Horse Racing - Tuscan Evening collapses after workout
All sports are weighed down with the risk of a tragedy. It wasn’t long ago when the Glasgow University researches published the findings of their survey regarding injury and death on the racetracks. According to the research 2.14 horses per 1,000 horses on dirt tracks and 1.78 horses per 1,000 on synthetic surfaces encountered catastrophic injuries. Considering the magnitude and popularity of horse racing worldwide, those fractions translate into a tragically large number of animals dying on the tracks.
While every possible precaution is taken to minimize the number of injuries and deaths, no sport is free from tragedies. Despite the repeated efforts the racing industry towards making the sport safer for the riders and horses, there are some things beyond their control. Riders and horses often suffer from diseases or get inflicted by viruses that detract them during the race, facing grave consequences, as a result.
Something in the same context occurred in one of the racing courses in Del Mar, California this weekend. The rising star of American horse racing, ‘Tuscan Evening,’ died due to a heart attack after a workout on the 8th of August. Further details of the cause of death would be determined following a procedure called ‘necroscopy’ to be conducted by a Laboratory in San Bernardino which is affiliated with UC Davis.
Owned by William DeBurgh, the Irish-bred female was being trained for the $750,000 Beverly D. Stakes scheduled for the 21st of the month at Arlington Park when the tragedy struck. She was five years old at the time of her death.
Spokesman for Del Mar, Daniel Smith, gave details of the incident. He told the press that ‘Tuscan Evening’ had just completed a six furlong workout on the turf course. She took a minute and 15 seconds to complete the run and was galloping to the half mile pole when she collapsed and died. Dan said that such workouts were routine for her and she had shown no signs of bad health.
Her trainer Jerry Hollendorfer was distressed. Tuscan Evening was Jerry’s most successful trainee. He said that Tuscan Sunrise had a good workout earlier that day, but all of a sudden he was told that she had fallen. “It's been very difficult for us to deal with the tragedy,” Jerry said. “The barn is pretty devastated. The hard thing for me is that she was on her way to proving she was one of the very best. Although she made was noticed we thought there was much more coming ahead. We thought she was really blossoming.”
She certainly was blossoming. In her 16 career starts Tuscan Evening finished in first place in all but 4 of them. Of her 9 stakes wins, six were grade II, two were grade III and only one was a grade I win. Of the only four starts she didn’t win, she placed 2nd and 3rd in two of them. Her only unplaced start was an 8th place finish in the John C. Mabee Stakes in August, last year. Arlington would have marked Tuscan Evening’s 7th consecutive win. She had not been beaten so far this year while starting in six races, four of those were stakes wins, ranging from 6 ½ furlong to 1 ¼ mile races. She was voted Santa Anita’s horse of the meet and was in the running for the Eclipse Award as a champion turf female.
Her racing career began in Ireland with trainer John Joseph Murphy. Although she was a promising racer, she didn’t land her first win until she was bought by her current owners and placed under Jerry’s care. As soon as she was moved to the United States she won her very next start. Arguably, she became the best female turf horse in the United States, making a name for herself. However, her sudden departure has left her trainer and horse-racing fans speechless.
Tags: