Filly collapses after workout, dies at Del Mar

DEL MAR, Calif. – Corlett Drive, a 4-year-old filly eligible for a first-level allowance condition, collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack following a five-furlong workout on Sunday morning at Del Mar.

Corlett Drive had just completed her drill in 1:02.80 when she was pulled up on the clubhouse turn, her exercise rider sensing something seriously amiss. Her exercise rider had safely dismounted before she collapsed.

“It looks like a classic heart attack, but she will have an autopsy,” said John Sadler, who trains Corlett Drive.

The California Horse Racing Board has a policy whereby all horses who perish at the track, in either races or workouts, have a full necropsy report done.

Corlett Drive, a daughter of Pleasant Tap owned and bred by Keith Abrahams, had won once in 11 starts, that victory coming against maidens at Santa Anita in April 2013. She recently returned from an eight-month layoff and finished seventh of nine in a downhill turf sprint at Santa Anita on June 15.

The workout on Sunday was her third since her comeback race.