Is it too late to answer your question Karin C?

You are correct. Each of these horses was involved in a person's death in some way.

Sportin' Life was trained by Del Carroll, who was a noted horseman who rode many of his own horses at exercise. Sportin' Life was noted as something of a rogue to handle. Early one morning in 1982, Carroll took the horse out alone to the Keeneland track; the horse came back to the barn area riderless. Carroll was found on the track unconscious with severe head injuries. It was presumed that the horse bucked him off. Carroll never recovered consciousness. Sportin' LIfe went on to sire Belmont Stakes winner Bet Twice.

Austin Mittler is the horse that Alvaro Pineda was mounted on when the horse reared in the gate and went over backwards at Santa Anita in 1975. Pineda's skull was crushed on an unpadded structural part of the gate; as a result of the accident, many starting gates were retrofitted with padding to protect against further injuries of that sort.

Drums in the Night was the horse that Robbie Davis was riding in 1988 when fellow jockey Mike Venezia's horse Mr. Walter K. broke down. Drums in the Night stepped on Venezia's head, killing him instantly. Davis was so traumatized by the accident that he gave up riding for several years, not returning to the saddle full-time until 1992. Davis retired in 2002. This year, his daughter Jackie began riding as an apprentice at Saratoga.

Please Me is the horse that George Woolf was riding at Santa Anita in 1946 when he fell and suffered head injuries, from which he subsequently died.

Working with horses of any kind is dangerous, even the tamest old dobbin being capable of causing fatal injuries. Working around racehorses is incredibly dangerous; every year there are fatalities, most of them going unnoticed to the public. I love racing, but the love that the people who actually work with racehorses have is mind-boggling as they accept the danger and compete in the sport. I happen to believe that the jockeys and exercise riders who risk their lives daily are the bravest athletes on the planet.

Wow Karin C, i can see who you are a top contributer! How do you KNOW all this stuff!