Editorial

Contender ‘Wild On Ice’ Euthanized Just Days Before Kentucky Derby

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Wild On Ice, who won three out of five lifetime races, was unfortunately euthanized Thursday after he suffered an injury to his left hind leg during training. [Twitter/Screenshot/Public — @TVG]

Public/Screenshot/Twitter — @TVG

Andrew Powell Sports and Entertainment Blogger
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We have some extremely sad news out of the horse racing world.

Wild On Ice, who won three out of five lifetime races, was euthanized Thursday after he suffered an injury to his left hind leg during training at Churchill Downs. The horse was set to race in the Kentucky Derby, which is scheduled for Saturday, May 6.

While galloping on the back stretch, the three-year-old was pulled up by the jockey after running five furlongs, the horse’s owner, Frank Sumpter, told the El Paso Times.

Wild On Ice traveled to a Lexington facility after being evaluated at Churchill Downs, where the decision was made to put him down.

“Wild On Ice gave us so many great moments,” Sumpter said. “He’ll forever be remembered. It’s a sad situation. My heart goes out to the team, trainer Joel Marr and everyone who helped us get to this point. These horses give us so many great moments in life and our team puts in so many hours taking care of the horses. He had a fracture in his hind leg and it was determined he couldn’t be saved. Wild On Ice had so much heart.”

Man, I hate when stuff like this happens. (RELATED: Atlanta Braves Forced To End ‘Big Hat’ Celebration After New Era Issues Complaint)

I teared up when a similar thing happened to Barbaro and he was euthanized.

I love horses and I love horse racing, and this is just one of the negative parts of a beautiful sport.