Fire at Upson Downs Kills Seven Horses

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A fire early Wednesday morning resulted in the deaths of seven horses at Upson Downs Farm near Goshen, Ky. The farm is owned by Alex and Sarah Rankin, regular consignors at Kentucky auctions.

The names of the seven horses weren't released. Alex Rankin said he arrived at the farm at 1:35 a.m. Wednesday, and the barn was burning. He said the fire apparently started sometime after midnight.

"It's a horrific thing to go through," Rankin said. "It's one of the things in this business I hoped I wouldn't be involved with."

As of Friday, the blaze still was under investigation, though Rankin did say arson and foul play had been ruled out. He said authorities had nothing definitive to report as to the cause of the fire.

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