A Feb. 9 barn fire at Equine Integrated Medicine veterinary clinic near Georgetown, Ky., has killed eight horses, seven of which were Thoroughbreds.
Veterinarian Clara Fenger, owner of the facility, said the cause of the fire is unknown. An investigator is scheduled to examine the property the afternoon of Feb. 9.
"We just had brand new electrical work done in the barn four years ago and it was all to code," said Fenger. She noted her husband woke up to the flames at about 6 a.m., and by that time the barn was fully engulfed.
Yearlings by Pure Prize, Successful Appeal , Mizzen Mast , and Proud Citizen were among the horses that perished. All of the horses were scheduled to be sold at the Keeneland September yearling sale. An emotional Fenger said the devastating loss of those yearlings would probably force her to leave the horse business.
Among the other horses in the barn was a pensioned broodmare named Excedent, a daughter of Exceller who Fenger had cared for the last several years. Excedent's first offspring, stakes winner Seahawk Gold (by At the Threshold), and last foal, Excedere (by Shakespeare), both of which Fenger owns and uses as show horses, were not in the barn, however.
Another off-the-track Thoroughbred, Warm Courage, a gelded son of Pistols and Roses and a "solid hunter-jumper," and his dam, Miss Red, were among the deceased horses, Fenger said.
A second barn at Equine Integrated Medicine where several in-foal broodmares were kept was not damaged by the fire.