Hit Zero Owner: ‘I don’t question’ care horse received before death at Laurel Park

“I guess we’ll live to fight another day,” Horowitz thought.

Horowitz stood near the paddock with Bailey, texting about the results with his partner, Evan Trommer, when his phone rang. It was a call from Frank Alosa, Horowitz’s best friend and Russell’s racing manager. Before Alosa informed him of the gut-wrenching news, he asked two questions.

Was Horowitz on speakerphone? No.

Was Bailey standing next to him? Yes.

“I need you to not respond right now,” Alosa told him. “I just need you to listen.”

Horowitz braced for disappointment, thinking Alosa might be calling to soften the result and look forward to Hit Zero’s next run. Then Alosa bluntly told him there would be no next race. Hit Zero had walked back, collapsed from what was labeled by officials as a “cardiac event,” and could not be saved by veterinary personnel. A necropsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death, according to Maryland racing officials.

Bailey was close enough to understand that something in her father’s facial expression had changed.

“He didn’t die, did he? He didn’t die, did he?” she asked aloud.

Horowitz hung up, tightly embraced his daughter and informed her of the tragedy. Hit Zero had died.

Bailey burst into tears as Horowitz tried to hold himself together for her while absorbing a sudden loss he had never experienced nor expected. He had heard about other owners losing horses and understood the risks associated with the sport. But Hit Zero was only the third horse Horowitz had owned. His first, Heldish, had done well, while his second, Monkey, never made it to the races.

Hit Zero was the horse he hoped his children could grow and fall in love with. In a tragic turn of events, on the first race of a historic Preakness weekend, the horse named after Bailey was gone.

Brittany eventually made her way back to Horowitz and Bailey after saying her goodbyes to Hit Zero on the other side of the track. She attempted to comfort the Horowitz family and offer assurance regarding Hit Zero’s health history and treatment in the lead-up to his first and only race.

“There was nothing more they could have done,” Horowitz said. “Whether I buy another horse or not, those are the type of people I want to be surrounded by in my life. This is a brutal thing that’s happened, and we’re all sad. But I don’t question the care Hit Zero received, not one bit.”

“He was truly a family horse,” Brittany wrote in a post on X. “We are heartbroken.”

All around them, Black-Eyed Susan Day continued with more races at Laurel Park, with the signature evening race won by My Miss Mo.

For Bailey, though, the racetrack no longer felt like the place where her father had tried to share his passion.

“I want to go anywhere but here, the racetrack,” she pleaded with her father. “Please, Dad, never buy another horse again.”

The roughly two-hour ride home to the Philadelphia area was mostly silent, according to Horowitz, who messaged his wife from the car, apologizing for bringing his family so fully into the sport he grew up loving.

“I’m so sorry that I wanted my family to be so into this,” Horowitz wrote. “I roped you guys into it, and got you all emotionally involved, and now this happened.”

Over the following days and weeks, Horowitz, 42, a former television reporter, expects to receive more information regarding Hit Zero’s death, though he does not question the horse’s training and development he received from the Russells.

“No one’s to blame in this, it’s … a brutal thing,” Horowitz said. “Every single person associated with him every day gave him the best care in the world. I’ve never experienced anything like this. I told Brittany’s team, ‘I don’t know what you’re supposed to do in this situation, but make sure that they do the right things for him.’

Related Articles

• Preakness 2026: My Miss Mo holds on to win Black-Eyed Susan at Laurel Park
• Horse dies after opening race Friday as Preakness weekend begins
• Preakness 2026: Friday’s race-by-race results at Laurel Park
• Laurel Park horse death Friday sparks renewed criticism before Preakness
• Preakness 2026 Q&A: DraftKings’ Johnny Avello on betting the race

“If I ever do buy another horse, the people I’d want to do it with are Brittany and Sheldon and the team of people that I’ve found in this experience. Those are the good people that make it more than just owning a horse, but really a full experience with [the Russells] that make this really meaningful in life.”

Hit Zero’s name carried the idea of a perfect routine, but what remains is the memory of a horse who was deeply loved before his first race and mourned before his family ever made it home on race day.

“Hit Zero was like family to us,” said Horowitz, “so, this is as gutting as anything could possibly be.”

Have a news tip? Contact Josh Tolentino at jtolentino@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200, x.com/JCTSports and instagram.com/JCTSports. Josh appears as a host on The Sun’s “Early Birds” podcast.