Baffert's National Treasure wins Preakness, hours after one of his horses euthanized
BALTIMORE (AP) — Bob Baffert’s National Treasure won the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, ending Mage’s Triple Crown bid in the trainer’s return from a suspension — and just hours after another of his three-year-old horses was euthanized on the track.
Baffert headed to the winner’s circle on the same day that his colt Havnameltdown went down with a fatal left leg injury in an undercard race. Baffert said he and his team were in shock.
“Winning this,” Baffert said, choking back tears after National Treasure's win, “losing that horse earlier really hurts. It’s been a very emotional day.”
The fatality was another dark moment for a sport already reeling from the deaths of seven horses at Churchill Downs in a 10-day span leading up to the Kentucky Derby.
Derby winner Mage finished third in the Preakness after going off as the 7-5 favourite. His defeat means there will not be a Triple Crown winner for a fifth consecutive year.
National Treasure, the 5-2 second choice, held off hard-charging Blazing Sevens down the stretch to win the 1 3/16-mile, $1.65 million race by a head.
Jockey John Velazquez won the Preakness for the first time.
Baffert had a roller-coaster day in his return to Pimlico Race Course from a suspension that kept him from entering a horse in the Preakness last year. The thrill of victories by National Treasure in the Preakness and Arabian Lion in an earlier stakes race contrasted with the agony of Havnameltdown’s death.
Related video: First Mission scratched from Preakness, Bob Baffert returns to Pimlico (WMAR Baltimore, MD) Duration 2:48 View on Watch
“It’s sickening,” Baffert said. “We are so careful with all these horses, and it still happens. It is something that is disheartening. I feel so bad for that horse, and I just hope that (jockey Luis Saez) is OK.”
Saez was conscious and transported to a local hospital for treatment. A team of veterinarians determined Havnameltdown’s left front leg injury to be inoperable.
Black barriers were propped up on the dirt track while the horse was put down. All the while, 2Pac’s “California Love” blared from the infield speakers at what is intended as an annual daylong celebration of thoroughbred racing.
By evening, Baffert was celebrated for winning the Preakness for a record eighth time, breaking a tie with 19th-century trainer R. Wyndham Walden. In 2018, Baffert matched Walden with seven wins at the Baltimore race with Justify, who went on to become the sport’s 13th Triple Crown winner — and Baffert’s second, after American Pharoah ended a lengthy drought for the sport in 2015.
This was Baffert’s first Preakness in two years because of a ban stemming from 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit’s failed drug test that led to a disqualification in that race. Medina Spirit was Baffert’s most recent Preakness horse, finishing third.
Baffert didn’t arrive in Baltimore until Thursday this week, seeking to keep a lower profile than usual given the questions that have dogged him and clouded his reputation. A Hall of Famer and a longtime face of horse racing, Baffert sought to move past his suspension when asked Friday.
“We just keep on moving forward,” he said. “We have other horses to worry about. A lot of it is noise, so you keep the noise out and continue working.”
While horse racing deaths in the U.S. are at their lowest level since they began being tracked in 2009, adding another at the track hosting a Triple Crown race will only intensify the internal and external scrutiny of the industry. Those inside it have said they accept the realities of on-track deaths of horses while also acknowledging more work needs to be done to prevent as many as possible.
In that vein, new national medication and doping rules are set to go into effect on Monday. The federally mandated Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, which already regulated racetrack safety and other measures, will oversee drug testing requirements for horses that should standardize the sport nationwide for the first time.
Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
Eighth Horse Dies in Past 3 Weeks at Churchill Downs, Home of Kentucky Derby
Story by Marissa G. Muller • May 15, 2023
Another horse was euthanized at Churchill Downs in the wake of the Kentucky Derby
Michael Reaves/Getty© Provided by People
Eight horses have now died at Churchill Downs over the past three weeks, with the most recent death after a race on Sunday.
Rio Moon, a 3-year-old horse, was euthanized after the sixth race on Sunday. According to the notes in the Equibase chart, Rio Moon "suffered a catastrophic injury to his left foreleg a few strides after the wire," as the Associated Press reports.
The loss of Rio Moon comes in the wake of the death of seven horses at Churchill Downs, in the weeks leading up to the Kentucky Derby and the aftermath. Wild on Ice and Take Charge Briana were both euthanized after suffering "musculoskeletal injuries from which they could not recover."
Parents Pride and Chasing Artie died suddenly on May 2. The two horses' trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. was later suspended indefinitely.
Code of Kings died on April 29 before a race after flipping and breaking his neck.
