2nd debut runner dies in as many days at Keeneland
For the second day in a row a horse making its racing debut suffered what proved to be a fatal injury Saturday at Keeneland.
Cielo, a 2-year-old colt owned by Baccari Racing Stable and Chester Prince, collapsed as he was finishing the turn running near the rail in the opening race.
“Following an incident in race 1 involving Cielo and jockey Flavien Prat, both were promptly attended to on track by Keeneland’s equine safety and (University of Kentucky) HealthCare medical teams,” said a safety report which was posted on Keeneland website. “Due to the severity of the injury, humane euthanasia was elected in the best interest of the horse.”
Details of the injury were not provided.
Jockey Flavien Prat was evaluated by the medical team and given the OK to continue riding Saturday. He did, however, take Sunday off. His agent Brad Pegram told a Keeneland spokesperson Sunday, “He is fine but sore from yesterday’s fall and will be back next week.”
Trained by Kenny McPeek, Cielo was racing sixth in the field of 12 maiden 2-year-olds when the spill happened. The 6 1/2-furlong race worth $85,000 was contested on a fast main track in clear weather.
Gotta Lotta Tempo, a 2-year-old filly making her debut for trainer Robbie Medina, was euthanized after a spill in Friday’s sixth race. Jockey Tyler Gaffalione was not seriously hurt, and he did not miss any rides.
Keeneland voluntarily reported the two deaths in safety reports.
Where states like California and New York require details of racing and training deaths to be posted within a few days, the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation has no such rule.
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority requires tracks to disclose their fatality figures in quarterly accounts. Specific names and details are not required. The reports routinely are not made public until six weeks after the end of each three-month period.
Keeneland reported three racing and two training deaths during its spring meet. The track had two racing deaths last fall. The number of training deaths during that 2024 meet were not reported. That did not become a HISA requirement until this year.