A horse was euthanized on the track at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday after the Chick Lang Stakes ahead of the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore.
Havnameltdown, who is trained by Bob Baffert, was racing strong toward the front of the pack when he stumbled around a turn. Jockey Luis Saez fell off and tumbled to the ground. He was taken to the hospital complaining of leg pain.
Scott Hay, the on-call veterinarian for the American Association of Equine Practitioners, shared the news of the horse’s death.
“Unfortunately, Havnameltdown went bad at the top of the stretch, you saw it around the turn and he sustained a really severe injury of his left front ankle,” he said. “It was to such an extent that it was basically impossible to transport him and they had to euthanize him humanely on the grounds immediately.”
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On Friday, First Mission was scratched from the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown, because of concern about a left hind ankle. This leaves seven horses in the race, the smallest field since 1986. Baffert would break the Preakness record with eight victories if National Treasure wins.
Havnameltdown’s death comes two weeks after seven horses died in the events leading up to and the day of the Kentucky Derby.
Favorite Forte was one of five horses scratched for the Kentucky Derby.