Preakness Stakes: Black Eye for Horse Racing … Death of Two Race Horses (Homeboykris & Pramedya) … Oh Yeah, Exaggerator Won

ON MARYLAND HORSE RACING’S BIGGEST DAY … TWO HORSES DEAD.

The 141st running of the Preakness States was overshadowed as two horses died and a jockey was injured at Pimlico Race Course during the first few races of a rainy Preakness Saturday in Baltimore, Maryland. In the first 4 races of the day, two horses were dead and one jockey injured. 9 year old Homeboykris collapsed while walking back to his barn after winning the first race on a dirt course at the Pimlico. 9 YEARS OLD AND STILL RACING? Later, 4 year old Pramedya fractured her left cannon bone while racing on a turf course. The horse was immediately euthanized on the track. In a bizarre irony, Pramedya’s owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, also owned the Kentucky Derby-winning horse Barbaro who shattered bones in his leg at the start of the Preakness in 2006. We all sadly remember Barbaro, and Barbaro’s struggle to survive only to be euthanized in 2007.

Racehorse Homeboykris collapsed while walking back to his barn after winning the first race on a dirt course at the Pimlico, according to Sal Sinatra, the president and general manager of the Maryland Jockey Club. The horse collapsed after his picture had been taken in the winner’s circle.

Later, racehorse Pramedya fractured her left cannon bone while racing on a turf course, according to Sinatra, and Pramedya’s Jockey, Daniel Centeno, fell and suffered a right clavicle fracture. Pramedya, 4, was euthanized on the track, according to The Associated Press.

Homeboykris’ owner, Jan Klein, said in a statement to ABC News, “We are all just heartbroken.”

“Kris had a small team who loved him and cared about him. His trainer, Fran Campitelli; his caretakers; and of course, me,” Klein said. “He loved what he did and we will all miss him. Such a wonderful competitor with a marvelous record.

“We all feel privileged to have been a part of his life,” she said.

There will be an autopsy for 9-year-old Homeboykris at the New Bolton veterinary care center in Pennsylvania, Sinatra said.

Pramedya’s owners, Roy and Gretchen Jackson, also owned the Kentucky Derby-winning horse Barbaro who shattered bones in his leg at the start of the Preakness in 2006. Barbaro developed laminitis and was euthanized in 2007, according to the AP.

Oh yeah, and in other news Exaggerator won the Preakness Stakes defeating Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist. There will be no Triple Crown winner this year and nor should there be. Triple Crown’s do not grow on trees and should never be a common occurrence, otherwise the one thing that draws non-horse racing fans to the support the sport would go away as well.

Exaggerator rained on Nyquist’s parade at the Preakness. And that’s no exaggeration at all.

The Kentucky Derby runner-up won the second leg of horse-racing’s Triple Crown Saturday in the rain and slop at Pimlico Race Course. Nyquist, the Derby winner, started fast but faded in the stretch, finishing third behind longshot Cherry Wine.

Kent Desormeaux, the winning jockey, said the secret to victory was staying close to the rail, shortening the distance Exaggerator had to run, while the other jockeys stayed wide.