The world of horse racing is shocked over the sudden death of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, 3, when he collapsed and died while on a workout at Santa Anita today. A necropsy will or has been performed to find out the cause of death.
I imagine the animal rights nutters are all in a tizzy, but horses, like humans, can and do collapse and die from heart problems. Perhaps the most famous previous example is the case of 1984 Derby and Belmont winner Swale, a son of Seattle Slew, who keeled over and died about nine days after he won the Belmont. Lots of rumors swirled around him ala Phar Lap, but like Phar Lap, Swale died of natural causes.
Medina Spirit had just completed his workout when he collapsed and died. It will be quite some time before the necropsy and toxicology reports can determine a cause if death, IF a cause of death can be found. Deaths are rare on the track despite media nonsense, and heart attacks are even more rare.
I am sure the Bob Baffert haters are out in full force thinking he somehow killed the top racehorse.
As we know, the Kentucky Derby finish is in doubt because of the controversy surrounding a drug that was used as an ointment rather than an injected drug. The case has yet to be resolved.
Medina Spirit came in second in the Breeders' Cup Classic in early November.
Snip:
Blea said the CHRB has a necropsy program in place to determine cause of death but acknowledged that finding the cause of such sudden death incidents sometimes prove elusive, with about half remaining a mystery even after further study. In watching video of the incident, Blea said Medina Spirit completes the workout, is pulled up, then lies down on the track as the rider dismounts.
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