Abuse arrives in various forms:
On January 10th at Turfway in Kentucky, trainer David Hunt (for Wanda Ward) took his 6-year-old mare Pass Me a Drink into battle, battle, in this case, being a horserace worth $7,500. Four days later at Beulah in Ohio, Pass Me a Drink was run again, this time for a purse of $7,100. Perhaps not coincidentally, both races paid first through last. (Pass Me a Drink finished second-to-last both times.) Two races in two states in 91 hours.
On April 17th at Sam Houston, 2-year-old (barely, at that) Quarter Horse Lm Cold Piece, trained and owned by Levi Mays, ran his very first race. Finishing 6th (of 8), Lm Cold Piece’s official line was “no menace, bled.” An equine babe bleeds from his lungs because some men thought it acceptable to whip-race him at breakneck speed. This is horseracing.
I am following Pass Me A Drink as is Joy Aten. Is a horse’s life worth a few hundred dollars? Apparently to many in racing, it is. I hope this mare makes it out of racing in one piece.
An equine babe bleeds from his lungs because some men thought it acceptable to whip-race him at breakneck speed.
I couldn’t say it better. You nailed this atrocity perfectly.
Sluggette, a 7 year old maiden, runs on April 7th, April 21st, and again today, the 28th at Beulah Park. Her connections are none other than George Iacovacci and Kelly Spanabel. By the way, she is still a maiden. I pray she makes it out of racing in one piece.
It – the abuse in horseracing – never, never ends. All of their names…we read them, maybe look them up on Equibase, try to visualize what they look like and what their personalities are like…it all makes me so incredibly sad. And try as we do to make certain horses like Pass Me a Drink don’t just disappear, it’s almost always a battle.