Citaat:
Hold the Peace ran past the injured horse and won by 2 lengths, with Imperial Eyes able to make it to the finish line in second place 4 lengths clear of third-place Jet Brella. Baze then pulled up Imperial Eyes, who was able to walk into the horse ambulance but later had to be euthanized with a fracture of the cannon bone in his left front leg. The stewards conducted a 21/2-hour hearing with Baze on Saturday and considered charging him with violations of rules on use of the whip, conduct detrimental to horse racing and animal cruelty.[2] After taking a bad step in the stretch, Imperial Eyes seemed to re-gather himself. He switched leads and broke down just as Baze hit him with his whip. Imperial Eyes suffered a condylar fracture of the cannon bone above his ankle in his left front leg. He was vanned off the track and later euthanized.[8] Imperial Eyes, the 3-5 favorite, appeared headed to an easy victory after opening up by seven lengths in midstretch in the $8,000 maiden claiming event. He then took a bad step, and a few strides later, broke down in deep stretch. Baze continued to urge Imperial Eyes after the horse recovered from the initial bad step and used his whip twice. As Imperial Eyes went wrong, he was caught late and relegated to second, beaten two lengths, and was pulled up after the wire.[1] Baze was riding 3-to-5 favorite Imperial Eyes, who had a 7-length lead in midstretch of the $8,000 maiden-claiming race. Imperial Eyes took a bad step inside the sixteenth pole but recovered momentarily, and Baze hit him with his whip right-handed. A few strides later, Imperial Eyes had slowed to nearly a stop, and Baze used his whip one more time.[2]