BALTIMORE — A horse trained by Bob Baffert was euthanized on the track after injuring his left front leg and knocking his jockey down during a race on the Preakness undercard on Saturday.
Hours before the Triple Crown return leg, favorite Havnameltdown buckled and threw jockey Luis Saez onto his back in race six and continued to run into the final corner in some distress.
The 3-year-old colt was examined by chief veterinarian Dr Dionne Benson and others, who determined the injury was inoperable and decided the horse should be put down, according to a statement from 1ST Racing, which owns and operates the track. .
Saez was conscious and taken to Sinai Hospital for evaluation, complaining of leg pain, track officials said. He was treated by medical personnel on the track for several minutes before being put on a stretcher and into an ambulance.
Havnameltdown’s death comes on another major race day, following the Kentucky Derby eclipsed by seven deaths at Churchill Downs over a 10-day period.
The favorite at 4-5 for the $200,000 dirt run and escaping the No.1 inside post, Havnameltdown was chased out of the gate by No.2 Ryvit and broke a slow step but kept running in the 6 furlong race.
Fans in the crowd at Pimlico Racecourse gasped as the horse stumbled before the final bend and threw Saez. In an incongruous scene, at the same time Saez and Havnameltdown were being watched, 2Pac’s “California Love” continued to blare from field speakers set up right next to where it happened.
Meanwhile, on the home stretch of Pimlico, the horse was subdued by track staff and then driven behind black barriers.
The music was stopped during the following race.
Baffert has horses racing the Preakness weekend for the first time in two years after returning from a suspension stemming from 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit’s failed drug test. He has been unable to enter horses in the Derby for the past two years as part of a decision by Churchill Downs. He couldn’t have one in the 2022 Preakness or Belmont because of a 90-day ban in Kentucky that Maryland and New York enforced.
One of his horses, Arabian Lion, won an earlier race. Baffert is also set to saddle the national treasure in the Preakness.
Saez, a Panamanian who turned 31 on Friday, was originally slated to pilot top contender First Mission in the Preakness. But this horse was scratched on the advice of vets because of a problem with his rear left ankle.
In the 2019 Kentucky Derby, Saez first crossed the line with Maximum Security, but the stewards overturned the win and dropped the colt to 17th for getting in the way of several horses. Saez was later suspended, accused of causing the interference.
Earlier this year he rode Kentucky Derby champion Mage for a runner-up finish at the Florida Derby. At Churchill Downs two weeks ago, Saez’s horse Tapit Trice finished seventh in the Derby.
Havnameltdown, owned by Michael Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman, had won four of its six career starts prior to this race. He had recently finished second in the Saudi Derby in February.