“A Horse Died Today”: Shattered by Deaths in Saratoga, Dave Portnoy Calls Out Former Barstool Sports Worker for Insensitive Take

The $1.25 million Travers Stakes race day arrived and saw some formidable performances by the horses. At the Travers, Arcangelo won the race after preparing for the event for a month. His victory gave the trainer Jena Antonucci her second Grade 1 victory and was a historic moment for her. But, all that was shadowed by the unfortunate death of horses on the race day.

On the day of the prestigious Travers Stakes, two horses died in separate incidents in other races of the day. These deaths led to a total of fourteen deaths on the Saratoga Track this season. As the equestrian community was saddened by the news and recovering from it, Dave Portnoy –  the inventor of Barstool Sports and equestrian enthusiast – slammed his former worker for his post.

Dave Portnoy calls out former worker on equestrian tragedy

The bright day of the Travers was marred by a tragedy as two horses died at the Saratoga race track. The horses were New York Thunder and Nobel, both ridden by Tyler Gaffalione. In the wake of these deaths, an insensitive post was shared by Dave Portnoy’s former worker Rico Bosco on the social media platform X. The post was a GIF image in which a man wearing a Victorian-era English suit with a hat was striking his stick on the laying horse. Dave shared this post and slammed Bosco saying in the caption, “A horse died today Rico. Have some g*****n class“.

Dave Portnoy’s post got more than 1,100 likes and many reposts. Portnoy, an equestrian enthusiast, was devastated when NFL coach Bill Parcells’ owned Maple Leaf Mel died on the track. He share his emotion on the social media platform. The first causality of the day was Nobel, who was participating in the fifth race of the day and finished in the fifth position. However, he suffered a leg injury on his return from the track. He was euthanized on the track. The second death came in the ninth race which reminded the people of Maple Leaf Mel. New York Thunder was participating in the Jerkens Memorial and was leading the race when he suffered an injury on his left leg and fell. He was also euthanized on the track. The deaths have created an uncomfortable situation among the equestrian community with authorities assuring thorough investigation.

NYRA assures the equestrian community of its investigation

After the two horse deaths at Saratoga Racecourse, the New York Racing Association came forward and assured the equestrian community that they are “continuing to investigate these catastrophic injuries with HISA officials, the New York State Gaming Commission, and the New York State Equine Medical Director“. They also explained that they shall examine the racing track surfaces before Sunday’s races. In addition to that they are forming a committee consisting of outside experts whose work will be the analysis of present safety protocols and procedures.

Read More: Despite Assurance of Track Safety, PETA Calls for Suspension of Racing at Popular Equestrian Racecourse

The horse death is indeed disheartening and the efforts of investigating it to find a cause shall help in avoiding such catastrophe in the future.

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