Horse dies after winning $150,000 race

Arcadius is loaded into a trailer after collapsing and dying as he was being cooled down after winning the $150,000 Iroquois Steeplechase horse race at Percy Warner Park, Saturday, May 12, 2012, in Nashville, Tenn. The 8-year-old gelding collapsed at a station placed just beyond the finish line of the 3-mile race. / George Walker IV ,AP Photo/The Tennessean

(AP) NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Arcadius collapsed and died as he was being cooled down after winning the $150,000 Iroquois Steeplechase at Percy Warner Park on Saturday.

The 8-year-old gelding collapsed at a station placed just beyond the finish line of the 3-mile race.

Dr. Marty McInturff, one of five official veterinarians on the course, said Arcadius succumbed from "a heart attack" and a possible aneurysm. The results of a necropsy examination are expected Monday at the earliest.

The bay gelding raced for the Hudson River Farm of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., real estate executive Edward Swyer and Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard. Arcadius was making his second start this season and the 21st of his career dating to 2008. During that time, he won six races, including the $100,000 Helen Haskell Simpson at Monmouth Park in 2010.

The $90,000 winner's share of the Iroquois purse raised Arcadius' career earnings past $300,000.

Arcadius prepped for his start in the Iroquois with a race on the flat last month in Charlotte, N.C.

"The horse ran a valiant race," Sheppard said. "And, it's not like he was struggling during the race. The rider wasn't aggressive with his whip. After he crossed the finish line, I was talking to the riders of other horses that I had in the race. I looked over and saw that he was down."

Sheppard said weather and race conditions had nothing to do with the horse's death.

"The temperature was 67 degrees on the thermometer in my car, and it was drizzling a little bit," Sheppard said. "The course was firm but in excellent condition."

Arcadius raced a field of five rivals in the most prestigious race on the National Steeplechase Association's Spring calendar. He raced close to the pace set by Tax Ruling, the two-time defending champ of this event.

Jockey Brian Crowley, riding Arcadius for the fifth consecutive time, sent the gelding after the leader around the far turn and took the lead at the 18th of 20 national hurdles on the course.

Arcadius was challenged at the final hurdle by Divine Fortune and amateur rider Darren Nagle. Those two dueled down the homestretch with Arcadius getting home one length in front of Divine Fortune. Nationbuilder and Danielle Hodsdon were 12 3/4 lengths back in third.

"The horse ran a beautiful race," McInturff said. "When he went down, we got to him very quickly and administered medications and an IV. But, his blood pressure dropped very rapidly and we couldn't save him."

[poopieyaron]

I hope someone pulled blood on this horse BEFORE he was loaded into the trailer. As long as brochulator meds are given to horses that DO NOT have breathing problems, we can expect more horses dropping dead. Is that what happened here? When will the tox results be released to the public? Will there be a necropsy? Yes, we DO have a right to know as horsemen and laymen.

[orthotox]

The article mentions the word "valiant." Do any of the naysayers (neighsayers?) know the meaning of that word or what the world would be like without it?

[The_Houyhnhnm]

NEWS FLASH: The FIRST symptom of heart disease is sometimes sudden death.

Such deaths are rare, but they happen. Occasionally, they even happen in front of cameras.

Here's the death of the great Canadian Olympic show jumper Hickstead, The horse died of an acute aortic rupture, but, given the comments here, many will leap to the conclusion this cosseted athlete was mistreated by his people and say no SHOW jumping!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoL5b-KJUvo

Similarly, some twenty years ago, a friend called me sobbing because her fourteen year old stallion had dropped dead of a ruptured artery as she led him back to the barn after a mild workout in her arena. Obviously she's misteated her beloved horse by giving him thirty minutes of exercise. No PLEASURE riding!

This type of sudden death happens to humans too. In 1984 running guru Jim Fixx, author of _The Complete Book of Running_, dropped dead while jogging at the age of 52. His autopsy showed major coronary artery disease, totally undiagnosed while he was alive.

http://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/24/science/the-doctor-s-world-james-fixx-the-enigma-of-heart-disease.html?pagewanted=all

Obviously humans should not JOG or eat well, right? After all, look what it got Jim Fixx!

People should spend their lives on sofas watching TV while eating donuts. OK, they can go out now and then, but only to overfeed their stall-kept horses.

By the way, Arcadius sold for $500,000 as a yearling and raced only 21 times in the last four years, winning just over $300,000. His last race was the second start of 2012. Poor abused, overworked horsie!

Folks, it's not elite horses like Arcadius you should complain about. Were those of you who want to ban racing talking about stopping races with the cheap claimers who run every ten days on cracked bones and courage, I'd be with you, but lumping what happened to Aracadius with the abuses of racing makes no sense to me.

