Polo Owner Wept as Horses Died in His Arms

(NEWSER) - The Florida pharmacy that prepared vitamin supplements for the 21 polo horses that died last weekend has admitted that the mixture was faulty, the Palm Beach Post reports. Franck’s Pharmacy in Tallahassee said today that the level of one ingredient in the supplement—which the polo team says was Biodyl—was incorrect. The druggist said it is cooperating “fully with the authorities as they continue their investigations.” More»

(NEWSER) - Exactly what killed 21 polo horses in Florida is not known, but details of their enigmatic owner are emerging in spades. Victor Vargas has succeeded at the tricky proposition of banking in Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela, and tried the US market—with less-than-stellar results. In 1993, he had to settle with the Fed for $1.5 million, and can’t invest here without government permission. Time takes a look at the secretive multimillionaire. More»

21 animals lost in mystery affliction

(NEWSER) - The death of 21 horses in Florida for the US Open Polo Championship yesterday remains a mystery, but a veterinarian for the Venezuelan team that owned the horses said it was unlikely they were killed by a bad reaction to steroids, the Palm Beach Post reports. "Almost certainly they don't use anabolic steroids," he said. “I’ve been in practice 50 years. I’ve never seen anything like this.” Necropsy results could come as soon as today. More»

Sources believe they reacted to tainted steroid cocktail

(NEWSER) - A mystery death claimed the lives of 14 horses from a Venezuelan team yesterday shortly before they were to compete in the US Open Polo Championship in Florida. The $100,000 horses suddenly struggled to breathe as vets fought to revive them, the Palm Beach Post reports. Onlookers wept after the animals "dropped to the grass," said a witness. Test results are pending, but sources believe the horses may have reacted to a tainted "steroid cocktail" illegally administered by the team vet to enhance performance. More»

Seven animals euthanized; competitions canceled

(NEWSER) - A mutant strain of a common horse virus has resulted in the deaths of seven animals and appears to be spreading quickly in Western states, the Wall Street Journal reports. The USDA reports suspected or confirmed cases of Equine Herpes Virus-1 at 42 stables or farms across 18 states. (The Journal says cases have been confirmed in nine of those states.) The outbreak appears to have started at a national riding competition in Utah earlier this month, and now similar competitions, rodeos, and fairground expos are being canceled. More»