'Overkill' or status quo? Recent horse racing deaths cast shadow before Preakness Stakes

BALTIMORE — It’s the Thursday morning before the Preakness, and the stakes barn at Pimlico Race Course is filled with media and coffee and fans trying their best to get a photo of their favorite horse.

For a moment, Dr. Dionne Benson is the center of attention as she examines several Preakness Stakes contenders, rubbing their leg joints, looking for signs of inflammation or pain. Then she watches as the horse briefly jogs, making notes on a clipboard.

“We have to make sure they’re jogging even and smooth and not favoring one leg or the other,” Benson said.

Benson is the chief veterinarian for 1/ST Racing, which owns Pimlico and several other racetracks across the country. Benson and other veterinarians have the ultimate say on whether a horse is sound enough to compete on the racetrack, an issue that’s been as prominent as mint juleps and black-eyed Susans this Triple Crown season.

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Just hours before the Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs, morning-line favorite Forte was scratched — much to the dismay of trainer Todd Pletcher and owner Mike Repole — by Kentucky Horse Racing Commission veterinarian Nick Smith because of concerns about a bruised right front foot.

On Friday, First Mission — second choice in the morning line for the Preakness and trained by Louisville’s Brad Cox — was scratched by his owner Godolphin after consultation with Benson and her 1/ST veterinary team.

Michael Banahan, director of bloodstock for Godolphin, said there were concerns about First Mission’s left hind. Cox was not immediately available for comment.

“Working with the trainer and the connections,” Benson said, “they were right on board with what our concerns were.”

How much the scratches are related to the recent string of horse deaths at Churchill Downs is up for debate. Starting with Kentucky Derby hopeful Wild On Ice on April 27, eight horses have died or been euthanized after training or racing at Churchill Downs.

Benson said concerns about thoroughbreds’ soundness before a race is “not a recent phenomenon.”

“I see any injury to a horse as a personal failure on my part,” Benson said. “I wonder what I did wrong. Could I have prevented it? It is our job to improve horse safety and make the horses as safe as possible.”

'There is some over caution'

But are veterinarians being too cautious?

That was the question posed by Shug McGaughey, the veteran trainer of Preakness contender Perform. His horse, Talk of the Nation, was scratched by a veterinarian just minutes before going to the gate for the Grade 2 American Turf on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

McGaughey said jockey Tyler Gaffalione pleaded with the vet not to scratch the horse.

“I think that, that was very much overkill,” McGaughey said.

“I think there is some over caution. I think it’s overdone a little bit. I think there’s probably a tremendous amount of pressure on these regulatory vets to try to make the right decision … but I do think that they need to kind of go into it with more eyes open than maybe they are.”

McGaughey called the horse deaths at Churchill Downs “very concerning” and noted there were three others during Keeneland’s Spring Meet.

“It made (11) deaths that we know about in a month, and that’s too many,” McGaughey said. “I don’t think it’s anything we should keep in the closet. I think we need to be very transparent about what’s going on.”

Before his horse was scratched Friday, Cox said public perception is a concern for the industry.

“Someone that doesn’t really know much about the sport that’s looking, it is a concern of what the perception is of how it looks,” Cox said.

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More scratches going forward?

While most of the deaths have come following on-track injuries, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. had two horses collapse and die on the track at Churchill Downs on the days leading into the Kentucky Derby.

Joseph said the deaths were not injury related and is waiting on necropsy reports to reveal the possible causes of death. In light of the two deaths, Churchill Downs immediately scratched Saffie’s horse, Lord Miles, from the Kentucky Derby and suspended him from the track until further notice.

Earlier this week, the Daily Racing Form reported Joseph is facing increased scrutiny at Gulfstream Park, where his horses are facing “a battery of blood and heart tests” before being allowed to race at the track. Gulfstream Park also is owned by 1/ST Racing.

Joseph also could be blocked from entering the June 10 Belmont after a statement released earlier this week by Pat McKenna, the New York Racing Association’s vice president of communications.

“Following recent events at Churchill Downs, which remain under investigation by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, NYRA has engaged in discussions with trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.,” McKenna wrote. “Mr. Joseph has no horses stabled at Belmont Park and, to our understanding, is not currently planning on shipping horses to New York or entering races at Belmont Park while the matter is under investigation. NYRA will continue to evaluate our response should new information come to light.”

Before Forte was scratched from the Kentucky Derby, Pletcher noted increased scrutiny is the status quo for the industry.

Ultimately, Forte was the fifth of 23 horses entered in the Kentucky Derby to be scratched. Lord Miles and Forte were the only two to be scratched by veterinarians.

“I think we’re in an era where you’re going to see a lot more scratches,” Pletcher said. “Everyone’s very, very concerned about the safety of everything. You see it now in a race like the Derby. But I think if you look, statistically, there’s just been a lot more scratches in general everywhere.”

As usual, horse racing seems to have many more questions than answers these days. With the Triple Crown races in season, the issues will receive peak national scrutiny.

Steve Asmussen, trainer of Preakness contender Red Route One, hinted the issues likely won’t be settled soon.

“Bad timing, unfortunate circumstances, who knows? Intense pressure?” Asmussen said. “There’s just a tremendous amount of variables that I think went into this week and the decisions that are made.”

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @KentuckyDerbyCJ.