horse but it’s the first time it has happened to a horse in my care. It one of those freaky things that can happen.

"The horse is such an amazing athlete with so many different parts to it. It opens your eyes to how things can go wrong to that high level, running full-bore and parts can go. Thankfully, it not a life threatening situation at this point. But he is retired, he will not run anymore."

Brown said the horse will be restricted to stall rest at Saratoga and when he is healthy enough to travel will probably be sent back to the farm in Kentucky. Street Life won three of eight career starts, all this year. Brown said he thought the colt had a bright future.

"It's one thing to lose the Travers, but to lose the horse for his whole career is what we are more saddened about," he said. "I can take a loss in a big race, I have been down that road before. But to lose a horse with that much earning potential and that much promise, they don’t come along every day.

"He doesn’t fit the profile of a horse who would be in the higher risk group of injury. He was so easy on himself, a sound well-made horse."