After Four Horses Die, Should The Kentucky Derby Be Delayed?

FOUR HORSE DEATHS LEADING UP TO KENTUCKY DERBY

Imagine the biggest horse race in Minnesota is coming up, and four of the contenders die in the days leading up to the race. Would Canterbury Park have the big race? Or would they postpone it until they found out what happened?

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DERBY CONTENDER 'WILD ON ICE' PASSES

Four horses have died at Churchill Downs in the days leading up to the Kentucky Derby, including 'Wild On Ice', a Kentucky Derby contender, who was hurt while training last Thursday, and had to be euthanized. 'Take Charge Briana' was injured on Tuesday, also suffering from musculoskeletal injuries, and was put down.

Two horses died suddenly from unknown causes at the track, both collapsing after their races. 'Parents Pride' passed away on Saturday, and 'Chasing Artie' died on Tuesday.

IS TRAINER SAFFIE JOSEPH JR BEING TARGETED?

What's extremely odd about those deaths? Both horses were trained by the same person, Saffie Joseph Jr. Saffie also has a horse in the Kentucky Derby named Lord Miles, with odds set at 60 to 1. Lord Miles would be a long-shot winner at the Kentucky Derby.

What is happening? Is it just a coincidence? Two horses dying by the same trainer in the week leading up to the derby? Two other horse deaths as well?

Getty Images/Andy Lyons / Staff

INVESTIGATION

I reached out to Camille McArdle, DVM and Chair of the Minnesota Racing Commission as of July 1st of 2021. In an article posted last May from the Star Tribune, Camille McArdle said, "In some places, there's a 'good ole boy' network, that pushes things under the rug. We've never had that here."

Camille did reach back to me and had this to say regarding what's been happening at Churchill Downs:

'I would not jump to conclusions on this. One horse sustained a rear leg fracture during a workout on the main track. That’s very different from the two that collapsed following a race. It is too early to say that the post-race samples on the two were clean; while the initial screen may not have shown a problem additional testing will take longer. I have no information about a fourth horse so I cannot comment on that.

It will be interesting to see what further testing might show but at this point, I would avoid trying to make these incidents into a “good ol boys” conspiracy. Without solid evidence that would be unfair and possibly libelous.'

You can watch the video below to hear about what's happening at Churchill Downs.