The following racehorses were casualties on American tracks last week:
Monday
Tyme Champ, Beulah, race 1, “in distress,” vanned off
Henry Is Henry, Fair Grounds, race 2, “in heat distress,” vanned off
Streaked Face Bay, Hialeah, race 3, bled
Kenni Rae, Oaklawn, race 1, vanned off
He’s Not Too Shaby, Santa Anita, race 9, confirmed dead
Gracias, Turf, race 2, broke down
Elle Cee Dee, Turf, race 7, bled, vanned off
Tuesday
Dashing Yes Perry, Sunland, race 2, vanned off
Pressing On, Sunland, race 11, vanned off
Here It Tiz, Turf, race 3, vanned off
Wednesday
Salesman, Delta, race 8, vanned off
Grace by Moonlight, Tampa Bay, race 4, vanned off
A Mere Corona, Turf, race 1, bled, vanned off
Thursday
Sum Royal, Charles Town, race 2, broke down
Hilarium, Oaklawn, race 2, “returned bleeding”
Smarten Destiny, Oaklawn, race 5, “pulled up lame,” vanned off
Getting Birdie, Tampa Bay, race 8, vanned off
Friday
Ya No Esta, Calder, race 3, vanned off
Pom Pom Power, Calder, race 5, bled
Southern Safari, Gulfstream, race 4, vanned off
All Tanked Up, Hawthorne, race 3, “pulled up in some distress,” vanned off
No Mistress, Los Alamitos, race 5, vanned off
Blockout, Oaklawn, race 9, vanned off
Neverwherecauseway, Santa Anita, race 3, vanned off
Saturday
Andromeda’s Coming, Aqueduct, race 3, “fell heavily,” vanned off
Pleasant Shaker, Aqueduct, race 3, “fell heavily”
Grant Us Peace, Charles Town, race 1, vanned off
Miss Palatine, Hawthorne, race 2, confirmed dead
Body of Evidence, Hialeah, race 2, “hit gate,” broke down
Scouts Diva, Hialeah, race 10, vanned off
Bigsweetslittlesis, Parx, race 2, “in distress,” vanned off
F M Forty One, Sunland, race 9, vanned off
Lucky Dan, Turfway, race 9, vanned off
Sunday
Elmonte Cristo, Golden Gate, race 4, vanned off
Cody O Toole, Hialeah, race 2, vanned off
Apollo Ono, Hialeah, race 6, vanned off
Chica de La Noche, Louisiana, race 7, confirmed dead
Craving Carats, Santa Anita, race 2, vanned off
Jesses On the Run, Sunland, race 5, vanned off
Ambitious Dancer, Tampa Bay, race 9, vanned off
Lonesome Storm, Turfway, race 4, vanned off
Currently, to this very moment, the first horse on this list, Tyme Champ, has been standing in his stall at Beulah Park without any diagnostics for his injury…an injury that his connections felt was severe enough to keep him at the track, as opposed to transporting him back to the farm. It’s been NINE days since his injury…and no diagnostics. In addition, his owner/trainer doesn’t want him anymore, nor do two other trainers at Beulah. I guess it’s no wonder his owner/trainer has not put any money into finding out why the 4 y/o gelding with only 21 starts was “in distress” during the race and needed to be vanned off…he’s just another throw-away.
How many of the other 37 horses listed here (and that is excluding the three dead horses), casualties of just 7 days, are enduring the same fate as Tyme Champ?…standing in their stalls, in pain, waiting for help that might never come? How many are already dead? How many are enroute to be slaughtered? We will never know.
Marsella Delight stood in her stall for three months. Her left front fetlock was bone on bone according to the equine vet who took X-rays. She has now crossed the Bridge but she will never be forgotten. She was only six years old – just a baby and destroyed by racing. However, as grim as racing is, it is good to know that Tyme Champ has survived the madness of racing and has left the track for good. Lucky boy to make it out alive!
Tyme Champ WAS lucky Mary…Patrick’s work, listing the horses that are racing’s “casualties”, bring attention to them and from there hopefully some of them are rescued. And Tyme Champ was. But as usual, it was NOT the racing industry that stepped up and did the right thing for this young gelding…..