Horse dies after racing at Keeneland Friday. It’s the third death during the Spring Meet.

A horse was euthanized after being injured in a race at Keeneland on Friday.

Keeneland officials confirmed Saturday that the 4-year-old filly Amandine “sustained a catastrophic injury” during the eighth race.

“The loss of one horse is one too many, and we express our deepest sympathy to the connections of Amandine,” Bob Elliston, Keeneland’s vice president of racing and sales, said in a statement.

It’s the third death during Keeneland’s 2019 Spring Meet.

Cathedral Reader broke a leg and was euthanized on April 6, and Mandel was put down after an injury April 10, WKYT reported.

“Please be assured that Keeneland is pursuing every measure to protect these animals,” Elliston said in a statement. “Through ongoing research, evaluation and dialogue with our racing and regulatory partners at both state and national levels, we continue to seek improvements to make conditions as safe as possible for horse and rider.”

Racing fatalities have risen significantly recently, which has prompted action on several fronts.

Since December, 23 horses have died at Santa Anita, which led the Los Angeles district attorney to begin an investigation.

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association announced this week that it is investing $100,000 to set up a new laboratory at the University of Kentucky to study track surface safety.

And veterinarians, legislators and racing industry officials have begun looking at a relatively new class of osteoporosis drugs for a possible connection to the problem.

Amandine, trained by Jeff Mullins and ridden Friday by Joel Rosario, was sired by Shamardal out of Kissable, according to SkySports.

She had career earnings of $151,584 in 17 starts and had earned $6,000 in three starts this year, according to Equibase.

This story was originally published April 20, 2019 at 1:43 PM.