Swale

[Riot]

Sports Illustrated

June 25, 1984

Suddenly A Young Champion Is Gone

Just eight days after his great Belmont victory, Swale, the top 3-year-old in the country, fell dead

By William Leggett

At 6:25 Sunday morning, Swale, the Kentucky Derby and Belmont winner, went out for a routine 1 1/4 -mile gallop around Belmont Park. He was not scheduled to race again until early September. Swale felt comfortable under his regular exercise rider, Ron McKenzie. "He went just the way he always did," said McKenzie afterward, "kind and willing." Less than half an hour later one of the most famous and valuable horses in the United States was dead.

After the gallop Swale returned to the backstretch, where, as usual, he was hosed off. Suddenly, the dark bay colt reared and fell over backward. He was most likely dead before he even hit the ground. Swale twitched a few times, then lay still. "It was probably just nerves," said Phil Gleaves, an assistant to trainer Woody Stephens, referring to those last movements. "I have never seen a horse die like that before. And Lord knows, I never want to see it again, or anything like it."

At first, a massive heart attack or a ruptured aorta was believed to have been the cause of Swale's death, but an autopsy performed Sunday afternoon failed to reveal any damage to the heart or the aorta. In fact, the pathologists weren't sure what had caused the death of what must have been one of the fittest race horses in the country. No evidence of foul play was found. Burial was to have taken place Monday at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky., where Swale was foaled and, had he lived, would probably have entered stud service in 1986. But it was postponed, and the body was shipped to the New Bolton Center, a veterinary hospital in Kennett Square, Pa., for further study. "He was never sick one day of his life," Stephens had said earlier. "He never even took an aspirin."

Continued
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...2220/index.htm

New York Times, July 11, 1984
Note the writer

TESTS FIND FLAWS IN HEART OF SWALE

By STEVEN CRIST (The New York Times); Sports Desk

July 11, 1984, Wednesday

Pathologists have discovered evidence indicating that Swale, the winner of the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, may have died of heart failure. A statement issued late yesterday by the New Bolton Center of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Science, where extended tests had been run on samples and organs from Swale's body, said that an area of fibrosis on his heart had been discovered in recent days. The statement said that Dr. Helen Acland, the center's head pathologist, had ''found a very small area of fibrosis'' below the aortic valve and that ''lesions of this type can produce an arrhythmia in the heart, which can be fatal.'' Telephone calls to the center last night went unanswered. But, in an interview with United Press International, Dr. Peter Mann, a senior pathologist at the center, said, ''We can't say, 'Yes, this killed Swale,' but it's possible.''

1984 Newspaper article that talks about various causes of sudden death in Swale, and race horses, including "toxicity" (septicemia, although Colitis X wasn't recognized at that time as a disease entity)

http://news.google.com/newspapers?ni...pg=5399,257352

[Riot]

Swale's groom wrote a book:

Groom Heard Horse Whisper Swale Death Saves Author
BY VIC ZIEGEL

Monday, August 03, 1998

ON THE COVER of Michael Klein's stunning memoir, "Track Conditions," (Ballantine) the race has been run and the writer is leading his horse back to the barn.

The horse is Swale, who won the 1984 Kentucky Derby and Belmont and died nine days later, and saved Klein's life.

It's a movie, but not "National Velvet." Not even close.

"The sub-title should be, 'How I Stopped Drinking,' " Klein says, "but I didn't want anybody to think it was a how-to book. It's the story of how my drunken life culminated with this incredible horse. It was the one thing that kept me alive. If I had stayed in New York, I'd probably have gotten AIDS and died. His death changed me. His death shocked me into sobriety."

http://articles.nydailynews.com/1998...m-fame-trainer

[Riot]

Gluck Equine Research Center, 2006

"Heart Attack and Heart Disease in Horses"

Discussion of sudden death in horses, including "Swale Syndrome" (yes, it's a named "disease process" recognized in veterinary medicine) and how there are often detailed pathology found that makes such deaths more specifically determinant of a cause. In other words, what can be wrong when a horse just "drops dead" of non-traumatic causes, and no other organ system dysfunction is apparent.

http://www.ca.uky.edu/gluck/q_oct10.asp

[Indian Charlie]

The Know-It-All speaks The Gospel Truth again.

