Caixa Electronica Dies From Accident

good thing baffert didn't train this horse. somehow it would have been his fault they ran into each other.
am sorry to see this though. old timers like that don't come along very often.

that's because everytime he has a horse get injured, certain people on here act as if it is drug related or his fault, so I might as well throw his name into every bad situation. when the horse that broke down in the breeders cup or new years day broke down in the morning in a workout, and somehow those two deaths are still linked to the thyroid medication nonsense by people on here, then common sense goes out the window as far as im concerned. but then again this is the same fool who thinks that a guy who won two breeders cup races this year plus the Hollywood starlet and Malibu, all grade 1's in the last 2 months, and the santa ynez today, a grade 2, is washed up.

Though this is not a Baffert thread, will say he does lead the stats. He often has multiple runners which help his stats. Today, 2 of 4, 3 of 8, 2 of 8. He's the largest stable in an area with lots of small fields which helps those stats. He's also a leader on the Trainers Violations list.

Back to the thread topic - not good news:

David Grening @drfgrening
Carlos Castro, exercise rider aboard Caixa Eletronica, suffered a fractured pelvis and will need reconstructive surgery on his face.

This is not the Carlos Castro who rides at CTwon. Don't know if they're related. The last time this Castro rode in a race was 1996 which was his only year as a jock - record 5-1-1. Hope he recovers completely and goes back to riding. Sometimes we forget those who are a big part of the game, such as ex riders.

No need to travel to CA for $. The more you enter, the smaller the fields, the more chances to win and pad that meaningless bankroll LOL

Sorry Wiz - I can't stand him and think he's a trainer who needs drugs to win because he's not much of a trainer IMO of course. He's all about speed and burns out most of his horses far too soon. When was his last top 3 yr old who made it thru the year? Too many unexplained illnesses and deaths in the past 2 years and injuries. Doesn't mean I wouldn't bet him but like with O'Neill, have to factor in the drugs.

ITS NOT HARD TO EARN MORE MONEY WHEN YOU HAVE THE LARGEST BARN IN THE STATE AND WIN GRADED RACES THAT CONSIST OF NO MORE THAN 6 HORSES AND YOU HAVE THREE OF THEM. A 4 HORSE FIELD FOR A G2 IS RIDICULOUS.

This stunned me. I've seen him run a few rimes, bet him and agree that he always tried. I thought this article in The Saratogian was a nice tribute.

There should be a race named for him - for older horses. He really was special. Best wishes for recovery to Carlos Castro.

RIP Caixa Elektronica

Scott Column: Tragedy strikes at Belmont
By Jeff Scott

Racing can break your heart in all kinds of ways, and sometimes it seems like each new tragedy is worse than the last. It will be a while, however, before anything tops the freak training accident at Belmont that took the lives of Six Drivers and the popular 9-year-old Caixa Eletronica, and seriously injured exercise rider Carlos Castro.

The shock of Saturday’s tragedy begins with its awful randomness, the seemingly unconnected sequence of movements that had to occur in order for Caixa Eletronica and Six Drivers to arrive at the same spot at the same time. Had there been a few seconds’ delay at any number of points, this incident might never have taken place.

Racing and training can be dangerous enough in their everyday routines, for horses and for the people around them. When something unscripted occurs, as it did Saturday when Six Drivers tossed his rider and took off in the wrong direction, the danger level increases exponentially. Instinct takes over, and a loose horse is capable of running into anything — a fence, a tree, the side of a building or moving vehicle. And, occasionally, another horse.

Caixa Eletronica’s life approximated the plot of virtually every racing story ever written: the plain horse of humble origins who goes on to achieve big things. Caixa Eletronica didn’t win the Kentucky Derby or Breeders’ Cup Classic. He did win 23 races, though, including seven stakes, and earned over $1.8 million.Like I’ve said time and time again, to me he was everything that was good about the game,” trainer Todd Pletcher said Saturday in Daily Racing Form. “You take a horse from a modest beginning and literally get to the pinnacle of racing. He showed up every time.”

Versatility and consistency were Caixa Eletronica’s hallmarks. Although he ran primarily at distances up to a mile, he also won 3-of-5 starts at nine furlongs, including the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic in 2012. He ran equally well on wet and dry tracks, on the lead or from far off the pace. And even when overmatched in certain Grade 1s, he never stopped trying. As Pletcher said, he never ran a bad race.

One might think a horse of Caixa Eletronica’s ability, sturdiness and heart would have attracted a lot of interest from breeders. But in a market where pedigree and precociousness rule, a son of Arromanches out of a Skip Away mare — and who didn’t win his first stakes until the age of six — isn’t going to cut it with the vast majority of American stallion masters.

On Saturday, owner Mike Repole told Daily Racing Form that farms in Indiana, Oklahoma and “overseas” had expressed interest in standing Caixa Eletronica. Apparently, there had been no interest from farms in Kentucky or in Florida, where Caixa Eletronica spent the early part of his career. Or New York, where he made 26 of his last 30 starts and became one of the state’s most popular runners of recent years.

Repole said he had turned down the offers to stand Caixa Eletronica, and had intended to retire him to Old Friends at Cabin Creek outside Saratoga Springs when his racing days were over — which presumably would have been soon.

“Growing up in Queens, these are the horses I fell in love with,” said Repole. “Not the Saturday horses, but the Wednesday and Thursday horses. Caixa was that kind of horse who turned into a special horse.”

TODD P SENT VIOLENCE OUT THERE TO TAKE DOWN A G1 WITHE VERY LITTLE RESISTANCE, AND WHILE BEHOLDER WAS RUNNING AGAINST NOTHINGS, SYLVY WAS CLASHING WITH ROYAL DELTA AND CLOSED HATCHES, BEHOLDER FACED NOTHING IN CA IN THOSE RACES, SO BEFORE YOU TALK ABOUT FIELD SIZES YOU SHOULD SEE WHAT'S THE TALENT LEVEL IN THOSE RACES.