An announcement by Churchill Downs Incorporated, which owns the namesake racing track, confirmed the impending probe into the track’s facilities and safety standards.
“Churchill Downs Racetrack has seen an unusual number of horse injuries over the previous month resulting in 12 equine fatalities,” read a statement. “Following a thorough internal review and concurrent investigations conducted by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission ("KHRC") and Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority ("HISA"), no single factor has been identified as a potential cause and no discernable pattern has been detected to link the fatalities.”
According to Cydney Henderson of USA Today, Lost in Limbo and Kimberley Dream suffered “inoperable and unrecoverable” injuries at Churchill Downs and needed to be euthanized. They were the 11th and 12th horses to have died or suffered injuries leading to death on-site since training stables reopened on March 30.
Seven horses died during the build-up to the Kentucky Derby on May 6. Two others, Chloe’s Dream and Freezing Point, also suffered devastating injuries during races that led to euthanization.
Chloe’s Dream took a tumble during the first turn of Race 2 and injured its knee in the process. Freezing Point came up gimpy on the backstretch of Race 8 with what was later diagnosed as a left front biaxial sesamoid fracture.
Two horses that died were trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., who has since been suspended from competing at Churchill Downs. The host company cited “reasonable concerns about the condition of his horses” as the reason for phasing him out of future events.
