A reminder: Virtually without exception, “broke down” is racing-speak for dead; “vanned off” translates to a better-than-even chance of same-day euthanasia or shortly thereafter.
Monday
Ferarri Cartel, Ruidoso 1, bled, vanned off
Tuesday
Ithink I Can Dance, Mountaineer 6, broke down
Mr Percussionist, Parx 1, broke down
Wednesday
Carbonite, Del Mar 9, vanned off
Awesome Gift, Les Bois 1, bled, vanned off
Dixico, Les Bois 8, bled, DNF
Possy Beach, Les Bois 9, vanned off
My Valentino, Suffolk 3, vanned off
Thursday
Along Came Kitten, Belterra 1, vanned off
Can’tbeattheheat, Delaware 5, vanned off
Strategic Player, Fair Meadows 8, “pulled up in distress,” DNF
Summer Surfer, Fair Meadows 10, vanned off
Artic Eagle, Fair Meadows 11, vanned off
Miss Stellsie, Presque Isle 3, “fell over backwards,” DNS
Friday
Surviving the Odds, Arapahoe 9, vanned off
Clever Peaks, Canterbury 8, vanned off
Rue the Day, Charles Town 6, broke down
Yes She’s Unusual, Del Mar 6, confirmed dead
Longview Drive, Del Mar 7, confirmed dead
Dashin Aint Easy, Fair Meadows 12, vanned off
Far Fly, Indiana 1, bled
Laser Cat, Indiana 7, vanned off
Hill of Tara, Los Alamitos 1, vanned off
Movin’ On Up, Louisiana 8, confirmed dead
Elusive Cowgirl, Monmouth 6, broke down
Corona Sietie, Ruidoso 2, vanned off
Saturday
Princess Nayiri, Belterra 6, vanned off
Just a Sheikh, Charles Town 4, “pulled up lame,” DNF
Lil Swiss Echo, Del Mar 5, confirmed dead
J Kat, Del Mar 9, confirmed dead
Chichita, Finger Lakes 1, confirmed dead
Semper Kurry, Gulfstream 7, fell, DNF
Party Boy Floyd, Gulfstream 7, fell, DNF
Sequestrate, Gulfstream 7, fell, DNF
World Tour, Louisiana 1, vanned off
Chris’ Reckin Ball, Louisiana 9, vanned off
Mantastically, Ruidoso 3, vanned off
Stel Gone Corona, Ruidoso 7, vanned off
Rocabar, Santa Rosa 8, broke down
Ampersand, Saratoga 6, vanned off
Rock N Heart, Thistledown 8, “returned bleeding from the nostrils”
Sunday
Unusual Heatwave, Del Mar 5, vanned off
Curly Queen, Gulfstream 7, vanned off
More Debt, Gulfstream 9, bled
Fan the Fire, Louisiana 1, vanned off
Smarty Slewy, Thistledown 1, vanned off
What does DNF means?
It means “did not finish.” If a horse leaves the gate, it’s a starter. If it drops dead two steps later, it’s a DNF. If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me on Facebook.
Thank you :)
It stands for Did Not Finish. The majority of the time, a horse that Did Not Finish did so because of an injury suffered during the race, or was running on an already injured limb that was then made worse. The horse could have actually gone down on the track, fallen, tripped…or the jockey could have pulled the horse up. A horse can also be a DNF if the jockey falls off the horse and the horse crosses the wire alone (without the jockey on his/her back). MOST of the time, a DNF is not a good thing for the horse. Does that help? There are probably more instances that would result in a DNF but those are the ones that currently come to my mind.
FORTY-SIX horses in only seven days….forty-six horses, that we know of, in just a week. Horses broke down, vanned off, pulled up in distress, fell over, bleeding, and dead. For entertainment. WHAT century are we in?
“Ithink I Can Dance, Mountaineer 6, broke down”. Ithink I Can Dance is a dark bay 3-year-old Florida-bred filly. She has run only 7 times, has not won a race. She came in last her first two races. In her last three races:
6-3, 7th of 8, 23 lengths behind
6-28, last of 9, 23 lengths behind
7-22, broke down
She is owner and trained by Burton Sipp. Google Burton Sipp. Here’s just one article for you on Burton Sipp, from Bill Finley in 2009, from ESPN Horseracing.
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/columns/story?id=4053915
Joy, the scumbags in racing never cease to amaze me. Also, we must not forget that Sipp’s wife died in a house fire a few years ago. There was speculation that the fire was deliberate, but that was never proven. However, in racing, it is business as usual. Send a horse to slaughter? No big deal…If you get caught, just sign an affidavit denying that you did so. Remember Mr. Danny R. Bird who sent Deputy Broad to slaughter? Bird told me, during a phone conversation, that Deputy Broad was with Mr. Fred Bauer, a contract kill buyer, yet, when called into the Mountaineer Racing Office, Bird denied doing so. Ms. Williams, Racing Director at Mountaineer, asked Bird to sign the affidavit denying his involvement with Deputy Broad’s demise. I told Ms. Williams that she had Deputy’s blood on her hands and she promptly hung up on me. Poor Ms. Williams…no one likes to get caught with their pants down! I firmly believe that racing covers for their own and Bird/Williams are the perfect example of that.
