Casualty list

In one sense, it has been a rough start to the Saratoga meet. On Saturday, two horses suffered breakdowns that proved fatal: Zamjara, a 3-yearold Bellamy Road colt in the first race, and Rootformejustin, a 4-year-old Harlan’s Holiday gelding, in the fifth. The two fatalities are one fewer than the total for all of last year’s meet. In addition, there was the career-ending injury to Stradivari during training last Friday.

The situation has been even worse at Del Mar, where there have been two racing fatalities and at least three training deaths since Friday.

According to statistics compiled by The Jockey Club, racing fatalities dropped fairly significantly between 2014 and 2015. When horses die at high-profile tracks such as Saratoga and Del Mar, however, overall statistics tend to lose their meaning. Steven Crist, whose retirement from Daily Racing Form was announced last week.

Crist has worn many hats during the nearly 40 years since he began covering racing for The New York Times in the late seventies. At one time or another, he has been an eloquent voice on almost any topic related to racing. Here is a paragraph from his New York Times story on the tragic deaths of Go for Wand, Mr. Nickerson and Shaker Knit in the 1990 Breeders’ Cup at Belmont Park.

“No one who saw Go for Wand break down will ever forget it and no one should. For those who watch few races, it may be a long while before they can bring themselves to watch another. For those whose life this is, the tears shed Saturday were not just for Go for Wand, but for others who were never as fast but who tried just as hard, their reach exceeding their grasp.” Day 4 2016 Handle: $2,208,853.60 Attendance: 17,859 2015 Handle: $2,134,444 Attendance: 18,448