LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A raging thunderstorm washed out activities Sunday morning at Churchill Downs.
It was fitting weather, considering the dark clouds hanging over thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown series after a troubling string of horse deaths, including two on Saturday in races leading up to the Kentucky Derby won by Mage.
Seven horses have died at the Louisville track since April 27, the day Wild On Ice was injured while training for the Derby. Chloe's Dream and Freezing Point were euthanized after injuries in the second and eighth races, respectively, on Derby Day. Five of the seven horses sustained catastrophic leg injuries, while two succumbed suddenly from causes yet to be determined.
This spate of incidents comes four years after more than 30 horses died at Santa Anita Park, a California track and frequent host of the Breeders' Cup. Those deaths shook up the industry and resulted in safety reforms such as the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act, which established a similarly lettered organization that set uniform safety and doping rules for thoroughbreds. A set of regulations are scheduled to take effect May 22.
The question for now is how the stunning occurrence of fatal injuries at the cathedral of horse racing affects the sport during its height of visibility, with the final two legs of the Triple Crown still ahead — the Preakness Stakes is May 20 at Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course and the Belmont Stakes is June 10 at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York — and in particular, how those within the sport respond.
"Everyone in the industry wants to make racing as safe as possible," Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said Sunday. "And even in situations like that where right now everyone is doing everything they can to make sure the horses are going out there in the safest possible conditions, we still had two fatal breakdowns yesterday. It's something as a trainer that keeps you up at night."
Churchill Downs said in a statement released Saturday night that it is working with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority to investigate each death. A subsequent statement from the HISA organization said Chloe's Dream and Freezing Point "passed all inspections without incident" while being observed in the paddock and post parade.
An investigation that will factor in preexisting health conditions and including information from from necropsies, training sessions and inspection of track surfaces will take several weeks. Mick Peterson, a track surface expert who has worked with Churchill Downs since 2008 and was once retained by HISA, said Sunday that the surface was consistent.
The director of the University of Kentucky's track safety program added that the evaluation is ongoing to keep the condition uniform and make needed improvements.
"We've got to look at every factor on that and get it so that we reduce the risk further and further and further to protect them," Peterson said. "But we need to learn more in order to understand whether this consistency is going to get us to the safety we need. And we need to keep improving it."
Concerns still hovered over the Derby, but the 149th "Run for the Roses" went off with the field reduced to 18 horses after five scratches in the days leading up. That list of defections included Forte, the initial favorite, on Saturday morning because of a bruised foot.
"I think he would have performed well," said Pletcher, Forte's trainer. "Unfortunately, that wasn't an option."
Mage, a 15-1 shot with only one career win entering Saturday, completed the 1 1/4-mile race in 2 minutes, 1.57 seconds. Two Phil's was second and 4-1 favorite Angel of Empire finished third.
Lying ahead for many trainers and owners are decisions about whether to run their horses in the Preakness. The Triple Crown's second jewel is shorter at 1 3/16th mile but occurs just two weeks after the Derby, compared to the typical one-month layoff between races.
Ramiro Restrepo, Mage's part-owner and a bloodstock agent, will watch the colt's workouts this week and consult trainers and other owners before deciding his Preakness plans. Restrepo said a horse's safety and well-being is always the priority, particularly after a tragic week of loss with the animals they're devoted to.
"We take care of them more than we take care of our children," said Restrepo, who expressed condolences to stables that have lost horses. "But we had a confidence in how the horse had been responding. So we can only control what's in our barn and what's in front of us."