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Sudden death of two horses at Churchill Downs leaves industry questioning what happened

Stephanie Kuzydym, Louisville Courier Journal
·6 min read

A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the percentage of thoroughbreds that die in racing incidents. It is less than 1 percent. It was also updated to include two additional deaths Saturday at Churchill Downs.

Horses die at racetracks.

It's happened for as long as the sport has been in existence.

Racing thoroughbreds die at a rate of 1.25 per 1,000 starts, according to a database kept by The Jockey Club.

That is less than 1 percent of the time. Though it's unclear if that includes deaths that happened off the track.

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In the week before the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby, six horses died in six days: one in the paddock, one during a race on the turf track, two after turf races and one after morning training on the dirt track.

Saturday, a sixth horse, Chloe's Dream, died after Race 2 held on the dirt track. The gelding "went wrong leaving the first turn, pulled up and was vanned off." A seventh horse, Freezing Point, was euthanized following an incident in Race 8 on the dirt track.

Two of the seven total deaths were sudden deaths, four days apart, by the same trainer, Saffie Joseph Jr.

More: Lord Miles scratched from Kentucky Derby after deaths; Churchill Downs suspends Saffie Joseph

Horses die at racetracks, but they don't die like this.

"In all my years, I've had one horse die while she was racing," a trainer who would only identify as being in the industry for a "long, long time" told the Courier Journal. "The necropsy found she was born with a heart defect."

Horse racing is an insular community with private information. Horses and their owners are protected by VCPR or Veterinarian-Client-Patient Relationships. It's the horse version of HIPPA. That means when the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission does publish a necropsy, there is no identifying information for which horse it's regarding.

Plus, the culture of horse racing is not to publicly call out others in the industry. The Courier Journal agreed not to name the people we spoke with out of their concern that speaking out could damage their standing in the horse racing community and possibly their jobs.

"Because you never know when your horse will be next," one owner said.

But sudden death in a horse can happen?

"It can happen, but two in one week?" the trainer said. "Maybe that's just bad luck or maybe it's what the (expletive)."

The Courier Journal spoke with nearly a dozen owners, trainers and veterinarians at Churchill Downs on Friday about the deaths. None were willing to be quoted directly, but they all wanted answers. However, it's going to take time to figure out what's really going on here.

It will take at least two weeks for necropsy results.

Not waiting for results, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) scratched all of Joseph's horses and Churchill Downs suspended the trainer from racing at the track.

Trainer Saffie Joseph at Churchill Downs on Thursday, May 4, 2023. Joseph's horse Lord Miles was scheduled to run in Kentucky Derby 149 before Joseph was suspended following the deaths of two of his other horses, Parents Pride and Chasing Artie.
Trainer Saffie Joseph at Churchill Downs on Thursday, May 4, 2023. Joseph's horse Lord Miles was scheduled to run in Kentucky Derby 149 before Joseph was suspended following the deaths of two of his other horses, Parents Pride and Chasing Artie.

“Given the unexplained sudden deaths, we have reasonable concerns about the condition of his horses, and decided to suspend him indefinitely until details are analyzed and understood,” Bill Mudd, president and chief operating officer of Churchill Downs said in announcing the suspension. “The safety of our equine and human athletes and integrity of our sport is our highest priority. We feel these measures are our duty and responsibility.”

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Association consists of 700 industry members including owners, breeders and trainers.

"Five deaths at one race track is abnormal," said Chauncey Morris, the executive director of the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association. "Everybody in this sport − especially our organization − is absolutely dedicated to safety and reform and making everything that happens between training and racing better. But, there’s a lot of unknowns that we won’t know until we have full data from the necropsy report."

Joseph had already scratched several of his horses before the suspension, which resulted in Lord Miles being removed from the Derby was handed down.

"If there is something going on over there like contamination — or we don't know what it is — some virus or something, we don't know," Joseph said Thursday referencing Keeneland, where his horses were stabled before coming to Churchill Downs. "We have no answers. I mean, there's a lot of questions. There's a lot of thoughts, but there's nothing right now."

Maryland's thoroughbred horseman organization made headlines last month after five horses suffered fatal injuries while racing or training at Laurel Park.

"Our horses and riders' lives are at risk and our industry's future is on the line. The status quo at Laurel Park cannot continue," Tim Keefe, president of the horseman organization wrote in a letter to the racing commission following the deaths.

Morris said the same isn't happening in Kentucky, despite at least three deaths at Keeneland during its spring meet.

"We do not have those circumstances at either the Keeneland meet or the Churchill Downs meet," Morris said regarding the Maryland horsemen raising alarm bells. "Here in Kentucky, there's a lot more collaboration and communication that happens between the horsemen, the association (the racetracks) and the regulators.

"It's not by accident that we're the Horse Capital of the World."

The collaboration is also because a horse was euthanized on the race track following the 2008 Kentucky Derby.

Now, Eight Belles has a race named in her memory.

For all graded stakes races − the top of the top thoroughbreds − the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission does TCO2 testing, which is considered part of an anti-doping procedure that tests a horse's blood.

At Churchill, this is done in the stalls. At Keeneland, there's a barn where horses filter through near the paddock.

There's a high likelihood, one veterinarian told the Courier Journal, that during the investigation into Joseph, the commission will draw TCO2 samples from other horses.

"(These deaths are) very sad," Morris said. "There is no horseman on this backside – including Saffie Joseph – that ever wants to lose a horse under any circumstance. ... This is an unfortunate situation, but we’re just going to have to wait for the data to lead us."

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Jason Frakes, C.L. Brown and Olivia Evans contributed to this report.

Reach Stephanie Kuzydym at skuzydym@courier-journal.com. Follow her for updates for the 149th Kentucky Derby on Twitter at @stephkuzy.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Horse deaths ahead of 2023 Kentucky Derby leaves questions