Snowden Found Dead After Prospect's Breakdown
Description:
Tragedy was compounded with more tragedy July 18 in the state of Washington.
A day after her budding star trainee, Heidi Nelson's The Chilli Man, broke down in the Emerald Express Stakes July 17 and had to be euthanized at Emerald Downs, trainer Monique Snowden was found dead in the Green River below the Kummer Bridge, which sits in an unincorporated area of King County, between the cities of Black Diamond and Enumclaw in Washington.
The King County Sheriff's Office, which discovered Snowden's body Monday, is still investigating her death and the King County Medical Examiner's office reported July 20 that the cause and manner of her death is pending that investigation.
"We're still looking into it," said Sgt. Cindi West of the King County Sheriff's Office, who also noted the presence of a truck parked near the bridge "that may belong to the victim."
The 37-year-old trainer was married to Dennis Snowden, assistant trainer for Frank Lucarelli. In the Medical Examiner's records, she is listed with her maiden name as Monique Simon, and Emerald Downs director of media relations Vince Bruun said the two were separated but still had an amicable relationship.
"She was a charming and effervescent person," Bruun said. "She was a very emotional person and would cry even if a cheap claiming horse won. That's how much she cared."
Since her first starter in 2009, Monique Snowden had a 32-32-20 record from 193 starts, but none were seemingly as exciting as The Chilli Man's June 26 run at Emerald Downs. The 2-year-old Trappe Shot gelding won his debut at Emerald Downs by an overwhelming 11 1/2 lengths.
That debut caught the eye of Dean Reeves, who was combing replays from across the country in search of juvenile talent, and he arranged a deal with Nelson to purchase The Chilli Man. Nelson, however, wanted her standout 2-year-old to make one more start at Emerald Downs before finalizing the sale.
"We were so excited about the whole thing," Reeves said. "I talked to Monique and Heidi the whole week. They were delightful people and Monique was full of life—such a wonderful young lady. I got to know her history and how much she loves her horses. There was a growing friendship."
Reeves, who came to Emerald Downs to watch The Chilli Man run with trainer Katherine Ritvo, arranged X-rays before the race and nothing showed up, but the parties agreed to finalize the deal July 18, after another round of tests.
But The Chilli Man was pulled up in the turn of the 5 1/2-furlong Emerald Express by jockey Joe Steiner and vanned off. He was later euthanized after sustaining a bilateral sesamoid fracture in his right front leg.
That was enough of a blow for Reeves, who was planning to bring The Chilli Man east to Saratoga Race Course for high-profile summer runs, but news of Monique Snowden's death was almost too much to handle.
"The whole thing—I can't come to grips with it," Reeves said. "I don't know how God lets something like this happen.
"You want these people in the horse business to just have a moment in the spotlight. They should have been able to watch the horse win, get excited, and to be able to say 'I trained that horse. I got him started.' I couldn't have figured all this—it never crossed my mind."