NYRA scratches 2 horses who were in cursed Delaware race

A filly and a mare who were in a Delaware Park race cursed by the fatal breakdowns of two finishers in their next starts were scratched by a New York Racing Association executive from Friday’s third race at Saratoga, Daily Racing Form reported.

Four-year-old Parnac and 5-year-old Lady Rockstar were listed on the Equibase chart as stewards scratches from the $125,000 allowance optional-claiming race that was the first to be run on Saratoga turf since Ever Summer was euthanized after a spill Sunday.

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Ever Summer, second July 1 in the Robert D. Dick Memorial Stakes, was euthanized after suffering an injury in a $62,500 optional claiming race on Aug. 6 at Saratoga. The winner of the Dick Memorial, Sopran Basilea, broke down in the gallop-out Aug. 3 after she finished fourth in the Glens Falls (G2) at Saratoga.

Since Parnac finished third and Lady Rockstar fifth in the Robert Dick, NYRA CEO David O’Rourke did not want to take a chance that it might have been more than a coincidence.

“This highly unusual confluence cannot be ignored,” NYRA spokesperson Pat McKenna said in a statement to DRF, also confirming it was O’Rourke who ordered the scratches.

McKenna also said PET scans were ordered to be done at NYRA expense to evaluate Lady Rockstar, trained by Brendan Walsh, and Parnac, a stablemate of Ever Summer from the barn of Christopher Clément, before they may be considered for entry again this summer at Saratoga. The same goes for Viareggio, another Walsh trainee who finished sixth in the Robert Dick.

Two other horses from the Delaware race also had trouble with their next entries at Saratoga. Frivole, a Graham Motion-trained filly who finished last in the Robert Dick, was pulled up and vanned off with a hock injury from the same race in which her stablemate Sopran Basilea broke down. Talbeyah, who was fourth for trainer Mark Casse at Delaware Park, was a vet scratch from an allowance race Sunday after getting loose in a Saratoga barn that morning.

According to DRF, Walsh and Casse said Viareggio and Talbeyah are fine.

Kalifornia Queen, trained by Chad Brown, won Friday’s Saratoga race that ended up with only four starters, all of whom appeared sound afterward.