4 Horses Dead At Churchill Downs In Days Leading Up To Kentucky Derby
By Jason Hall
May 3, 2023
Two horses died at Churchill Downs on Tuesday (May 2), just days before the venue is scheduled to hold the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday (May 6), marking four deaths in a span of 6 days leading up to horse racing's biggest annual event, WDRB reports.
Take Charge Briana, a 3-year-old filly trained by D. Wayne Lukas and owned by Willis Horton Racing, was reported to have fallen during Race 5 and euthanized on the track. The horse's jockey, Luis Saez, was brought down during the fall but reported to be OK, according to WDRB.
Chasing Artie, a 5-year-old filly trained by Saffie A. Joseph Jr. and owned by Ramsey Stables, was reported to have collapsed in Race 8 and died after the race, owner Ken Ramsey confirmed to Marty McGee of Daily Racing Form.
"I'm shattered basically, you know what I mean? I know it can't happen - it's mind-boggling. The odds of it happening twice is just a trillion. I run almost 4,000 horses, and it never happened like that. So it doesn't, it doesn't make sense," Joseph Jr. said via WDRB.
Sorry to report that Chasing Artie, a 3-time SW, collapsed and died following R8 today at #ChurchillDowns, his 12th career start, per owner Ken Ramsey. This follows a similar incident in which the @Ramsey_Farm filly Parents Pride died following R8 Sat. night at CD. (1/2)
— Marty McGee (@DRFMcGee) May 2, 2023
Chasing Artie's death came days after Parents Pride, another filly owned by Ramsey Stables, had died following Race 8 last Saturday (April 29).
"Those are a couple of really tough blows," said Ramsey. "Almost hard to believe."
— Marty McGee (@DRFMcGee) May 2, 2023
Also Tuesday, the 3yo filly Take Charge Briana was euthanized for a catastrophic injury suffered during R5 on turf.
Will have more on the fatalities early tomorrow on https://t.co/ivY0P4pZRu. (2/2)
"Those are a couple of really tough blows," Ramsey said via McGee. "Almost hard to believe."
Additionally, Kentucky Derby contender Wild On Ice was euthanized on April 27, marking four deaths in a span of six days leading up to horse racing's biggest annual event.
Coverage of the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby will air live on NBC, Peacock, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app beginning at 12:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.