Three Horses Destroyed After Spill at Del Mar

Three horses were euthanized and three jockeys were injured Monday after a chain-reaction spill in which five jockeys went down during the fourth race at Del Mar.

Jockeys Jose Silva and Tony Lovato each suffered a fractured vertebra in his lower back. Tyler Baze suffered a broken left foot and a broken left big toe.

Lovato was taken to Scripps Hospital in Encinitas after complaining of lower back pain, and track spokesman Dan Smith said X-rays revealed a fracture of the No. 1 lower lumbar vertebra. He said Lovato would be transferred to Scripps Hospital in La Jolla, where Silva was being cared for after fracturing the same vertebra.

“There was no nerve damage and appears to be no paralysis,” track spokesman Mac McBride said of Silva’s condition. Smith said later that Lovato’s condition was the same.

The problems began in the $10,000 claiming event when Mr. Powerful, a 4-year-old gelding trained by Bob Hess Jr., suffered an apparent broken left front leg and went down, causing two other horses, Jentzen and Pacific Pride, to suffer fatal injuries and two others, The Station and Kiss An Angel, to lose jockeys David Flores and Baze, respectively.

Four of the riders -- Flores, Baze, Lovato on Mr. Powerful and apprentice Mick Ruis on Pacific Pride -- were able to walk off the track. Silva, who rode Jentzen, was taken in an ambulance.

Ruis came back to win the final race on the card, his first victory at Del Mar, aboard 7-2 shot Doin’ It Easy.

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Vindication, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner and 2-year-old champion of 2002, has been retired.

Unraced because of a leg injury since Oct. 26, when he won the Juvenile, the unbeaten son of Seattle Slew had begun training for a possible start in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 25 at Santa Anita, but the decision was made Monday to retire the colt because the schedule was too tight to make the race.

“We have always held Vindication in high regard and he never once let us down,” Satish Sanan, the man behind Padua Stables, was quoted as saying. “His comeback from injury has been nothing less than remarkable and he’s continued to go to the track with zest and verve.

“But we’re really running out of time to achieve our ultimate goal, which all along has been the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Anything less than that would be an insult to our horse. He’s already proven himself a champion.”

Vindication finished his career for trainer Bob Baffert with four wins and earnings of $680,950. He won the Juvenile last fall by 2 3/4 lengths over stablemate Kafwain, who was retired this year.

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Trainer Bobby Frankel, who has won the $1-million Pacific Classic six times, has changed his mind about the two horses he’ll run in Del Mar’s signature race Aug. 24.

Milwaukee Brew, a two-time winner of the Santa Anita Handicap, is still scheduled to participate, but Medaglia d’Oro has replaced Peace Rules as the barn’s other entrant.

The switch makes Frankel even more dangerous in the 13th running of the race because there’s little doubt Medaglia d’Oro, a 4-year-old son of El Prado who was last seen winning the Whitney Handicap on Aug. 2 at Saratoga, is a better horse than the 3-year-old Peace Rules.

Like Medaglia d’Oro, Peace Rules, who won the Haskell on Aug. 3 at Monmouth Park, is owned by Ed Gann. The likely next stop for the son of Jules is the $500,000 Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 1 at Philadelphia Park. There is a possibility the purse of the race, which was won a year ago by Harlan’s Holiday, could be increased to $750,000 if the Haskell winner competes.

Another 3-year-old under consideration for the Pennsylvania Derby is Wando, who became the first horse since 1993 to win the Canadian Triple Crown when he won the $500,000 Breeders’ Stakes on Saturday.

Less than two weeks before the Pacific Classic, the only other horses considered probable are unbeaten Candy Ride and Kudos.

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Associated Press contributed to this report.