Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. is reinstated by Churchill Downs after deaths of 2 horses
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Churchill Downs reinstated trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. on Friday, nearly two months after indefinitely suspending him when two of his horses died suddenly at the home of the Kentucky Derby.
Joseph is allowed to enter horses in races and apply for stalls at all Churchill Downs Inc. tracks immediately.
The decision comes after an investigation by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and the release of necropsy reports of the two horses that died under Joseph’s care.
Necropsies did not find any conclusive causes, according to the commission website. Sudden deaths are rare and the causes often unexplainable.
“We remain deeply concerned about the condition of Parents Pride and Chasing Artie that led to their sudden death,” said Bill Mudd, president and COO of Churchill Downs Inc. "However, given the details available to us as a result of the KHRC investigation, there is no basis to continue Joseph’s suspension.”
Stewards scratched Lord Miles from the Kentucky Derby two days before the May 6 race after the sudden deaths of Parents Pride and Chasing Artie over a 72-hour span in the days leading up to the Derby. Joseph was suspended on May 4.
They were two of 12 horse deaths at Churchill Downs during its spring meet and in the days leading up to it. The meet was moved to Ellis Park in western Kentucky in early June and it ends Monday.
Joseph has been entering races at his base at Florida's Gulfstream Park. He is also competing in New York.
The 36-year-old third-generation trainer from Barbados had said he was fully cooperating with investigators from the commission and Churchill Downs.
“The horses get great care and we do our best to prevent these kind of things, but they still happen,” Joseph said in May. “A lot of times in those sudden deaths you never get answers.”
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