After the untimely death of Kentucky Derby first-place finisher Medina Spirit earlier this week, the California Horse Racing Board informed media that the colt’s body would undergo a necropsy — the animal form of an autopsy — as per CHRB policy for all equine deaths that happen on sanctioned properties. According to Dr. Jeff Blea, equine medical director for the CHRB, that procedure will include toxicology, forensics and tissue sampling. Blood and hair samples were removed from the colt’s body and in the minutes after the colt’s death, Blea said veterinarians on-site were planning to try to obtain a urine sample from the body as well.
Some readers have since wondered whether any of the samples taken as part of the procedure may be preserved for future testing. According to a statement from the CHRB made to the Paulick Report Dec. 8, that is part of standard protocols for all equine necropsies in the state.
“The CHRB has a post-race retention policy for official post-race samples,” said CHRB spokesman Mike Marten. “Under Rule 1859, samples are frozen and retained for possible retrospective analysis. The samples from Medina Spirit have been retained.
“Additionally, regarding separate necropsy samples, fresh/frozen tissues are usually kept for three months, Formalin fixed tissues for five years, and paraffin blocks and slides forever.”
The final report on the horse’s death will be made public.
Medina Spirit had just completed a five-furlong workout Monday morning when rider Juan Ochoa felt a change in the Bob Baffert trainee just past the wire and began pulling the horse up. Blea said the colt, owned by Zedan Stables, had already fallen and died when attending veterinarians got to him. Ochoa was uninjured.
Roughly 15 percent of on-track deaths in California are these so-called “sudden deaths” which are not connected to an musculoskeletal injury or illness and happen with no outward signs of anything amiss. Experts suspect many of them are attributable to cardiac problems, but the exact cause can be elusive. Necropsies in these cases can sometimes identify a physical abnormality in a horse’s heart, but sometimes the veterinary pathologist is unable to find anything unusual.
Read more about what the goals of a necropsy program in this 2017 Paulick Report feature.
It remains unclear whether The Stronach Group will conduct an independent investigation apart from the CHRB’s fact-finding surrounding the horse’s death.
“We are awaiting the results of the CHRB investigation and we will wait until the conclusion of that process,” said Dr. Dionne Benson, chief veterinary officer for 1/ST Racing. “We are, however, providing any and all information we have to the CHRB.”
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