Have you seen this horse?

Yesterday morning, G1-winning millionaire Thorn Song was dead.  By the afternoon, he was miraculously alive.  As for today – who can say?  Let’s have a look at the chronology (as far as we know at this point):

May 25, 2009 – Thorn Song wins the Shoemaker Mile for trainer Dale Romans; it is his first win since the previous October.

July 4, 2009 – Thorn Song finishes a decent fourth in the Firecracker Handicap at Churchill Downs.

July 25th, 2009 – Thorn Song is entered in the Eddie Read Handicap, his first start for trainer Mike Mitchell, who has changed his blinkers slightly – Thorn Song bolts and is pulled up in the race.

August 2, 2009 – North American Specialty Insurance indicates this as the ‘loss date‘ in Zayat Stables horse mortality claim regarding Thorn Song.

August 13, 2009 – The DRF reports that Thorn Song has been sent to Alamo Pintado Equine Clinic with severe abscesses in both front feet; Mitchell deems the Breeders’ Cup Mile very unlikely indeed.

October 25, 2009 – North American Specialty Insurance cuts a check for $2.75 million to Zayat Stables; the check indicates it is for ‘HORSE MORTALITY THORN SONG LIMIT LESS DED.’

December 15, 2009 – Fifth Third Bank sues Zayat Stables for defaulting on two loans; the bank claims it is owed $34,265,970.

January 4, 2010 – Fifth Third Banks asks that a receiver be appointed to oversee the horses listed as collateral by Zayat Stables.

February 3, 2010 – Zayat Stables LLC files for bankruptcy protection.  Creditors include Dale Romans, Mike Mitchell and ‘veterinarians and equine clinics,’  among others.

February 9, 2010 – Fifth Third Bank claims that Zayat Stables hid the proceeds from Thorn Song’s mortality claim.

February 9, 2010 – Mitchell responds that Thorn Song is not, in fact, dead.

February 9, 2010 – Blood-Horse editor Dan Liebman suggests ‘Ahmed Zayat is exactly the type of person the Thoroughbred industry needs…’

So, what does this all mean? It would seem that the insurance company now owns Thorn Song, whose current condition is anybody’s guess; Mitchell added some more details to his previous statements, although there are no certainties:

“He was foundering in his foot. The circulation was very poor. We kept getting reports that it was getting better, then it was getting worse; it was good, it was bad. Finally, the vets told us they were going to put him down and so the insurance company paid off on the horse. But then he started to improve and they decided to keep the horse.

“As far as I know, he is alive and doing well. He is at Alamo Pintado now and he could stand. I think the insurance company took ownership of the horse.

“My boss, Mr. Zayat, spent a lot of money to keep the horse alive and safe. He did everything an owner is supposed to do.”

All quite heartwarming – but it still raises questions.  If the horse foundered (certainly not an uncommon occurrence, given his existing foot problems), why not just say so when it first happened? The loss date of August 2 was only a little over a week after Thorn Song took off in the Eddie Read – was the horse already in such bad shape that they were prepared to put him down at the time?

Granted, there can be sudden improvements and declines in these situations, and Thorn Song is by Unbridled’s Song, so the popular impression is that his feet could simply shear off at any time, but it highlights two disturbing points on the same continuum: on one end, it suggests that money (or the lack thereof) was such a concern that a week was ‘long enough’ to try to treat a valuable horse before giving up and deciding to cash in on his insurance policy?

Conversely, is he now being kept alive in order that there might be some sort of stud career payoff (for someone, for some reason) down the line?  It’s also entirely possible that the loss date is entirely notional – just a number picked out of the air to complete paperwork.

And so on to other questions – who is paying his current vet bills?  The insurance company has already parted with a large sum of money – are they willing to continue doing so?  Or has he been re-sold to a third party, or perhaps donated to the clinic for research purposes (and, one presumes, a tax write-off)? Zayat indicated that Thorn Song had been turned over to Alamo Pintado for continued treatment as part of their research program (as an ex-Penn Vet employee, I can assure you that still requires the ongoing injection of cash, even if it’s not the owner paying directly – injured horses are expensive horses, even when simply taking into account their basic care and feeding) – but under what terms?

And again – if that was the case, why keep quiet about it? Even the IEAH folk have been getting good press for their ongoing (and expensive) efforts to pull Kip Deville through his laminitis battle – if there is truly an all-out effort to save Thorn Song’s life, why not make that the narrative?  If nothing else, it’s a little good publicity in the midst of an ugly situation for all parties involved, and it could help bring in additional outside funds for the clinic.

Presumably conflicting reports will continue to trickle out as the drama between Fifth Third Bank and Zayat continues to play out, but for this small part of the picture, there are two simple questions – where is Thorn Song, and how is he doing?

Update, February 12: Thorn Song is indeed alive, and is doing much better (although he is still undergoing extensive treatment). While this is encouraging news, imagine the good will that might have been engendered with a simple press release to update all concerned about his status – perhaps now, some research money will flow.

In closing, I offer this for a bit of levity: