Horse Euthanized In Indiana, Track Safety Questioned

Indiana Downs has been shut down since Monday night after eight-year-old pacer Pilgrims Place pulled up lame in the 12th race and was later euthanized

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Pilgrims Place, a gelded son of Pilgrims Punch-Armbro Thyme who was driven by Dan Shetler Jr., is trained by Jeff Brewer and owned by Lynda Brewer and Clint Binkley of Morrow, Ohio.

The final race on Monday night was cancelled following the incident along with Tuesday’s full program of live harness racing due to complaints regarding the condition of the track. Racing has also been cancelled for Wednesday due to ongoing track maintenance.

Jon Schuster, Indian Downs general manager, told The Indianapolis Star on Tuesday that no one had complained of Monday track’s surface prior to the incident, which he says cannot be conclusively attributed to the track’s condition. With close to 200 horses out for morning workouts, Schuster felt the track was in good condition. In an interview with the Shelbyview News on Saturday, Schuster openly acknowledged issues with the race surface.

“Overall, the first week has been good. With that said, we are still working through several maintenance issues. The issue with the surface goes back to last fall, which was rainy. When you combine the snow we got in the winter and the rain we got this spring, it didn’t help us out. We are getting it better each day, and I am confident my staff will get this taken care of,” Schuster said.

Jack Kieninger, president of the Indiana Standardbred Association, said the horsemen are confident that the fatal injury was caused by the track’s condition, which featured a surface that was two inches thick. A normal racing surface measures six inches, he said.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the connections of Pilgrims Place.