Exercise rider dies in training accident at Churchill Downs
![The Churchill Downs stand](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fs3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com%2Fprod-media-racingpost%2Fprod%2Fimages%2F169_1008%2Fc63b9d22d3ac-51776.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
Odanis Acuna, a work-rider for prominent US trainer Kenny McPeek, died in a training accident on Saturday morning at Churchill Downs in Kentucky.
Acuna, a 42-year-old Cuban who had been working for McPeek for around a decade, incurred fatal head and neck injuries after an unraced two-year-old he was breezing broke down in both front legs, according to the trainer.
Quoted by Daily Racing Form, McPeek said: "Obviously everyone is extremely upset about this.
![Trainer Kenneth McPeek](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fs3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com%2Fprod-media-racingpost%2Fprod%2Fimages%2F169_1008%2Fd0f21f6685a3-23085.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
"Odanis was a fantastic person and one of the hardest-working people you'll ever meet. It's a real tragedy."
The two-year-old New York Harbor had to be put down and breezing at Churchill Downs was cancelled for the remainder of the morning.
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