He Churchill Downs Racecourse, known for being the venue for the Kentucky Derby, announced this Friday that it will suspend their racing from June 7 to fully investigate the death of 12 horses in the last month.
The competitions that were to be held at this Louisville venue will move to Henderson’s Ellis Park Race Course (also in the state of Kentucky).
“What has happened on our track is completely terrible and absolutely unacceptable”Bill Carstanjen, who is the CEO of the Churchill Downs Incorporated company that manages that racetrack, said in a statement.
“Despite our best efforts to identify a cause for the recent injuries to horses and Although no issues have been linked to our racing surfaces or the environment at Churchill Downs, we need to take more time to carry out a top-to-bottom review of all the details. and circumstances so that we can strengthen our surface, safety and integrity protocols,” he added.
The death of seven horses during Kentucky Derby week alone cast a shadow over this important event in horse racing and raised questions in the US about the health and care of animals in this type of competition. Venezuelan jockey Javier Castellano won the 149th edition of the Kentucky Derby with the horse Mage.
However, Castellano’s win at Churchill Downs, who also took over from his compatriot Sonny Leon as winner with the horse Rick Strike in 2022, was partly marred by the death of those horses.
From Saturday, April 29, the opening of the Kentucky Derby week, to Saturday, May 6, On the day of the big race, seven horses died, including four (Wild on Ice, Take Charge Briana, Freezing Point and Chloe’s Dream) who suffered serious injuries and who were euthanized. One more (Code of Kings) was euthanized after breaking his neck.
On the other hand, two horses (Parents Pride and Chasing Artie) died suddenly and of unknown causes, which led the organization of the race to suspend the trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., who was in charge of these two animals. Five other horses have died in the last month at that racetrack to bring the number of casualties to twelve.
“No single factor has been identified as a potential cause and no discernible pattern has been detected to connect to these deaths,” Churchill Downs officials said.
For his part, the organization in defense of animals PETA was satisfied by the suspension of the races there, but regretted that they are taken to another track.
“We must not allow horse racing authorities to simply move the problem elsewhere.. Horses are dying at ‘all’ the tracks and the racing industry is not doing enough to stop it,” he said in a statement.
