26 dead at Arlington

no not the National Cemetary.
But in Illinois.

Jim O' Donnell's article:

BY JIM O'DONNELL Staff Reporter


After a brief respite, the endless summer of tragedy and pathos at Arlington Park continued Sunday.

Two thoroughbred race horses broke down in separate spots during the running of the second race and had to be destroyed. The double mishap brought the total of horses now dead from running at Arlington this season to at least 26 with scores of others sidelined or retired because of running-related maladies suffered at the beleaguered northwest suburban plant.

In a terse statement, Arlington Park president Roy Arnold said: ''We have been informed by the state veterinarian that both horses -- No. 3 Our Memento and No. 9 Big Attlet -- that were injured in the second race ... had to be humanely euthanized due to catastrophic leg fractures, and, in accordance with Illinois Racing Board procedure, will be sent to the University of Illinois for necropsy examination to try to determine the cause of injury.''

The latest deaths came only 10 days after the second outside consultant retained by the Illinois Racing Board since mid-July declared the dirt surface ''safe.'' The 26 confirmed deaths all happened because of injuries suffered on the dirt surface.

Last season, for the track's full four-month run, only eight such humane euthanizations took place because of injuries suffered on the dirt surface; four more deaths were recorded because of injuries sustained on the Arlington turf course. The current Arlington meet began 3-1/2 months ago and has another 3-1/2 weeks to run.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/horse/cst-spt-arl21.html