Related video: Horseracing marks 50 years since Secretariat's Triple Crown win (WBAL TV Baltimore)
Duration 0:55 View n Watch
Chloe's Dream and Freezing Point, were injured on the day of the Kentucky Derby and subsequently euthanized. During Race 2, Chloe's Dream sustained a right knee fracture at the top of the first turn, and during Race 8, Freezing Point sustained a biaxial sesamoid fracture.
After the deaths of the horses, the racetrack and home of the Kentucky Derby issued a statement and maintained that it will "fully and actively work with the Kentucky Horseracing Commission (KHRC) and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) to thoroughly investigate each incident to determine, to the degree possible, any underlying health or environmental causes and apply those learnings to continue to improve the safety of this sport."
"While each incident reported has been unique, it is important to note that there has been no discernable pattern detected in the injuries sustained," Churchill Downs said in its May 6 statement. "Our track surfaces are closely monitored by industry experts to ensure their integrity. Each horse that participates in racing at Churchill Downs must undergo multiple, comprehensive veterinarian exams and observations to ensure their fitness to race."
After the seventh horse died at Churchill Downs, Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, called the deaths "unacceptable" in a statement to PEOPLE, adding that the "deaths of so many young horses surrounding the Kentucky Derby this year underscores the urgent need for reform to protect the lives of horses, including the immediate and full implementation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act which has been held hostage by some horsemen obstructing the anti-doping provisions."
According to World Animal Protection, an animal welfare nonprofit, the deaths result from the racing industry prioritizing "profit over animals."
"The deaths of Parents Pride, Chasing Artie, Wild on Ice, Code of Kings, Chloe's Dream, Freezing Point, and Take Charge Briana prove it's time to address the ethical implications of this so-called 'sport,'" World Animal Protection executive director Lindsay Oliver said in a statement to PEOPLE. "How many more horses have to die before action is taken?"
Story by Marissa G. Muller • May 15, 2023
Another horse was euthanized at Churchill Downs in the wake of the Kentucky Derby
Michael Reaves/Getty© Provided by People
Eight horses have now died at Churchill Downs over the past three weeks, with the most recent death after a race on Sunday.
Rio Moon, a 3-year-old horse, was euthanized after the sixth race on Sunday. According to the notes in the Equibase chart, Rio Moon "suffered a catastrophic injury to his left foreleg a few strides after the wire," as the Associated Press reports.
The loss of Rio Moon comes in the wake of the death of seven horses at Churchill Downs, in the weeks leading up to the Kentucky Derby and the aftermath. Wild on Ice and Take Charge Briana were both euthanized after suffering "musculoskeletal injuries from which they could not recover."
Parents Pride and Chasing Artie died suddenly on May 2. The two horses' trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. was later suspended indefinitely.
Code of Kings died on April 29 before a race after flipping and breaking his neck.
Related video: Horseracing marks 50 years since Secretariat's Triple Crown win (WBAL TV Baltimore)
Duration 0:55 View n Watch
Chloe's Dream and Freezing Point, were injured on the day of the Kentucky Derby and subsequently euthanized. During Race 2, Chloe's Dream sustained a right knee fracture at the top of the first turn, and during Race 8, Freezing Point sustained a biaxial sesamoid fracture.
After the deaths of the horses, the racetrack and home of the Kentucky Derby issued a statement and maintained that it will "fully and actively work with the Kentucky Horseracing Commission (KHRC) and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) to thoroughly investigate each incident to determine, to the degree possible, any underlying health or environmental causes and apply those learnings to continue to improve the safety of this sport."
"While each incident reported has been unique, it is important to note that there has been no discernable pattern detected in the injuries sustained," Churchill Downs said in its May 6 statement. "Our track surfaces are closely monitored by industry experts to ensure their integrity. Each horse that participates in racing at Churchill Downs must undergo multiple, comprehensive veterinarian exams and observations to ensure their fitness to race."
After the seventh horse died at Churchill Downs, Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, called the deaths "unacceptable" in a statement to PEOPLE, adding that the "deaths of so many young horses surrounding the Kentucky Derby this year underscores the urgent need for reform to protect the lives of horses, including the immediate and full implementation of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act which has been held hostage by some horsemen obstructing the anti-doping provisions."
According to World Animal Protection, an animal welfare nonprofit, the deaths result from the racing industry prioritizing "profit over animals."
"The deaths of Parents Pride, Chasing Artie, Wild on Ice, Code of Kings, Chloe's Dream, Freezing Point, and Take Charge Briana prove it's time to address the ethical implications of this so-called 'sport,'" World Animal Protection executive director Lindsay Oliver said in a statement to PEOPLE. "How many more horses have to die before action is taken?"
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