There was a short pause between victims 11 and 12 at Aqueduct’s Winter Meet: A day after Celebrate We Will, the “reluctant to load” Wicked Irish, too, broke down (2nd race) and was euthanized. Although the 5-year-old had been raced 12 previous times, this was his first time under the whip in over two years. Wicked Irish was trained by Peter Chin, owned by Nicholas Picariello, and bred by Picariello/Jennifer Curley.
(The stellar Aqueduct day was not yet complete, however: In the 4th, Isn’t He Perfect was ambulanced off; in the 5th, Thorin returned bleeding.)
Two other horses were killed this weekend: 4-year-old Spooky Lady in the 8th Saturday at Parx, 2-year-old Mo Bagels in the 8th Friday at Laurel. The former was trained by Philip Aristone, owned by Phil Bongiovanni, and bred by Jon Marshall; the latter was trained by Dane Kobiskie, owned by PTK LLC, and bred by Bonita Farm.
Perhaps there will be another “task force” to review the Aqueduct carnage. The result will amount to nothing, just like last time. What a sham !
PS Beeline Express is entered in the first race at Gulfstream on Jan. 1st. There is a petition out to raise $5,000 to claim the filly. However, the race is a $6,250 claimer ?
The announcer didn’t even mention that Wicked Irish was out of the race…the head-on replay shows a horrific breakdown (at about the.38 mark). Why race such a non-competitive horse?
Business as usual for Chin …. remember Missy … http://horseracingwrongs.com/2014/07/22/missy-zelliott-dies-while-practicing-at-belmont/