[marliegirl]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but we are talking about a beautiful creature who had just been raced THREE MILES, and pushed in the stretch because he was challenged at the end. No one, with the exception of the owners, trainers, etc. know if or what this horse had been on (steroids, etc.)...so please stop with the sarcastic comments about "poor abused, overworked horsie". I'd like to see you run full-out for three miles with someone on your back holding a whip to make you go faster and faster! No one knows what kind of life this "horsie" truly had. The fact is, this poor horse died after running and winning a race! Too many horses have been dying after races lately and this needs to stop.

[The_Houyhnhnm]

@marliegirl--

I apologize for the sarcasm, but the general lack of knowledge of horses and horse racing in this comment thread has me exasperated. I agree with you about the number of race horse deaths of late, but this horse's death was atypical. As I remarked earlier, this gelding was lightly raced, extraordinarily well bred, and he died in the cooling area, not the race, most likely the victim of an undiagnosed heart condition.

Like many, I'm waiting for the tox screen and necropsy results, but still I find it frustrating that so many comments here are blanket accusations lacking in context and showing faint understanding of horses and horsemen.

Unfortunately, some of your remarks fall into this category. For example, your comment that you'd like to see me "run full-out for three miles with someone on your back holding a whip to make you go faster and faster!" is problematical at best.

First, I am a college English instructor and such a task is just not required in that profession. Were I a wildland firefighter like some of my friends, I would have to run such a race carrying a 45 pound backpack to be certified. Desire motivates these friends, not a whip.

As a matter of fact, recent studies indicate that banning the whip would do little to change horse racing. The results showed whipping a tired horse did not increase speed. Based on instinct and observation, I've been in favor of banning USE of whips for years.

I also don't understand the revelance of the three mile comment. Thoroughbreds are the fastest breed in the world from around half a mile up to 4 miles. So a 3 mile hurdle race--on one of the safest courses around--isn't a problem for me. Why is it a problem for you?

The "run full-out for three miles" reveals a lack of knowledge of racing. The one-breath Quarter Horse may run full out for 330 yards, but in a longer race, pace--often meaning restraining speed--is usually vital. In the Tevis Cup, a 100 mile endurance race, backyard horses often finish in great shape. They average around 8 to 10 miles an hour with frequent vet checks along the way. The Olympic cross-country event requires horses to gallop for 5 miles jumping substantial fences while maintaining an average speed of around 26 miles an hour. Again, there's a vet check. The typical race horse maintains an average speed of about 36-38 miles an hour, but that average involves rating the horse so that it conserves its energy. From what I've read, the jockey in Arcadius's last race said he wasn't using his whip at all. I've never seen a professional jockey whip a horse for the entire distance. Have you?

By the way, race TBs do not, "go faster and faster" during races. In fact, the typical pattern is slower and slower--whips or no whips. One exception was Secretariat's 1973 Kentucky Derby where each fraction was faster.

I'm now going back to my bubble. Swift was right. Horses are better conversationalists.

[NinthSt78]

Nobody should win after breaking the poor animal's heart and after the ruthless competition responsible for doing it. They should bury the prize money along with the poor animal that lost its life as a result of their sport.

[fightforacause]

I completely agree with you.

[bbblmt123]

Me too. It's animal abuse as far as I'm concerned.

[Transatlantique]

Gaming of animals is cruel, and should be outlawed along with covert factory farms.

[bunchomorons]

I agree with you completely. Amazingly, factory farms aren't even necessarily covert. In Petaluma, California, where I lived until about 3 years ago, across the street from me (I lived in a rural area) was a factory egg-producing farm. Just out there for the world to see. People don't want to know, they just want their yummy, cheap food.

[pegasus1945]

Last weekend I listened to two guys on NPR who wrote a book about all the drugs horses are given by trainers and everyone else that KILL them. Trainers mix all sorts of drug concoctions to make their horse go fast. They said they even give them Cobra venom to mask pain. If you mask the pain the horse will work harder and greatly increase risk of injury to horse and rider. The use of drugs in horse racing is rampant and something needs to be done about it.

[GMaybee]

This was a fluke accident. There will be a necropsy done and if there were any drugs in the horses system it will come out.

Horses ARE tested for drugs just like this horse would have been after winning...

The media never cover the good stories only the bad, so the public only hears about the bad

[hypnotoad72]

I saw a movie about that once...

It was called "A View to a Kill"... mind you, horse racing fraud was just one small subplot that got quietly dropped... of course, it's also a James Bond movie...

[AmericanFrog]

Oh shut up! Man is above these lowly creatures. We can do what we want with them.