Are you patting yourself on the back, as usual?

You are dead nuts wrong, not that you ever care about anything besides thinking you are right.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

The Know-It-All speaks The Gospel Truth again.

Are you patting yourself on the back, as usual?

You are dead nuts wrong, not that you ever care about anything besides thinking you are right.

Do you have something to say about the "secret" way Swale really died, or not? Spill the beans, Mr. Insider.

I made no comment whatsoever on your claim. I just posted what is "commonly accepted" by the rest of the world right now (which, you'll notice, varies and isn't even definitive regarding his cause of death) without even giving my personal opinion of the truth of that or not.

So back off on starting crap with me for no reason. Take your insecurities elsewhere.

You interrupted the Paynter thread with your Swale conspiracy theories. Here's a thread all for you, with the ignorance of the rest of the world laid bare as a foundation. Go for it! Tell us of the secret way Swale died!

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by Riot

Do you have something to say about the "secret" way Swale really died, or not? Spill the beans, Mr. Insider.

You are right about one thing. I should have kept my mouth shut, because of small minded, Kool-Aid drinking fools who believe every word uttered or printed by mass media.

Originally Posted by Riot

I made no comment whatsoever on your claim. I just posted what is "commonly accepted" by the rest of the world right now (which, you'll notice, varies and isn't even definitive regarding his cause of death) without even giving my personal opinion of the truth of that or not.

You say the above, then follow up with this below...

Originally Posted by Riot

So back off on starting crap with me for no reason. Take your insecurities elsewhere.

So, let me get this straight. I'm the one starting crap with you for no reason, yet you start a thread devoted to how Swale allegedly died? Uh, yeah, you really weren't making a comment whatsoever! You are so full of shid, and the sad thing is, you don't even know it.

As for my insecurities, you are the one who started this, not me. Go look in the mirror. With the grace of God, hopefully you don't like what you see.

Originally Posted by Riot

You interrupted the Paynter thread with your Swale conspiracy theories. Here's a thread all for you, with the ignorance of the rest of the world laid bare as a foundation. Go for it! Tell us of the secret way Swale died!

So, you now admit you did start a thread all for me! Which is it? Were you making a comment, or not, about what I said?

Talk about insecurities! I was in no way trying to expose anyone's ignorance, or laying bare any foundations, or whatever awful metaphors you want to throw at me. It is telling, however, how you reacted.

What I did do? I made a very clear statement in my one response to Merlinsky, but you, you have no idea how to read subtlety at all. In one brief sentence, I said more than you ever have with all of your mindless drivel, quoting the same old sources that say nothing at all.

I've come to realize you are nothing more than a shrill shill like creature.

My apologies to creatures everywhere.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

You are right about one thing. I should have kept my mouth shut, because of small minded, Kool-Aid drinking fools who believe every word uttered or printed by mass media.



You say the above, then follow up with this below...



So, let me get this straight. I'm the one starting crap with you for no reason, yet you start a thread devoted to how Swale allegedly died? Uh, yeah, you really weren't making a comment whatsoever! You are so full of shid, and the sad thing is, you don't even know it.

As for my insecurities, you are the one who started this, not me. Go look in the mirror. With the grace of God, hopefully you don't like what you see.




So, you now admit you did start a thread all for me! Which is it? Were you making a comment, or not, about what I said?

Talk about insecurities! I was in no way trying to expose anyone's ignorance, or laying bare any foundations, or whatever awful metaphors you want to throw at me. It is telling, however, how you reacted.

What I did do? I made a very clear statement in my one response to Merlinsky, but you, you have no idea how to read subtlety at all. In one brief sentence, I said more than you ever have with all of your mindless drivel, quoting the same old sources that say nothing at all.

I've come to realize you are nothing more than a shrill shill like creature.

My apologies to creatures everywhere.

Ohfercripessakes, get a grip on reality, Shirley. You are too paranoid. You are not that important

You went off about the "secret" way Swale died. You were crapping up Paynter's thread.

I started a separate thread about Swale, and just posted the original article, the original on the autopsy, the interesting fact the groom wrote a book (which I didn't know about, I might buy it), and the "current knowledge" on what may or may not have killed Swale.

You are free to post your theory. Go for it!

Who knows? I might even believe your secret mysterious theory. I've not said one way or the other.