American horse racing under accusation and anti-doping delays – Corriere.it

Four horses died in one weektwo subjected to euthanasia for “humanitarian reasons” and two for mysterious reasons. In the week of Kentucky Derbythe first of the prestigious races of the Triple Crowns, American horse racing is in a storm. All the more that it is imminent entry into force of the new anti-doping code.

The first Saturday of May as mentioned, at Churchill Downs (Louisville) the Kentucky Derby is run which, together with the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore (two weeks later) and the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, New York (another three weeks later), constitutes the Triple Crown, the maximum possible premium for thoroughbreds of a maximum age of three years. A kind of Champions League which, from 1875 to today, has only been won by 11 horsesthe.

Parents Pride died last Saturdayon Tuesday it was the turn of Chasing Artie: They were both trained by Saffie Joseph and led by the jockey himself. They both collapsed suddenly and the first investigations did not provide explanations. Also for this reason one of the favorite horses for the main race, Lord Miles, who belongs to the same staff, was excluded from the tender. There is no shortage of suspicions, despite the heartfelt defense of the jockey.

But the fatal series did not stop: always on Tuesday Take Charge Brianaof the Willis Horton Racing team, was euthanized for a “catastrophic injury” suffered in the race and Thursday 27 the same fate had befallen another of the favorites for the derby, Wild on Icewho was injured in training.

The four deaths have rekindled the controversy who for years animal rights activists they carry on in the name of racehorses, all while — remember the New York Times — the world of betting seems to be losing interest in horse racing. All the more so in 2021 at Churchill Downs the winner of the Derby, Medina Spirit, was found to be doped (trainer Bob Baffert) and cast an even bleaker light on the racing world when he suddenly died of a heart attack the following December.

Organizers explained: “Given the unexplained and sudden deaths we have reasonable concerns about the condition of (Joseph’s) horses and have decided to suspend him indefinitely until the circumstances are clarified.” The trainer defended himself by declaring himself heartbroken and that the ongoing investigation “has not yet provided significant answers”and that «it was not an accident. They left the gates, didn’t even start running and collapsed. Theories and inferences do not help, proof is needed ».

May 22, so two days after Preaknessthe second Triple Crown tender, will come into effect on new anti-doping code in the world of horse racing, postponed several times after the continuous appeals of the parties involved. It was supposed to go into effect last July along with the safety law, which also limits the number of times a jockey can hit his horse. Incidentally, they will be introduced test anti-doping even out of competitionas for human athletes, with the obvious difference that horses are not aware that they are violating rules or taking prohibited substances.