Feature Image Courtesy of Patrick Mooney- Mongolian Groom on the track after the conclusion of the 2019 Breeders Cup
The 2019 Breeders’ Cup almost went off without a hitch as myself and everyone who loves the sport of kings was praying for a safe two days of racing with zero fatalities. We were 99% of the way there until the Classic and then it happened. Mongolian Groom breaking down and subsequently being euthanized as a result of the catastrophic injuries he endured.
The Paulick Report published an article releasing a report conducted by Dr. Larry Bramlage on the final outcome of Mongolian Groom following his breakdown. The article written by Natalie Voss went on to paraphrase the report written by Dr. Larry Bramlage confirming what several people including Past The Wire had already surmised from the beginning, a pre-existing injury. Read more below on the findings.
Per The Paulick Report;
The extensive pre-race veterinary screening process at the Breeders’ Cup is good, but it can be better. That’s the conclusion from top equine surgeon Dr. Larry Bramlage, who examined the circumstances surrounding the fatal injury of Mongolian Groom in the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita.
In a 25-page report released Wednesday, Bramlage noted that the extensive examination procedure had a 99.6 percent accuracy rate (since no other horses suffered fatal injuries on Breeders’ Cup weekend) but acknowledged that “there were opportunities to remove Mongolian Groom from competition that were missed due to tie constraints or process deficiencies that could be made more prominent.”
Bramlage reviewed the horse’s racing, training and medical records, notes from examining veterinarians throughout his career, and the necropsy report done after Mongolian Groom’s death. He spoke with examining and regulatory veterinarians, the horse’s connections, and track and Breeders’ Cup officials.
Seven regulatory veterinarians looked at the horse a total of ten times ahead of the Breeders’ Cup.
A full copy of the Bramlage report is available here.
The full version of this article can be seen at The Paulick Report.
