3-year-old Lavender Road, whom I wrote about this morning, was euthanized today after repeatedly falling at Saratoga yesterday afternoon. The official cause was a broken neck – from, of course, the repeated falls. The larger question, though, is why this…
It took a while, but the Gaming Commission has finally confirmed the death of 3-year-old Father Johns Pride in Monday’s 7th race at Saratoga. This is the first racing fatality of the meet. (Lifeguard On Duty and Double Gold went…
4-year-old Cool Under Fire – ridden by Daniel Centeno, trained by Alejandro Maymo, and owned by Kazdan Racing – is dead after breaking down at Parx yesterday (race 8). The gelding’s notes read like a bad joke: “vied for command…
I received the following comment regarding the ugly Del Mar weekend. It speaks for itself: Zack Mason: “My wife and I were at Del Mar for Friday and Saturday races. Witnessed three of the four tragedies, however the most disturbing…
8-year-old Vader Grade, trained by Harlan Bird Rattler and owned by Wesley Edwards, was killed in Sunday’s 5th race at Great Falls (Montana State Fair). Equibase originally reported this as a mostly non-event: “clipped heels, lost rider,” DNF. But in…
To those new to the site – and without a working knowledge of horseracing – “vanned off” may not sound particularly ominous – football players, after all, are occasionally carted off the field. But here’s the reality: A horse who…
The Daily Racing Form’s Jay Privman reports that Peter Miller-trained Chilled Mousse is dead after breaking down yesterday morning at Del Mar. He was two. The kill brings Del Mar’s weekend death toll to five. That’s right, five horses have…
Yesterday at Del Mar, two more horses were killed, bringing the “Where the Turf Meets the Surf” track’s two-day death toll to four. 5-year-old Lil Swiss Echo (trainer Vladimir Cerin) broke down in the 5th. (DRF’s Jay Privman: “Lil Swiss…
3-year-old Chichita snapped a leg and was killed in Saturday’s 1st race at Finger Lakes, her first under Sal Iorio. Chichita’s five career starts before yesterday, all under Andrew Lakeman: Finished last of 9 April 11th at Aqueduct, 17 1/2…
Snapped bones (and a spine) and pentobarbital cast pall over Friday at the races… At celebrated Del Mar, two horses died in successive contests: 4-year-old Yes She’s Unusual went down in the 6th. In her most previous start – May…
All week, I’ve been attempting – with several (unanswered) calls and voice messages – to secure kill confirmations on horses at Charles Town, Mountaineer, and Parx. As we know, transparency isn’t a hallmark of the racing industry. When a star…
Saratoga Race Course recorded its first kill of the summer meet when 4-year-old filly Lifeguard On Duty broke a pair of sesamoids while training today. Anthony Dutrow was her handler. NY’s 2014 Death Toll stands at 59.
