Maple Leaf Mel, Owned by NFL's Bill Parcells, Euthanized After Devastating Fall
Maple Leaf Mel, a three-year-old filly owned by retired Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells, was euthanized Saturday after breaking down right before the finish line at the $500,000 Test Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.
Keith McCalmont of The New York Racing Association confirmed the news and provided more information.
McCalmont later added that jockey Joel Rosario "incurred a cut to his lower lip and will visit Saratoga hospital by private vehicle for stitches but is otherwise alert and in good order."
The NYRA also confirmed Maple Leaf Mel's passing in its official race report, calling it a "catastrophic injury to the right front leg" occurring in "the shadow of the wire." She was more than a length ahead of the field at the time of the injury with only a few feet before the finish line.
Horse Racing Nation provided more information on what happened:
"The filly buckled just before the finish line of the seven-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies. She tumbled forward and rolled to her right, unseating jockey Joel Rosario and leaving him lying on his back on the finish line. The other riders managed to avoid the fallen jockey. Maple Leaf Mel, who was named after her trainer Melanie Giddings, then regained her feet and limped forward. She hobbled to the apron before she was collared by an outrider."
Maple Leaf Mel was undefeated in five starts before making her Grade 1 debut on Saturday. Parcells named after her trainer, who survived Stage 4 endocervical and ovarian cancer.
Tim Wilkin of the Times Union wrote a Sept. 1, 2021 piece on Giddings, who went through a horrific ordeal featuring "six rounds of chemotherapy, surgery, a series of 28 radiation treatments."
"I remember thinking, 'If I wake up in the morning, I am here ... if I don't, I won't,' Giddings said. She also noted that she hadn't felt well for "close to 10 years.
Giddings is now cancer free and most notably led Maple Leaf Mel to a win at Miss Preakness in May. Maple Leaf Mel's most recent win was in July at Victory Ride.
The NYRA notably produced a video highlighting the relationship between the trainer and horse.
Giddings also wrote in a diary entry (as told to Tom Pedulla of America's Best Racing) how much Maple Leaf Mel and Parcells meant to her.
"Maple Leaf Mel is the star of the stable, of course," Giddings said in part. "She would be the star of any stable. I am so grateful to Coach that he allowed me to take over her training. He's a great man. He's concerned that I'm happy and I like what I'm doing. He tells me all the time that he wants me to be successful."
The euthanization of Maple Leaf Mel marks another horse racing tragedy both at Saratoga and nationwide in recent years.
Per Alexandra Harris of the Times Union, there have been over 200 horse deaths at the track since 2009. There were also 12 horse deaths within a span of 30 days at Churchill Downs earlier this year, per C.L. Brown of the Louisville Courier-Journal. In addition, 42 horses died at Santa Anita in 2019 alone, per KCAL-TV Los Angeles.
Maple Leaf Mel's passing is unfortunately another tragedy in a sport rife with them.