[Transatlantique]

You can do what you want with yourself. These "lowly creatures" are far better than you.

[hypnotoad72]

Man often considers its own brethren and countrymen "lowly creatures" too. What's your point?

[heatherp82]

Perhaps the owners, trainers, etc. do feel "as if they have lost a member of their family" as ewicml says, but it's still my humble opinion that horses should be allowed to be horses, i.e., run free and not because there's a purse involved.
I listened to this on NPR the other day and it certainly opened my eyes to what's really going on in the horse racing industry.
http://www.npr.org/2012/05/10/152363564/horse-racing-americas-most-dangerous-game

[signseeker1717]

And just how do horses "run free"? Are you willing to pay for vet care, acreage, feed and other expenses for hundreds of thousands of working animals in this country so they can do nothing but "run free"? I'll tell you what they'd end up doing after the first couple of years of a life of leisure - grazing and getting FAT.

The vast majority of horses in the world are domesticated animals who have been bred specifically for USE - draft horses for heavy farm work and pulling loads; quarter horses for doing ranch work etc. Modern breeds get lazy and/or restless if they don't get enough exercise or have some purpose in the world.

There are programs for finding homes for RETIRED race, work and other breeds of horses. But that comes LATER in their lives.

We can't just turn them all loose and not use them for anything, whether there's a "purse" involved or not.

[bunchomorons]

Signseeker, get real. First of all, there are no working horses in this country to speak of. OK, there are a few cowhorses in the west, and a few carriage horses in Amish country, but 99% of horses in the U.S. are pleasure, sport, or race horses. That means someone is breeding them for fun or profit. Mostly profit. They produce profit by racing or performing well in the show ring. The point of heatherp's comment was that instead of producing and then abusing and killing horses for our entertainment, we should allow whatever horses we do produce to live normal lives instead of being pumped full of drugs and forced to run so fast that they break their legs or burst their aortas. She wasn't suggesting that all horses be set free into the wilderness. And finally, seriously--who gives a crap if horses graze and get fat? Especially if they do it as an alternative to being abused and driven to an early death? P.S. The programs you speak of for finding homes for horses in retirement cannot possibly hope to find homes for more than a fraction of retired horses, whether they were kept for pleasure or profit. Some race horses go to retirement programs, some are adopted as pleasure or sporthorses, but most end up euthanized or worse, go to slaughter. Google Ferdinand, a Kentucky Derby winner, no less, who ended up killed at a slaughterhouse in Japan.

[calif7]

Is an eight year old race horse kinda old? Just wondering since three year old horses seem to be prime age as evidenced by the Triple Crown.

[The_Houyhnhnm]

@calif7

Racing at eight isn't common, but for other horse sports an eight year old horse is just entering its prime years. Steeplechasing and show jumping horses are usually older, often in their teens.

The eight year old Off the Track Thoroughbred I adopted retired sound after a race career of five years. Today's TBs start too early and hence break down. A horse isn't fully mature until five. To me, racing three year olds is dangerous and racing two year olds close to obscene. We race horses too young because of economic pressures.

[hypnotoad72]

Fascinating info - thank you both for contributing.

[jmn122736]

The hypocrisy of animal rights activists (peta et al) is unbelievable.
The horse-racing community, including horse owners as well as the sport itself, are being vigorously defended for the obvious torture of racehorses that are being literally run to death, while chicken /egg suppliers are being castigated and sued for not providing spotlessly clean housing for chickens.
But that is really no surprise since these same animal rights activists will condemn hunters for shooting a deer for sport or food, while they themselves are devouring ham and eggs for breakfast and sirloin steaks for diner, on a daily basis.

[canislupus16]

jmn, what are the sources for your statements? I think you're mixing apples and oranges here. I have wondered if horse racing and its community - i.e., industry - do cause harm to horses.

On the other hand, I don't see how PETA et al even enters into your post. You apparently have a thing about "animal rights" activists", and don't have a problem with hunters and the shooting of deer "for sport" or food.

If a hunter takes a game animal and consumes it for food, I don't have a problem wit it, nor do most people I know. But shooting a deer or other animal just "for sport"? How are you okay with that?

[jmn122736]

canislupus16; you said ". I have wondered if horse racing and its community - i.e., industry - do cause harm to horses'

Read the article "horse dies after winning $150.000 race." If you have to wonder about that no amount of proof or explanation will satisfy you.

As for apples and oranges, Deer, horses, chickens, hogs, are all animals, just as apples and oranges are both fruits.

As for "PETA et al, recent headlines have been full of articles of egg and chicken suppliers supposedly abusing chickens. Simply google "chicken abuse" to read the articles.

BTW My comment was about the hypocrisy not about horse racing OR hunting.