This weekend’s casualties:
Friday
Royal Bandit, Arapahoe, race 1, vanned off
Perry Cartel, Arapahoe, race 7, vanned off
Bounty Pink, Belmont, race 5, vanned off
Run Run Forrest, Belmont, race 7, “bang[ed] his head hard into the side of the gate,” DNF
Bold Harlan, Indiana, race 4, vanned off
Dash the Cigar, Indiana, race 10, “fell after wire,” vanned off
Shadow Heart, Prairie, race 6, “fell over the rail,” DNF
Fishy Wagon, Retama, race 8, vanned off
Quotient, Santa Anita, race 7, vanned off
Little Southern, SunRay, race 5, vanned off
Flashin the Bull, Thistledown, race 6, fell, DNF
Saturday
Laughing Alltheway, Calder, race 6, vanned off
Sabercat, Churchill, race 4, vanned off
Grilla, Churchill, race 10, vanned off
Agent Boo, Fair Meadows, race 8, “pulled up in apparent distress”
Mabee a Rose, Indiana, race 6, “stopped badly,” DNF
Indy Oaks, Indiana, race 6, “stopped suddenly while bleeding,” vanned off
J.B.’s Marquis, Louisiana, race 5, confirmed dead
Hot Necker, Mountaineer, race 5, broke down (after crossing the finish line)
San Xavier, Parx, race 1, vanned off
Break Dance, Ruidoso, race 1, vanned off
Sunday
Jess Thats Blazin, Arapahoe, race 3, bled
Lanida, Canterbury, race 4, vanned off
Lucky Fred, Fair Meadows, race 4, “pulled up in distress”
Wanna Dance, Fair Meadows, race 9, “pulled up in apparent distress,” DNF
Mi Doctora, Gulfstream, race 1, vanned off
Tiz Sexy, SunRay, race 6, vanned off
I see that Hot Necker was listed for sale thru CANTER PA in May. I guess they ended up sending him back to the track. Sad.
Right you are, Charlotte – http://www.canterusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10125:hot-necker&catid=58:pa-trainer-listings&Itemid=279. Which makes CANTER PA complicit in his breakdown.
Patrick, I believe this horse was a trainer listing and wasn’t owned by CANTER. Yes, the racing industry, which includes the owner/trainer, is complicit in this horse’s death, but I would not blame CANTER.
Mary Johnson which of the 4 “D’s” are you on right now?? Would it be denial??
CANTER sure does have some bargains. I think they would rather them break down eventing though.
Patrick if CANTER is complicit in his breakdown, wouldn’t the founder be an “accessory before the fact”??
AC, that is why she left.
She left because she is an accomplice?? I agree. She sure does wear CANTER as a Badge of Honor. The whole spiel she goes through to introduce herself every time a new person makes a comment, CANTER is certainly one of her highlights. That and trying to pawn off her book…
AC, CANTER is not the same organization she helped to found. Your accusation is spurious and unfair, and I can no longer allow you to impugn her reputation.
Patrick, when a horse breaks down you have held current owners and trainers, past owners and trainers, and the breeders as complicit. As for CANTER the founder could be considered the breeder.
What if I were to breed a Thoroughbred with no intention on racing it but I let others take it over and the horse races?? In this blog I would be liable for the safety of that animal.
Patrick you are playing favorites…
Respectfully, I disagree. Yes, past owners and trainers should be held accountable when a horse breaks down because they could have taken that horse off the track when they were in a position to do so. But that’s not remotely similar to what you’re arguing. Abraham Lincoln helped create the Republican party. Is he responsible for current policies and the consequences thereof?
Patrick point taken. Would Abraham Lincoln hold his head high and introduce himself as their founder if he didn’t agree with their politics?? If you are the leader of an organization and it is not going the way you want you fix it, you do not exit.
Plainly the central idea of succession, is the essence of anarchy. Abraham Lincoln 1861 Inaugral Address
Mr. AC2, I said there were 3D’s – not 4 D’s. Those immersed in racing do seem to have a problem with telling the truth. If there is a fourth D, I would say the fourth D is DELUSIONAL! You are delusional and you need to go away – permanently. I have suggested to Patrick that he bans you from posting here. You are no friend to the horses and are simply a troublemaker.
In addition, because the racing industry is a GAMBLING industry, it is the cause of great heartache for those individuals who are ADDICTED to betting on the horses. if I follow your reasoning, you, and your industry, are responsible for destroying many lives. The fancy billboards, print advertisements and TV commercials draw many people into a seedy underworld where people are desperate for their next “fix” which happens to be a “bet”. It is simply revolting!
Mary I have no argument with the last part of your statement. I understand the industry I work has ruined lives and fed addicts.
