21 Of Venezuelan Millionaire Victor Vargas’ Polo Ponies Drop Dead From Poisoning

21 polo ponies collapsed and died from toxin-related heart failure before a Palm Beach polo match on Sunday, sparking rumors that the poisoning might have been intentional and an attack on their tycoon owner, Venezuelan millionaire Victor Vargas.

Victor Vargas, 57 year-old owner of Venezuelan bank Banco Occidental de Descuento is infamous both for his lavish lifestyle and for his ties to Venezuela’s President, Hugo Chavez. He was born to powerful parents and then married young into an extremely rich Venezuelan family, through which he became related to Juan Carlos, the King of Spain. He was interviewed in the Wall Street Journal in January 2008 where he dropped this gem of a quote, “People write stories about me saying I have a Ferrari, a plane, a yacht. But it’s not true. I’ve got three planes, two yachts, six houses.” Nice.

It can at least be said that he has some sort of a heart, as onlookers reported that he had tears in his eyes and “held [the horses] in his hands” as he watched so many of them sicken and die–although if we had just lost over $1.5 million (each of the 21 horses was worth around $100,000) we’d probably be crying too.

The horses, all from Vargas’ high-ranked Argentine polo team “Lechuza Caracas” started to get sick around 2:15 pm right before the match was scheduled to begin. Veterinarians on the polo ground said that the horses were starting to stumble and were having trouble breathing, until finally many of them collapsed despite the best efforts of vets and volunteers. None of the horses who fell ill survived. Vets on the scene said that the horses had suffered from fluid in the lungs and heart failure, and that the reaction was probably caused by a toxin in their food or bedding-the vets determined with certainty that it was not an infectious disease or anything that could have come from their origin in Venezuela. Palm Beach veterinarian Scott Swerdlin also dismissed the idea of intentional poisoning, saying there was “zero possibility” of that and calling the mere suggestion “very far-fetched.”

But in the high-stakes world of polo, where vast wealth and vast egos come together, would it really be so outlandish to imagine that someone might try to take a swipe at Vargas? His team was rated as one of the best in the world and was seen as somewhat of a favorite for the 2009 U.S. Open Polo Championships–and if competition wasn’t enough of a motive then Vargas’ polarizing position as an extravagant millionaire and friend of Chavez’s might have been. One commenter on the Palm Beach Daily News’ article seemed pretty confident that the deaths weren’t accidental, as they wrote: “This is obviously an intentional poisoning in retaliation for Mr Vargas’ close relationship with the Chavez government.” So who would want to hurt someone for having ties to Chavez? Well for starters, the entire Bush administration, but we don’t think they’re in the habit of going around poisoning horses for personal revenge. Vargas must have enemies in the business world but so far, none have been implicated. The results of the necropsies performed on the horses will come back in about a week but until then, investigators won’t know if their deaths were accidental or intentional.

Lechuza Caracas polo pony death toll hits 21 after horses fall ill in Wellington [Palm Beach Daily News]
Wicked-rich owner of dead ponies has local ties [Page 2 Live]