Horse dies after race on Black-Eyed Susan Day ahead of Preakness Stakes

A horse has died after a race on Friday as part of Black-Eyed Susan Day, an event that occurs in the run-up to the Preakness Stakes. Hit Zero, a three-year Maryland-based thoroughbred, died shortly after making his racing debut during the first race of the day.

Hit Zero was the favorite heading into the Maiden Claiming, which kicked off Friday’s events, but finished last. Shortly afterwards, Hit Zero started coughing, collapsed to his knees and died, per WBAL.

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Later on Friday, Hit Zero’s owner, Justin Horowitz, confirmed the horse’s death in a post on Instagram.

“It is with deepest sadness that I have to announce the death of my beautiful horse, Hit Zero. After his debut race today at Laurel Park, he suffered a sudden medical event and passed away. What was supposed to be a dream-come-true day to kick off his career—on my son’s 6th birthday no less—ended in the tragedy that every horse lover fears,” Horowitz said.

In the post, Horowitz said that Hit Zero was named in honor of his 10-year-old daughter Bailey, with the horse named after a cheerleading term for a perfect routine. Per Horowitz, Bailey was at the race track on Friday to watch Hit Zero’s race.

Hit Zero was trained by Brittany Russell, a prolific trainer who had 11 horses compete on Black-Eyed Susan Day across a variety of events. Another of Russell’s horses, Bold Fact, ended up winning the race. In total, 14 races took place on Friday, including the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, the marquee race of the pre-Preakness event.

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Normally, both competitions are hosted at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. However, due to renovations at Pimlico this year, Black-Eyed Susan Day and the Preakness are both being held at Laurel Park, a race course southwest of Baltimore.

Though the race is not taking place at Pimlico, fatalities at the track have been relatively rare over the past few years: Only two other horses have died at Pimlico since 2022, with no fatalities in either of the past two years.