Friday at Aqueduct, eight-year-old Slight Fever “was found dead in his stall after having been treated for colic.” For Joseph DeMola, a graded stakes winning-trainer, this represents no great loss – in four years under DeMola, Slight Fever earned less than $50,000, or roughly 3% of the trainer’s career total. As with any “non-racing” death, there are questions, which, of course, shall remain unanswered. For me, though, I can’t help but think that an eight-year-old claimer’s aftercare is monitored just a tad less than a two-year-old rising star’s. In other words, this poor horse needn’t have died this way, scared and not a soul around to assuage his suffering. This is horseracing.
Now he will not suffer anymore. How was he “treated” for colic ? He should have, at least, been given pain meds around the clock. You can bet he was in a lot of pain. However, he was costing money alive and money, not the horse, is the focus in racing.
RIP Slight Fever…you lived life for nothing but the wants and needs of others. Your death is something I don’t even want to think about. But we must know with our minds and see with our eyes what the horses that have suffered and died in the name of sport have endured with their bodies.
Slight Fever, never forgotten.
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN,
MY NAME IS PETER DALY. I SELL RACE HORSE PRODUCTS TO MANY TRAINERS ON THE BACK SIDE INCLUDING MR. JOE DEMOLA. JOE HAS EMPLOYED THE BEST GROOMS INSIDE THE TRACK. SANTIAGO & JOE CARE VERY DEEPLY FOR THEIR HORSES. I KNOW JOE PERSONALLY BIRTHED SLIGHT FEVER. HE RAISED HIM, CARED FOR HIM THROUGH COMMON INJURIES THAT HAPPEN ON THE TRACK, BROUGHT HIM BACK TO HEALTH, AND WAS STILL RACING AT THE AGE OF 8. I HAVE A HORSE WITH JOE. SHE IS RECOVERING FROM AN INJURY, AND WE HOPE TO RACE HER IN THE NEAR FUTURE. PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT SOMETHING BEFORE THEY START ACCUSING SOMEONE OF WRONGFUL BEHAVIOR. SLIGHT FEVER’S DEATH WAS HEART BREAKING FOR JOE. JOE WAS IN FLORIDA AT THE TIME, LOOKING FOR HORSES WHEN THIS UNFORTUNATE DEATH HAPPENED. SANTIAGO, THE HORSES GROOM, WAS WITH THE HORSE WHEN HE DIED. THE HORSE WAS CARED FOR TO THE BEST OF THEIR ABILITY. WHEN THE HORSE WAS UNCOMFORTABLE, HE WAS GIVEN MEDICATION FOR RELIEF AND IN THE CARE OF A COMPETENT VETERINARIAN. WHEN THE HORSE COLIC’S, THEY CAN DIE RATHER QUICKLY, AND THAT WAS THE CASE WITH SLIGHT FEVER.
SO UNDERSTAND ONE THING HERE PLEASE, WITCH HUNTS OFTEN PUT THE WRONG PERSON TO BURN AT THE STAKE. WHO EVER WROTE THESE DETRIMENTAL BLOGS ABOUT JOE DEMOLA, OWES HIM A SINCERE APOLOGY.
Peter/Chrissy: This blog serves a single purpose – to promote the complete eradication of horseracing. Nothing less. If this is a witch-hunt, the witch is racing itself, not individual and largely irrelevant trainers. No apology is forthcoming.
Just for the sake of conversation.. It states above “this poor horse needn’t have died this way, scared and not a soul around to assuage his suffering” Now, correct me if I am wrong, but if there was not a soul around, how would anyone know he died alone?.. If you are going to accuse someone of wrong doings, it may be a good idea to base your posts on facts. To me, this is nothing but hear say. I would have to agree to the Witch Hunt Statement.
One more time, since either you didn’t read the entire post or did and conveniently ignored what came before: The NYS Gaming Commission database says that Slight Fever was “found dead in stall.” The operative phrase here is “found dead,” not found dying. Alone. My post is based on facts as reported by the state.
Not to fan the flames here, but this is the same Joe DeMola that was hooked up with Paraneck’s Ernie Paragallo for a period of time. I’m sure they didn’t want this horse to die of colic. But considering that each barn at Aqueduct houses a large number of racehorses … there should be night watchmen to check on them. The bigger barns do have a night watchman, but not a trainer with 3-8 horses. There are security guards who walk around the barns and do a building check, but what would have helped this horse … a lot more than pointing fingers at a trainer who was home sleeping at the time … was to have someone around to make sure everything is in order throughout the night. Alas, I too hope he didn’t suffer too long. That’s not a good death.
STOP RACING! LET THESE HORSES LIVE. GREEDERS STOP BREEDING. NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT MONEY FOR GOODNESS SAKE.