Penn National Sued After Horse Death Linked to Tail Tied to Starting Gate

Posted on: July 1, 2024, 11:04h. 

Last updated on: July 1, 2024, 11:23h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More

Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

Horserace trainer Erin Carpio is suing Penn Entertainment claiming its employees’ negligent treatment of her horse, Sir Steele, led to his untimely death.

Sir Steele suffered a severe injury before a race at Penn National Race Course in Granville, Pa. on Aug. 16, 2003, and was ultimately euthanized. That’s after racetrack employees tied the six-year-old gelding’s tail to the starting gate.

Racing officials sometimes clamp a horse’s tailbone onto the rear gate to calm it if they feel it is likely to thrash. But Carpio says she had asked Penn National staff not to employ this tactic earlier in the summer because of Sir Steele’s sensitivity.

Horse Panics

When the horses were being loaded into the gate in the eighth race at Penn National on August 16, Sir Steele’s jockey told the assistant starter three separate times not to tie his tail, according to the lawsuit.

Nevertheless, the order was given to do so, which caused the horse to panic and become stuck under the gate, which resulted in injury, the complaint alleges.

“Fracture was able to be displaced on palpation. Discharge from the stretched skin proximal to the anus. Complete palpation not performed due to severe swelling. Imaging [confirmed] complete, displaced fracture of right zygomatic arch [around eye]; complete, comminuted, displaced vertebra fracture,” the report stated.

‘Unresponsive to Sedation’

The next day, Sir Steele, who had a history of exertional rhabdomyolysis (muscle breakdown), was showing generalized signs of moderate to severe pain that required sedation.

Over the next 12 hours, Sir Steele’s pain “became progressively worse and [he] became unresponsive to sedation,” according to the report. Euthanasia was recommended and carried out on August 19.

The suit names Eric Johnston, Penn National’s director of racing, head starter Lindy Riggs, assistant starter Freddy Diaz, and William Otero, a Penn National employee.