BARDSTOWN, Ky. — Three thoroughbred horses were killed and four were seriously injured, along with their transport driver, after a Monday morning crash in Bardstown, Kentucky.
According to the Bardstown Fire Department (BFD), a tractor-trailer pulling a large equine transport coach traveling eastbound on Bluegrass Parkway crossed over to the westbound lanes for an unknown reason, then crashed into the Highway 150 bridge embankment.
“The force of the impact sheared the 5th wheel hitch allowing the trailer to crush the cab of the truck,” the BFD wrote in a Facebook post about the incident. “Crews were able to extricate the Creech Logistics driver within 30 minutes. The driver was taken to a nearby landing zone by Nelson County EMS and flown to University of Louisville hospital by Air Methods KY-6. The horses were being transported from Fairgrounds Racetrack in New Orleans, LA to Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, KY.”
Additional technical support was requested from equine emergency staff to begin the extrication of the seven horses in the transport trailer.
However, “the severe angle of the trailer and the condition of the horses inside led to a decision to open the rear of the trailer and evacuate the horses one at a time,” according to the BFD post.
Specialists from Anderson County Large Animal Rescue and Jessamine County/Nicholasville Large Animal Response arrived on-scene and assisted BFD officials in the removal of the injured horses.
Bardstown Police Department Officer A.J. Lewis conducted the investigation.
Numerous veterinary doctors were on-scene, along with many other equine support staff, who were able to secure four injured horses for extrication; they removed each one individually for transport by equine ambulances supplied by Keeneland, Hagyard and Creech.
Removal of the horses took more than four hours.
Unfortunately, due to the severity of the accident, three horses did not survive their injuries.
The truck driver, who wasn’t named, suffered a severe foot injury but is expected to make a full recovery, authorities said.
No other vehicles were involved in the accident.
Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and raised in East Texas, John Worthen returned to his home state to attend college in 1998 and decided to make his life in The Natural State. Worthen is a 20-year veteran of the journalism industry and has covered just about every topic there is. He has a passion for writing and telling stories. He has worked as a beat reporter and bureau chief for a statewide newspaper and as managing editor of a regional newspaper in Arkansas. Additionally, Worthen has been a prolific freelance journalist for two decades, and has been published in several travel magazines and on travel websites.
