2-year-old Divine Guidance, reported as “vanned off” in her racing debut Wednesday afternoon at Saratoga (5th race), was euthanized yesterday due to her injury. Divine Guidance is the 12th athlete to die this summer at “one of the world’s greatest sporting venues” (per Sports Illustrated). The equine child was ridden by Wilmer Garcia, trained by Rodrigo Ubillo, and owned/bred by Chester and Mary Broman.
The Saratoga 12:
4-year-old Lifeguard On Duty, July 24, training
3-year-old Double Gold, July 25, training
3-year-old Father Johns Pride, July 28, race 7
3-year-old Lavender Road, July 30, collapsed after being scratched
2-year-old Sir William Bruce, August 2, race 5
4-year-old Regretless, August 11, race 4
3-year-old M B and Tee, August 21, race 7
2-year-old Kamarius, August 23, training
2-year-old Ludicrous, August 23, race 4
3-year-old Elena Strikes, August 24, training
7-year-old Makari, August 25, race 1
2-year-old Divine Guidance, August 29, from race 5 August 27
Also, 4-year-old See See See – trained by Osvaldo Rojas, owned by Thomas Cespuglio – was euthanized at Belmont yesterday after x-rays revealed a fractured left knee. The fracture, as it turns out, occurred two weeks prior in a claiming race (the 4th) at Monmouth (though Equibase had her finishing that race without incident – “no rally”). These two deaths serve to remind how effectively racing deceives: If not for the only-one-in-the-nation NYS database, both Divine Guidance and See See See would simply have disappeared from the charts, final fates unknown. This is “The Sport of Kings.”
Thank you Patrick for your diligence in reporting the carnage in this game. Also, for the reminder that many deaths go unreported in this corrupt and deceptive business.
It seems to me that so much is “swept under the rug” because there is no national body to insure universal rules and, more importantly, to hold accountable.
Horseracing the sport is built on deception; without it, it would no longer exist.
I don’t always comment. But I always read. And I am shaken and distraught at so many deaths. There but for the grace.
Thank you for including the New York database in this piece. It’s tough to decipher because it runs wide on-screen. But Patrick the carnage there is almost unbelievable.
What happened to See See See was and still is very typical in this industry. The horse is injured in a race, the chart makes no remark of the breakdown, then days or even weeks later, the injury is finally diagnosed and the horse is euthanized. Or, like the countless other racing-injured horses, they’re unloaded into a rescue organization, or dumped at the auction, or directly handed over to the kill buyer. Of the many dead horses we’ve been informed of, those who have “disappeared” are an even greater number. But they are just as dead.