Kentucky Derby races on amid 7th death, scratched favourite

A star-crossed Kentucky Derby lost its early favourite when Forte was scratched and two more horses died, making it seven in all, at Churchill Downs earlier Saturday, further blows to a sport already reeling from a series of doping suspensions and breakdowns.

"This is part of racing and it's the cruel part," Mike Repole, co-owner of Forte, said in an interview with FanDuel TV.

Forte was the fifth scratch from the Derby in the days leading up to the $3 million US race for 3-year-olds. Chloe's Dream, a three-year-old gelding, and Freezing Point, a three-year-old colt, were injured in their races on the Derby undercard, becoming the sixth and seventh horses to have died at Churchill Downs in recent days.

The string of horse deaths cast a pall for some Derby-goers on a mostly cloudy and warm day.

Chloe's Dream got hurt in the second race Saturday. The horse was taken off in an equine ambulance with a right front knee injury and was euthanized, trainer Jeff Hiles confirmed to The Associated Press.

"He just took a bad step out there," Hiles said. "They could do the same thing running in the field as they could on the track. So it's very unfortunate. That's what we deal with."

Freezing Point suffered a left ankle injury in the Pat Day Mile and was euthanized, trainer Joe Lejzerowicz told the AP. He said Fort Bragg, who finished third, came over and slammed into Freezing Point during the race.

"He just got bumped in the backstretch," Lejzerowicz said. "He never took a bad step or bobble. He had a big heart."

New anti-doping and medication rules enforced by a central governing body of the sport are scheduled to take effect May 22.

"There's something going on," said Pat Murtha, who was attending his first Derby. "They need to find