A quick glance at the official Equibase chart from Friday’s 1st at Penn reveals nothing out of the ordinary – all finished, with the winner, 3-year-old Eddie’sinthewoods, “clear [in the] stretch, driving” to a 3 1/4 length triumph. But a deeper scan into the footnotes (which though usually a repeat of the “comments,” are, I have found, necessary reading for Penn National) tells us this:
“EDDIE’SINTHEWOODS…took over early on the far turn, drew out entering the stretch then broke down a sixteenth past the finish and was humanely euthanized.”
Dead after the wire. I wonder if connections Michael Zalalas/Z and Z Stables (the colt’s third trainer and fourth owner in less than a year) still went ahead with the “Winner’s Circle” shot.
Also, yesterday Belmont recorded its second “practice” kill of the weekend when 5-year-old Lunar Tales “collapsed and died after breezing.” For Gary Contessa, this makes four NY training deaths in the past 18 months.
They need a “winners circle” photo with the owners on the track with their “winner” on the ground dead for all eyes to see what horseracing does to our horses. “Our horses”? Yes “our” horses. Man was created to take care of the horses and other animals on this planet. So far we haven’t done a very good job of that.
Just two more dead horses in the claiming ranks. Nobody in racing bats an eye because nobody in racing cares anything about the horse. if they did care they would not be in the game.
It is so tiring to listen to how some trainers/owners “love” the horse. What they really mean is they “love” the winnings and not the winners. The proof is when the winners are on the decline they wind up in the claiming ranks unless they have breeding potential.
What a shame, 2 more dead in the dirt for what?. Rest in peace ” Lunar Tales” and “Eddie’s in the woods”. You both certainly did not deserve this fate.
Hmmm, “collapsed and died after breezing,” and “broke down a sixteenth past the wire”; I hope they plan on doing necropsies on both of these horses. It should be standard procedure that when a horse collapses or breaks down, a necropsy should be performed. It doesn’t matter whether it is a claiming race or the Kentucky Derby. A determination should be made to the cause of death.
I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if they were both full of drugs, or racing with previous injuries. It seems very suspicious to me that Gary Contessa has had 4 training deaths in 18 months. That is a lot of fatalities for a small barn. Marlene Thornley
Yes, Marlene, there should be necropsies on these horses, but don’t hold your breath ! And 4 deaths in 18 months is a lot for Contessa’s barn. It should raise a red flag but these fatalities will just be ignored. After all, Jacobson has just captured his 3rd consecutive training title on the New York Racing Association, Inc. circuit. The report said he “continued his dominance on the Aqueduct main track, primarily in claiming races”. Even racing fans have little good to say about him but he continues with his “winning ways” in this racing business.
Rose,
Out of all the trainers, I hate Jacobson the most. He is the most corrupt low life, animal abuser of all time. Marlene Thornley