(14th August 2012)

After the death of the mare Palmaria, happened last 26th July during a harness race held at the Sesana racecourse in Montecatini Terme, we wrote a letter to Assi-Unire (the authority supervising racing in Italy) to ask if the cause of death had been discovered, if there had been an anti-doping control, and to know the results of any pre-race veterinary check up.
We remind you that Palmaria, after racing for 200 metres, began to stagger, then swerved and collapsed, dying shortly after (see the article by La Nazione). The mare was just 3 years old.

Today the publish the reply we got from an Assi-Unire officer:

«Concerning your request about the death of the mare Palmaria, I inform you I was contacted by the official veterinarian of Sesana racecourse immediately after the event.

The mare, once collapsed, showed the signs of a serious haemorrhage in her mouth and nose, probably caused by the rupture of an aneurism. Unfortunately, in this case, it wasn’t possible to proceed with anti-doping exams because, due to the serious haemorrhage, there wasn’t enough blood pressure to take a sample. Moreover, the veterinarian on service rightly preferred to use the vein to inject anti-shock and therapy fluids in the attempt to stabilize the animal and save her life.

The rupture of an aneurism, while being a rare occurrence, can cause sudden deaths on the track, without any clinical premonitory symptoms.

The mare didn’t show any anomaly walking to the track or during the warm up phase, and thus she was judged fit for racing».

The owner of Palmaria, indignant, said after the race (see link): «No respect for life. Palmaria died on the track, but nobody wanted to cancel the race. There was no sign of respect in front of such a terrible tragedy. The lights of Sesana remained lit, while my horse was shot down. And the race, without any act of mercy, was repeated shortly afterwards. The horse racing does not give good examples and the people involved deserve all the criticism».