BALTIMORE — The day wasn’t even half over when tragedy struck on Preakness Day at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday.
Hours before the second leg of the Triple Crown, Bob Baffert-trained horse and favorite Havnameltdown was euthanized after suffering a catastrophic injury to its front left ankle on the stretch turn of the day’s sixth race. The 3-year-old’s leg buckled forward and the horse threw jockey Luis Saez to the dirt before continuing to run in distress.
The death comes two weeks after the Kentucky Derby was overshadowed by the deaths of seven horses at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., leading up to the first jewel of the Triple Crown and a month after racing was suspended at Laurel Park following the death of two horses on the same day.
