Trainer Kriple suspended two years for failure to treat sick horse
Zvi Kriple, a trainer based in Ohio, has been banned by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority for two years following an investigation which concluded that a horse in his care died from colic at Belterra Park near Cincinnati in April of this year without being treated by a veterinarian.
Kriple, who returned to training in 2015 after a previous misdemeanor animal cruelty conviction dating from 2010 was thrown out, was charged with a violation of a HISA rule prohibiting “the deprivation of necessary care, sustenance, shelter, or veterinary care” of a horse. The ban was handed down in a ruling posted to the HISA website on Oct. 29.
According to the ruling, Royal Honey, a 5-year-old mare trained by Kriple, died on April 25 in her stall, two days after she first began exhibiting signs of colic, a condition in which abdominal pain is often accompanied by torsion of the intestine. The condition is often extremely painful.
The ruling states that Kriple first sought veterinary assistance just after noon on Apr. 24, one day after the mare first began colicking, but that his usual veterinarian was not able to respond. That veterinarian, Dr. Timothy Renn, recommended several other veterinarians to Kriple, the ruling says. Renn also testified that Kriple told him later that night that the horse still had not been treated.
The ruling also states that Renn testified that a trainer at Belterra told him that several trainers had offered to transport the horse to an outside clinic, but Kriple “refused to take advantage of those offers.”
Royal Honey collapsed while unattended in her stall at approximately 3:30 a.m., the ruling states. Renn testified that death from colic can be a “very painful death.”
In his defense at a hearing on Oct. 20, Kriple testified that “despite his best and repeated efforts,” he could not find a veterinarian willing to treat the horse, either at the track or a clinic.
Kriple, a native of Sweden, has started 32 horses since returning to training in 2015, with one winner. From 1998-2005, he started 285 horses with 39 winners.
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