Necropsy of 1 horse who died at Churchill Downs is inconclusive
A necropsy performed on Parents Pride, one of two Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained runners who collapsed and died at Churchill Downs, was inconclusive, according to a summary released Saturday by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.
The necropsy found no prohibited substances or overages of therapeutic medications and did not identify any underlying medical conditions that could have triggered the 4-year-old filly's sudden death during a 5 1/2 furlong optional claiming/allowance race on the turf on April 29.
"Mild to moderate changes were noted in the heart, brain and lung, but these were not thought to be significant enough to be the cause of the sudden death," wrote by veterinarian Laura Kennedy of the University of Kentucky Diagnostic Veterinary Laboratory, who performed the necropsy. She noted that examinations of "exercise-associated sudden death" in racehorses frequently do not produce definitive results as to the cause.
Bloodwork also did not detect any prohibited substances or overages of therapeutic medications and a review of the past 60 days of veterinary work on Parents Pride indicated that it was "very minimal and routine."
A necropsy report on the other Joseph runner who died, Chasing Artie, apparently is still pending. The 5-year-old We Miss Artie gelding collapsed after he finished last in the eighth race on May 2, another optional claiming/allowance race run at 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf.
Both horses were owned by Ken Ramsey.
Churchill Downs officials suspended Joseph from entering horses at the track after the second sudden death involving his horses. That triggered the scratches of Lord Miles from the Kentucky Derby and White Abarrio in the Churchill Downs (G1) and Master Piece in the Turf Classic (G1), both on the Derby undercard.
Officials of the track announced on Friday that, at the urging of the federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, they will move races for the current meet to Ellis Park, which also is owned by the parent company of Churchill Downs, starting next Saturday.