Ellis Park barn fire injures 1 horse, cancels Sunday races

A pre-dawn fire destroyed a 25-year-old receiving barn at Ellis Park, forcing the relocation of seven thoroughbreds and the cancellation of races Sunday afternoon at the track in Henderson, Ky.

No humans were hurt. One unidentified horse suffered what was said to be a minor injury as a result of what was described at a Sunday morning news conference as an accident.

“It’s all leading towards electrical in nature,” said Brent Morrow, chief of the Baskett (Ky.) volunteer fire department. “There’s nothing criminal whatsoever with this. This was just accidental, just like in somebody’s home.”

Morrow said a full investigation would still go forward to confirm what started the fire.

Seven departments from around Henderson County brought nearly 20,000 gallons of water in eight tankers to put out the fire that started between 4 and 4:15 a.m. CDT. By the time the first responders arrived, “the barn was fully involved,” Morrow said. “The barn is a total loss.”

“My understanding is at 4:21 we did call the fire department,” Ellis Park general manager Jeff Inman said. “These gentlemen showed up very quickly at 4:39.”

Video posted to social media showed the framework of the barn in bright flames shooting about 30 feet into the air against the darkened surroundings.

“Obviously when you’ve got a barn that’s wooden, and there’s hay and a lot of other things, there’s a lot of flammable material that just kind of adds to it,” said Kenny Garrett, Henderson County’s director of emergency management.

Photos and video taken in broad daylight Sunday morning showed little more than ashes and crumpled sheet metal across the expanse of what was the barn.

In praising the firefighters’ response, a grateful Inman was thankful no one was seriously hurt.

“We had one minor injury of one of our equine athletes,” he said. “Other than that, everyone is safe and sound.”

After Sunday morning training was canceled, Inman said he expected the track would be reopened Monday morning and that racing would resume Friday as scheduled.

The fire climaxed an eventful 16 hours at Ellis Park. On Saturday afternoon, unraced 2-year-old filly Bold and Bossy threw rider Miguel Mena and took off for a run up a highway before she finally was caught at least two miles later across the state line in Indiana.

“We were very pleased to make sure that that horse was collected safely by our local horsemen,” Inman said. “It led us a merry chase. While (the fire) was much more serious, we did complete this issue with nobody seriously harmed, either equine or human. We’re very, very appreciative of that. The horses and our people are our family, and that’s our biggest concern.”

Mena was not hurt. The filly was cut grabbing a quarter and lost two shoes but otherwise was unharmed.