An exercise rider, Mourad Boudraa, is dead after his 3-year-old mount Tawney’s Wish had “a suspected fatal heart attack” yesterday at Woodbine. The filly had raced but once, May 25th at that same track, finishing dead last (of 11) some 26 lengths back. Then a heart attack at the equivalent age of a human teenager? Any insights, (trainer) Don Pleterski?
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A “heart attack” is super highly unlikely in a three year horse. However, her heart could have stopped beating following an episode medication induced arrhythmias. That type of scenario is a lot more likely than a heart attack. We know many of the “supplements” fed to horses are really drugs.
She is dead and so is her rider. There needs to be an independent necropsy with drug screen and maybe there will be, since the rider died too.
also breezed a half mile the day before.
Speechless, utterly speechless, at this moment….
“Heart attacks”…”bad steps”…”one of those things in this game”…how many times do they think those same old, tired excuses are going to fly?
I’m so sorry, Tawney’s Wish. No one was looking out for YOU.
I’ve noticed that there are quite a few cardiovascular events in horseracing. Could the drugs given to these horses have anything to do with these deaths?
Yes. The drugs have everything to do with these horses dropping dead. Horses do not have heart attacks, for starters. I’m going to write at length about this on my Facebook page (drugs and their side effects) within the next few days.
Hi all, I just read in an online article (sorry, I should have noted the link for you but likely this is not news to the regulars here) stating that all racehorses who die in Ontario MUST undergo a necropsy to determine cause of death.
Does anyone know if this is instituted elsewhere or if the ‘findings’ from Ontario are compiled somewhere?
Thank you, Patrick, and those who comment. This is a place to learn all kinds of FACTS behind the illusion of ‘the sport of kings’.
Hi Carina. California has a similar requirement. Yes, the more transparency, the better.
http://www.ontarioracingcommission.ca/initiatives_registry.aspx?id=92
Horses do not suffer from coronary artery disease. Horses, ergo, do not have “heart attacks.” Without a necropsy, it is preposterous for track officials to say that this poor filly died from something which never happens. I am so tired of the prevarication, so tired of all the lies. The elephant in the living room gets bigger every day: TRAINING MEDS. I’ve been involved in racing all my life, and I’m disgusted by the garbage juice everyone trains on nowadays. Everything from amicar (doesn’t control lung bleeds, does cause microscopic blood clots which can lead to organ system collapse and founder) to clenbuterol (well established as destructive to cardiac tissue) — they use it regardless of the fact that these drugs are dangerous, dangerous to the point where some horses drop dead and the stewards call it a “heart attack.” Without seeing the dead filly’s confidentials, it’s impossible to know what really killed her. What IS possible to know is that (a) horses do not suffer heart attacks; and (b) no 3YO ever dropped dead for no reason. I’ll tell you something else: the public doesn’t know the half of it. Whenever I get my hands on a dead horse’s confidentials, I post the info on my Facebook page and sit back to wait for the attacks, the misinformation and the ignorance. The state vet here in Texas told me at a Commission meeting (rarely do horsemen attend the meetings — I’m often the only one there) that 95% of all racehorse fatalities could have been prevented. The “bad step” is an old lie. I come from a racing family. Not a single horse run by anyone in my family EVER broke down or left the track a cripple… but then, the older generation trained and ran on oats, hay and water just as I did. Several years ago my horses (huge stable of three head) had a 90% win rate for a particular meet. All have since retired. One is a trail horse. One is an eventer. One is a children’s hunter. None ever saw a needle except for vaccinations… All these trainers who treat their horses “so well” (shining coats and clean stalls and matching hay nets don’t tell me a damned thing about what’s in the medicine box), if that’s the case, then why do they not publish their medication and radiograph records after a breakdown? Because then the world would see the truth about how “well treated” the horses really are… that’s why not.
Thank you, Linda.
Add “ONEBADBOY”, Los Alamitos, May 2014. Information has vanished from internet. Someone mentioned to me that a horse fell a month ago. Turned out one fell going out the gate, caused another to trip (and fall?). Two jockeys down. One hospitalized. The only place I found the horse was dead was on a pedigree chart.
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Louise, I checked Equibase for Onebadboy and did find him there. And yes, you are correct regarding Pedigreequery.com…someone added the comment that Onebadboy was euthanized.
From Equibase, these are the specifics regarding him and the other horse involved in the tragic, fatal incident: on 5-25-2012, in a 5K claiming race (dropped from a 12.5K at Santa Anita 6 weeks prior) at Los Alamitos, Onebadboy broke down “approaching the top of the stretch and was vanned off”. The other horse, Merlin Z, “plowed into [the] fallen horse…unseating its rider”. Merlin Z only raced three more times after the race where he PLOWED into the fallen Onebadboy…he finished 6th out of 7, 13th out of 14, and in his last race in November, 2012, Merlin Z was dead last in a field of 10.
Pedigreequery.com has photos of both Onebadboy and Merlin Z.
Thank you, all. Linda, would you be opposed to friending me on FB? I would like to see the dead horse confidentials, as you call them as I continue to acquire knowledge on racings evils. I have a few FB friends who are pro-racing but believe me, I am not.
I’m on FB as Carina Bella … thank you.
Patrick,
Thank you for posting everything you do! What an “eye opener”!
The list of accidents and dead horses is horrible! I NEVER knew all this bad stuff was going on until about a year ago, got informed, opened my eyes and got me educated. So now when the opportunity presents itself – I ADVOCATE for horses. Most people, the general public that just go to the track or racino to have “fun” have NO CLUE as to what goes on with the racing industry. Posting information and talking and educating people is KEY! Keep on Posting! I printed off your pages and pages of dead horses and showed the sheets to a few non-horsey people. They were shocked! Like I said, if I hadn’t shown them the sheets – they would never have known.
I was wondering is there a list to post of the names of jockeys and exercise riders, dates and where at what tracks/training facilities of all the injured jockeys, dead jockeys?
Injured exercise riders/dead exercise riders?
Wondering if there were ever any articles about the jockeys and exercise riders showing the numbers of their lives destroyed as well as the horses?
I’m guessing probably NOT? as that would tarnish the image of the sport of kings?
If not, maybe an article as such should be written for EVERYBODY, the common Jo that goes to the track to read and see for themselves in print what goes on, the drugs, the abuse of the horses,etc. and the real results of this greedy, disgusting, cruel industry all for a “buck”!
Thank you for all you do!
diane
Thank you, Diane. As for the jockeys, while tragic when one falls, they are autonomous human beings who have consented to ride. Obviously, not so with the horses. So for that reason, I choose not to report on the human toll. It’s not that I don’t care, but this is about animal exploitation. We – me, you, the many other wonderful advocates nationwide – are the voices for the voiceless.