Mary Johnson, I am just getting my feet wet with the racing world and I did read the article on Sipp. Am I to understand that it is illegal to send a thoroughbred racing horse to slaughter? Or any horse? I do know there are no equine slaughterhouses in the States but are in Canada and Mexico. I know that a few Thoroughbreds make it to the slaughterhouses and are “saved” by groups of people or persons. Is there fines, jail time or what? I do believe that a life sentence is not enough time served for the crime.
Joy, we’re in the 21st century… and that’s the problem. When I was a little girl, sore horses went home to rest. Horses who made 30-40-60-80 starts and walked off the track serviceably sound (like my mare Sweetie Pie) were common. Now they run sore thanks to drugs which destroy tissue and impede the necessary bone remodeling, and then they leave the track crippled. It’s has been well established that NSAIDS delay both epithelialisation [growth of new cells] and angiogenesis [the growth of new blood vessels] in the early phases of wound healing because of an antiproliferative [inhibits growth] effect. Bute kills. Throw in the rest of the drugs, and it’s a wonder a single horse survives the mess into which modern racing has devolved.
I don’t invent this stuff; it’s not a matter of opinion. From the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Ohio State University, 2010: “PBZ [phenylbutazone] decreased MAR [mineral absorption rate] in cortical bone and appeared to decrease healing rate of cortical defects in horses.” This is why back in the day when we rested (and did not medicate) our sore horses, small problems healed, and the horses came back to run and have long careers.
Ever since the advent of bute, starts per year have gone down (in inverse proportion to the introduction of various other “training meds”), and fatalities have gone up. Anyone who ignores the science and continues to train on all the garbage juice flowing around the backside is, in my opinion, guilty of animal cruelty. And the guys who want to train and run clean cannot compete:
“I’m not giving any of my horses anything illegal. I give them bute and clenbuterol for training, and that is legal,” said Bruce Levine, leading trainer at Monmouth, to the BloodHorse in 2008. *01/30/2014 Trainer Bruce Levine. Horse, 3YO gelding Valar Dohaeris (3 starts 0-0-0, earnings $477) fractured its right front during a work… EUTHANIZED ON THE TRACK. The gelding’s third and final race before his death was a 9th place finish in a $16K CLM on 01/02/2014. Prior to that he ran 8th on 11/07/2013 and 7th on 09/08/2013. Belmont.
Ms.Broussard, In all of your long winded analogies you have yet to explain how the horses you “Were looking at the world from the back of” only received shots for vaccination purposes, but can run on Lasix?? How exactly did the horses get Lasix?? Tell us please, since you are “A voice of truth and reason from someone who bore witness”.
Patrick, Have you now embraced the enemy?? I believe you are sitting back biting your lip just waiting to tell the garrulous PRO RACE phoney where to get off… Do I have a good read on you Patrick???
Patrick, “Though silence is not necessarily an admission, it is not a denial, either”. Marcus Tullius Cicero…
Thank you for the article, Joy. Reading it made my skin crawl. Sipp and his ilk are nothing but crooks and absolute animal abusers. The fact that they can survive in this business just shows how disgustingly corrupt it is.
Also, it clearly shows how fragmented the management is and why it will remain that way by design. With no central governing body and no meaningful accountability, the crooks can always find a track that will overlook past “mistakes” !! What a travesty !
THE HOOVES OF DESPAIR
By Mary Carol McGlone
They run like the wind with beauty uncompared
The glory of rolling thunder beneath the hooves of despair
They mesmerize with every movement of pure grace
The heights of heaven flows through the ground they embrace
They prance and they frolic through the plains with delight
Inspiring our hearts at the awesome sight
How great the creator of such wonder we behold
How great is this gift of splendor He gave us to hold
Why then are we unthankful and cold without care
Of the wonder of God’s spirit that flows through the mare
For how can we so unmercifully abuse and destroy
These magnificent creatures, God’s awesome vessels of joy
Their speed we trade for money we gamble their glory away for a dime
And when the hooves begin to slow and the strength begin to pine
Without mercy we end the life of the friend that God gave into our care
Cruelly silencing the rolling thunder beneath the hooves of despair
The pure spirit of God’s creation will in all eternity be with the giver of all life
But I wonder the unrepentant heart who has sown for profit
so much pain, misery, and strife
So for money we abuse God’s precious beast
And we are free to do so now as we please
Truly there is a time when we shall all be made to repay
Ponder carefully your actions and your heart before that day