Your industry has the power to do good. It has saved many lives and helped even more. Unfortunately helping people is not as profitable as feeding addicts. So your industry prefers to feed the addicts and strengthen their bottom line.
Racing industry is based on gamblers/addicts. Your industry does not have to be based on addicts, it just chooses to be…
This site is devoted to raising public awareness of what the vast majority of race horses have to endure in this business. The average person has no knowledge of the brutality horses are subjected to. Further, what is documented here is not all of it. Horses “disappear” all the time and we know what that means for the majority of those that “disappear”.
Also, the industry is incestuous and fraught with corruption at every level. As Mary said, it is a gambling business. It thrives by “selling” the possibility of easy money and a fleeting adrenalin rush. It exploits the addict as most gambling does. However, horse racing is the lowest of the low of the gambling business’. Lives are put at risk daily, horses and jockeys. But the horse, that makes the business possible, is forced to endure outrageous cruelty and premature death.
The following is a small example of the incestuous nature of the business and how cheating and corruption are the norm :
A certain trainer, a relative newcomer, is now in the 26% win category which is getting up there with the “big boys”. There are now drug charges pending and a “watch” has been put on his barn. Racing “authorities “are doing this mainly because the word has gone around about how this quick success came about. In other words, the business is “investigating” because this can’t be ignored ! However, these internal “investigations” are a sham, and rarely, if ever, result in any meaningful consequences. These cheaters bring in money, everything else takes a backseat.
But that is not all. Recently, when a well known racing state was balking at granting this trainer a license because of the pending charges, a board member of the state’s racing association that is conducting the “investigation” went to bat for him. The trainer got the license !
Incidentally, the same trainer claims horses and trains for the board member ! This information, including names, is easily accessible.
There is nothing of redeeming value in this business at any level.
Agreed, Rose.
Rose I think people are under the impression that race trackers like cheaters. We don’t. Race tracks are not crazy about them either, for many reasons. Example 1: often their horses cause a negative show pool so track takes a loss. 2: If one or more of the cheaters are entering horses the trainers who are trying to be on the level don’t want to run against them. So they end up not entering their horses or taking them elsewhere.
Race tracks can not exclude trainers because of innuendo. Rumors are rumors. They spread like wildfire through the backside. I do not know who you are talking about but the rumors are probably correct. Most of the time you see a newcomer with a win percentage like that they are just program trainers for someone else that is ruled off. Even if they are those thing need to be proven. Accusing trainers of doing that, then not having rock solid proof will end up being a major lawsuit against the track.
There are many things tracks are doing to stop this activity. They taking a stand on tapping and drug use. They are changing labs where the urine is tested. They are trying to eliminate steroid and drug use with harsher penalties. They are putting cameras in the barn areas. Unfortunately like many other businesses the cheaters are always a step ahead.
I am not trying to change anyone’s mind with these comments. The thing I don’t understand is how people expect race tracks to exclude people with out proof. Many including myself wish they could. Innocent till proven guilty.
Rose, and don’t forget about Jeron Gold, a licensed TB owner, who is also a contract kill buyer. Unbelievable that the racing industry would allow someone on ANY of their tracks that openly admits to sending horses to slaughter. However, this is racing….
I do not know why, but it staggers me how oblivious some people are of other peoples rights. Before two days ago I have never heard of Jeron Gold. So please do not think I am taking up for him specifically.
Take the time to read The US Constitution , the Bill of Rights. If anything to help yourselves against discrimination. You can not preclude this man from having a license because his occupation is not popular. If he is working in the boundary of the law. If he has not been convicted of a felony. He has all the rights in the world to own race horses or pursue any other profession. As does everyone.
After reading our Constitution try a book titled The Rights of Man and Common Sense by Thomas Paine. You will see comments like “allow the same rights to others as we allow ourselves”. I know you would not want to be discriminated against because of what you do or think. My opinion (Again Rose) it has to be far better reading then the books offered for sale on this blog…
AC2, Mary did not suggest he should not have a license. Tracks are private and have a right to exclude whoever they want license or not. That has been done before.
In addition, having a license does not give one carte blanche “rights” such as working at whatever firm or private business you choose. One has to apply, interview, and fit with the corporate culture of the particular business. Your reasoning is borderline entitlement !
So considering corporate culture as an issue, and this individual’s free access to tracks, it follows that slaughter is part and parcel of the racing culture.
There is more to life and doing the right thing than hiding behind the legal shield. There is the small matter of our humanity, our decency and something called ethics, all of which are far from evident in the world of racing.
PS And, it is not always solely about “rights”. Exercising one’s “rights” without considering accountability and responsibility makes for a very lopsided situation…
TWENTY-SEVEN equine casualties in just THREE days. Of course, this does not include those horses that break down, are vanned off, etc and are not reported. Once again, reading this list is sickening.