Preakness Stakes: Two horses die in early races at Pimlico

Two horses died following races held Saturday at Pimlico Race Course.

Two horses died Saturday at Pimlico Race Course, just hours before Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist was set to make his run at the second leg of the Triple Crown.

Nine-year-old Homeboykris collapsed and died after finishing first in the opening race Saturday, according to a track official. Three races later, four-year-old filly Pramedya collapsed and suffered a left-front mid-cannon-bone fracture. The horse was euthanized on the track.

Homeboykris’ trainer, Francis Campitelli, told the Baltimore Sun that the horse collapsed on his way back from the winner’s circle.

“So apparently, not long after leaving the winner’s circle, the boy that takes care of him said they had gone probably 100 yards, and he got wobbly and fell over and he pretty much was dead when he hit the ground,” Campitelli told the Sun. “They’re thinking at this point it was some sort of heart attack — you know, ruptured aorta or something like that. We won’t know until they do a necropsy on him, just to find out exactly what happened.”

Homeboykris, who ran in the 2010 Kentucky Derby, will be sent to Pennsylvania for an autopsy, according to a Pimlico official.

Pramedya was making just her fifth career start on Saturday. The filly’s collapse resulted in a fractured right clavicle for jockey Daniel Centeno, who was taken a local hospital, according to the Sun.

Roy and Gretchen Jackson, Pramedya’s owners, faced a similar tragedy in 2006 with Barbaro. After winning the Kentucky Derby, Barbaro fractured multiple bones in his right hind leg that ended his racing career. Barbaro was eventually euthanized after multiple surgeries.

PETA Senior Vice Present Kathy Guillermo released a statement following the deaths of these two horses.

"PETA is calling on the owners of Pramedya and Homeboykris to immediately release veterinary records and a complete list of medications that the horses were administered in the two weeks before the Preakness races. Studies—and our own investigations—have shown that most breakdowns and deaths occur because horses have pre-existing injuries that are masked by the excessive use of legal medications. We want to know if that is what happened in the cases of Pramedya and Homeboykris. We have been advocating for no medications to be administered to horses in the two weeks before a race so that if a horse is sore or ill, the track veterinarian will be able to detect it. In today’s racing drug culture, at least three horses are dying every day on U.S. tracks. The foolish use of muscle relaxants, anti-inflammatory drugs, and other medications must end now."

Hopefully, the rest of the day won’t have any more tragedies on the track and the Preakness Stakes will be an exciting race with all horses coming out healthy.

For more coverage of the Preakness Stakes, check out our Horse Racing hub page.