Bob Baffert, trainer of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, stands near the track at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, April 28, 2021.
Bryan Woolston | Reuters
A horse of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert was euthanized at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on the undercard of Saturday’s Preakness Stakes.
Havnameltdown, a 4-5 favorite in the sixth race, broke down and threw jockey Luis Saez at the top of the stretch.
“Unfortunately Havnameltdown went bad at the top of the stretch,” track veterinarian Scott Hay told TVG. “He sustained a real severe injury of his left front ankle. It was just to such an extent that there was it was basically impossible to transport him. They had to euthanize him humanely on the grounds immediately.”
The colt’s euthanization comes in the wake of a string of equine deaths leading up to the Kentucky Derby earlier this month at Churchill Downs.
Eight horses died in a little more than a week at the famed Louisville course, raising concerns about the sport’s treatments of its animals.
