US Open Polo play resumes after Fla. horse deaths

[April 23, 2009]  WELLINGTON, Fla. (AP) -- Championship polo matches are scheduled to resume in Florida four days after 21 prized horses from a Venezuelan-owned team mysteriously died.

The International Polo Club Palm Beach plans a memorial ceremony for the dead horses after Thursday's last match at the U.S. Open Polo Championship.

Investigators are still stymied as they continue both a criminal and a medical probe. Initial tests revealed internal bleeding but no definitive cause. Authorities hope lab tests will reveal new details.

The horses belonged to the Lechuza Polo team. Team leader Juan Martin Nero told a Venezuelan newspaper that the horses were given a supplement that likely caused their deaths. The supplement is not approved for horses in the U.S. but is widely used elsewhere.

[Associated Press]

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