Rio Moon, a 3-year-old colt who had just finished his race Sunday, became at least the eighth horse from an injury at Churchill Downs since April 27.
Owned by Kyle Nagel, trained by Dale Romans and ridden by Martín García, Rio Moon strode awkwardly across the finish line as he came in 10th of the 11 horses in a 1 1/16-mile maiden-claiming race on the fast, main track.
Rio Moon “sustained a catastrophic injury to his left-fore leg a few strides after the wire and was euthanized,” according to the Equibase chart of Sunday’s sixth race.
Video still posted Sunday night on one wagering platform showed the Bal a Bali colt buckling as his leg gave way at the finish line. He tried to correct himself as he went past the edge of the video frame. When the view changed to the head-on camera past the clubhouse turn, García had pulled up and stopped Rio Moon next to the rail at the end of the homestretch.
Since his debut in September, Rio Moon had been in for tags of between $25,000 and $50,000 in his last five races, but he went unclaimed. In three races on the dirt at Churchill Downs and three on the turf at Gulfstream Park, his best finish was a narrow second in South Florida on April 6.
One horse died training and three more racing at Churchill Downs in the build-up to the May 6 running of Kentucky Derby 2023. One other flipped over in the paddock and broke his neck. Two horses died on the racetrack during the Derby undercard.
Churchill Downs Inc. and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority said last week that they and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission were investigating at least six of the first seven deaths. None of the three made a statement after Rio Moon was euthanized.
