Churchill Downs sees 11th horse die at racetrack in span of less than a month
The horse death toll at Churchill Downs since April 27 is now 11 after another died on Friday.
Lost in Limbo tumbled into the dirt during the seventh race at the racetrack on Friday and was unable to get up.
Video obtained by Fox News Digital, via PETA, shows an ambulance driving up to the horse, and employees putting up a curtain to hide him, presumably so doctors could put him down. He was seven years old in his 35th race.
The Los Angeles Times notes that a death from two weeks ago went unreported. When a horse died last Saturday, it was thought to be the ninth death. However, Bosque Redondo was “humanely euthanized” in a hospital after a May 13 race.
The Times notes that prior to the race, Lost in Limbo had thrown jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. off, but he was still given the OK to run.
From April 27 to the Kentucky Derby on May 6, seven horses died from either injuries or collapsing on the track. Two of those horses died in the undercard of the Derby, and another one, Wild on Ice, was supposed to run in the race that was won by Mage.
NATIONAL TREASURE, TRAINED BY BOB BAFFERT, WINS 148TH PREAKNESS STAKES
Trainer Bob Baffert returned from his two-year suspension on Saturday. He had been barred from the sport following a positive drug test on the original winner of the 2021 Derby, Medina Spirit. The horse was disqualified from the race and died that December.
In his return, one of his horses died during the Preakness Stakes undercard.
Havnameltdown sustained a “non-operable left fore fetlock” injury at Pimlico, and doctors made the decision to put the horse down.
PETA previously called Churchill Downs a “killing field” and even called for the banning of Baffert prior to the Preakness.
More than 30 horses died in 2019 at the Santa Anita racetrack in California. The track closed down racing when the toll reached 21, and it revamped its safety protocols. Since then, horse fatalities have decreased by 55% in the state.
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