Churchill Downs: Loose horse injures three men
A freak accident involving a loose horse at Churchill Downs before dawn Sept. 29 resulted in injuries to three men. Rob Pearson, an owner who has horses with Forrest Kaelin, sustained a broken sternum, six fractured ribs, and a collapsed lung when a 7-year-old horse named Dream Seeker came running at full speed toward the six-furlong gap and hurtled over a partition, toppling him and the other two men.
“We had no shot to get out of the way,” said trainer Scooter Dickey, who broke a rib. “He came at us 40 miles an hour in the dark.”
Bob DeSensi, a former trainer who now works as a gap attendant, sustained a leg hematoma that required surgery and a six-day hospitalization.
Dream Seeker required about 200 stitches for a badly cut stifle.
◗ Helped no doubt by the crowds that turned out for its live race meet, Kentucky Downs has reported an all-time high of $42 million in handle on its “historical racing” machines for the month of September. Part of the revenue from the machines is used to fund purses, which totaled nearly $8 million at the latest five-day meet.