The owners of Kentucky Derby victor Barbaro got a grim reminder of their beloved horse’s tragic run at the Preakness 10 years ago when their filly Pramedya broke down Saturday at Pimlico Race Course. “He didn’t bring it today, and more than anything Exaggerator just ran a monstrous race”. And then the sixth, and the seventh, and so on, all the way to the 13th, the Preakness Stakes, the race that thousands in the muddy infield and tens of thousands more in tents and in the grandstands had come to bet on, and see. Tragically, there was another story line to his day: In the first four races of the day, two horses died, one of an apparent heart attack after winning the first race, the other euthanized after breaking down in the fourth race.
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“It’s ironic, right?” Roy Jackson said. “It was tough to watch”.
In the opening race, 9-year-old gelding Homeboykris won and had his picture taken in the winner’s circle, but collapsed and died minutes later. The horse was being taken to New Bolton Center in Pennsylvania for an autopsy – the same animal hospital Barbaro was taken to after his break down.
In the day’s fourth race, four-year-old filly Pramedya collapsed on the turf and suffered a broken leg.
Later Saturday, Kentucky Derby victor Nyquist takes on 10 rivals in the Preakness Stakes.
Nyquist lost for the first time in nine career starts. These turns, you want to paint the fence. One collapsed after a race, and another was euthanized for a broken leg. So he’ll go for a necropsy. “What I’m feeling now is just an awesome confirmation of a lifetime of dedicating myself to finding and getting the best out of a horse”.
It was 10 years ago when Gretchen and Roy Jackson’s Derby victor Barbaro shattered bones in his right hind leg at the start of the Preakness.
In March, The Jockey Club released 2015 statistics for the frequency of fatal injury showing that the fatality rate was 1.62 deaths per 1,000 starts across all surfaces, ages and distances. There will be no chance for an American Pharoah encore in the 1 1⁄2-mile “Test of the Champion” on June 11.
“I wanted to strangle him when I saw him go to the rail”, Keith Desormeaux said.
The rider who started his career in Maryland, guided Exaggerator to a 3½-length victory over Cherry Wine in Saturday’s $1.5 million Preakness, ending any chance for Triple Crown follow up after American Pharoah accomplished the rare feat past year.
Uncle Lino was not about to let Nyquist relax out in the front by himself, and he pushed Nyquist all the way to the turn for home when he momentarily stuck his head in front.
Exaggerator ran 1 3/16 miles in 1:58.31 to earn his fifth victory in 11 starts and the $900,000 winner’s share of the $1.5 million purse.
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“Hats off to Exaggerator and Team Desormeaux; what a great run”, he said. “Our horse, God, he’s so wonderful”. His odds sat at 5-2 coming out of the No. 5 post compared to heavy favorite Nyquist’s 3-5 odds at No. 3 leading up to the race. “There was nothing we could do”, Nyquist’s jockey, Mario Gutierrez, said. “I’ve always felt we had an exceptional talent in Exaggerator”. I looked over at my girlfriend (assistant trainer Julie Clark) and said, ‘I hope he’s not asking him to be there’. Even if Nyquist does show up, there will be no need for the New York Racing Association to cap the crowd at 90,000 for the Belmont, as it did past year for American Pharoah. “That’s the special thing about the sport, it proves it’s a family affair”. I didn’t think we could get beat, to be honest.
