Charles Town: Spill wipes out seven of eight in race
A field of eight started in Wednesday night’s eighth race at Charles Town, but only one horse finished following a chain-reaction collision during the 4 1/2-furlong sprint on a sloppy, sealed track.
Early leader Sharp Beauty broke down on the far turn of the allowance race, bothering every horse in the field. Miss Fifty was racing behind Sharp Beauty when she was injured but, despite stumbling badly over the fallen leader, was able to keep her balance, as was jockey Oswald Pereira. Every other horse in the race either fell or lost their rider.
The stewards conducted an inquiry into the incident, but made the race official. Miss Fifty paid $5.60 to win, $7.80 to place, and $7.20 to show.. The Miss Fifty-All exacta and the Miss Fifty-All-All trifecta both paid $5.60, Any superfecta wager with Miss Fifty on top paid $5.20.
According to chief steward Danny Wright, three of the seven jockeys who went down were taken to the hospital and two were released Wednesday evening. Jockey Anthony Mawing was kept overnight observation but was released Thursday morning, according to Wright.
"None of the riders suffered any broken bones," said Wright.
Sharp Beauty was euthanized.
The ninth and final race of the card was canceled.
* An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the place and show pools were refunded. Both pools were paid out.