All breakdowns are horrible, something that no one ever wants to see and something that remains a troubling issue the racing industry continues to face. So it was a horrible scene on March 14 at the Fair Grounds when the 5-year-old gelding Guaguarero (Mo Town) fractured his right front ankle in a $12,500 maiden claimer and began to lose his action about 20 yards before the wire. Somehow, well in front of the field at the time, he managed ro stagger across the wire still in front and was declared the winner. But he was euthanized after the race.But what makes the story of Guaguarero different from the rest is that this was one breakdown that maybe didn't need to be happen.It was Guaguarero's first start since a Jan. 23, 2025 $35,000 maiden claimer at Santa Anita. The horse, owned by Greg Avery, obviously had problems, and trainer Steve Sherman had his hands full. After a stay on the vet's list, Sherman believed that he had Guaguarero fit and sound enough for a race. He pointed him for a Jan. 15 $20,000 maiden claimer at Santa Anita.But, after a post-entry exam, Guaguarero was ordered scratched from the race by a regulatory veterinarian. According to Jeff Blea, the equine medical director for the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), the horse was unsound in his right front leg. It was the same right front leg that he fractured in the Fair Grounds race.The vet's decision came as a surprise to Sherman.“We did everything right,” Sherman said. “We turned him out. I did more checks with this horse than you can imagine. He passed every time until it came to that race. Sometimes people just don't like a particular horse.”Since Guaguarero was put on the vet's list in California for the second time, he would have to remain there for a minimum of 45 days before he could be allowed to race again. To have his horse sit on the sidelines and hope that the vets would eventually clear the gelding again to race was one option that Sherman had. He and Avery decided to take another route. They transferred Guaguarero to trainer Grant Forster and sent him to the Fair Grounds.“I wasn't going to argue anymore,” Sherman said, “I wasn't going to fight, I just said that the horse needed to run elsewhere.”Sherman and Avery surmised that it would be easier to get Guaguarero back into the starting gate in Louisiana than it would have been had they decided to stick things out in California. The reason? Louisiana is a state that does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA).In California, when a horse is placed on the CHRB's vet list it also goes on the HISA vet list. On the day of the fatal race at the Fair Grounds, Guaguarero was still on the HISA vet list. That meant that he would not have been permitted to run at any track that is overseen by HISA.Taking HISA out of the equation, according to Blea, tracks often deny the entry of a horse if it remains on the vet's list in another state.“(The Fair Grounds) should have reciprocated and not allowed the horse to run until it came off the California vet's list,” Blea said. “You would hope there would be some reciprocation between the states to protect the horses. Obviously, this wasn't the case.”The TDN reached out to both Fair Grounds Senior Director of Racing Jason Boulet and Racing Secretary Scott Jones to seek clarification on the matter and to ask why the entry was accepted. Neither responded to inquiries made via email or returned the publication's phone calls.Forster said that he never would have run Guaguarero had he not been convinced that the horse was sound and fit enough to run. The gelding did have four workouts at the Fair Grounds prior to the March 14 race, including a five-furlong work a week before the race that was recorded in 1:01.20.“We never had any issues with him,” Forster said. “I never had an unsound day with him. He was working every Saturday. He was working really well and had a really good gate work with Mitchell Murrill the Saturday before the race. I never had any hesitation when it came to running the horse.”Forster said that the Guaguarero was examined by a veterinarian at the Fair Grounds before being allowed to race and was cleared.“They obviously had the information on him and that's why we had to work for the vet here,” he said.“It wasn't like the horse was going bad,” Sherman said. “They worked him out of the gate, They worked him for the vet. As far as I could tell, everything was fine with the horse. Unfortunately, things happen when horses run. I know this thing doesn't look great, but the horse was not in poor condition, and I stand by that.”That a veterinarian based in Louisiana had apparently examined the horse and given Forster the go-ahead to race him, still didn't mean that he was off either the California or HISA vet's list. HISA and the CHRB do not recognize the actions taken by tracks in non-HISA jurisdictions.When asked to comment about the Guaguarero breakdown and what led to it, the reaction from HISA was firm and unapologetic.“Fair Grounds does not operate within HISA's jurisdiction and does not honor HISA's veterinary list,” said a HISA spokesperson. “I'd direct you to Fair Grounds management to further understand why they took the entry. Fair Grounds is a subsidiary of Churchill Downs Incorporated, which has four other racetracks operating under HISA's national, uniform rules and has seen the benefits in a measurably lower fatality rate than non-HISA tracks. It is very discouraging that the entry was accepted and resulted in a fatality, an entirely preventable, tragic situation.”It was a “tragic situation.” That's one point that is inarguable. There is more than one side to this story. There is HISA's side and there are the contentions made by Sherman and Forster attesting to the horse's soundness. Both have solid reputations.But the fact remains that Guaguarero died on the racetrack. That's what really matters. He was owed more.The post Did the System Fail a Horse Named Guaguarero? appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.