After the Del Mar summer of failed hearts, snapped bones, and pentobarbital injections, California racing could ill afford more bad press. Alas… Over the weekend in Stockton, three were killed in the final two days of the San Joaquin County Fair:
Saturday, 3-year-old Showmewhatyougot broke down after finishing 2nd in the 6th. On Sunday, 3-year-old Get Your Praise On and 4-year-old Secret Memo snapped legs in back-to-back races.
Larry Swartzlander, chief operating officer of the California Authority of Racing Fairs (The Record): “If you want to look for excuses, it’s too much strain and something’s got to give. These horses have been racing all summer and some of them may have been put out there when they probably shouldn’t have.” (The Bruce Dillenbeck-trained Get Your Praise On was being raced for the third time in three weeks.)
The Record summed it up thus: “Racing officials, jockeys and racing fans were left shaking their heads and heartbroken once again, with widespread comments of ‘not again’ and ‘that’s unbelievable’ heard among the estimated crowd of 2,000.” Well, to all those “left shaking their heads and heartbroken,” we say, cease and desist.
Cease and desist.
What on earth do these people expect. There are no rules in place to protect the horse. These unscrupulous so called trainers can start horses over and over without any rest between races. The “officials” pass the buck and say it is left up to the trainer !!
Well, we see the result of leaving everything up to the “trainer”. Nobody in this business will do anything meaningful to help the horse simply, because they don’t want to.
Talk is cheap Mr. Swartzlander. What are you going to do about this abuse ?
RIP. Showmewhatyougot, Secret Memo, and Get Your Praise. You are victims of greed and callous disregard for your survival by ALL involved in this business.
You are so right, Rose…talk IS cheap yet that is all the racing industry offers when it comes to the welfare of THEIR “athletes”. Talk, talk, and more talk. But NOTHING is done because the money always was and always will be more important than the lives of these sentient creatures. Larry Bramlage, in his speech as an “Honor Guest” (puke) at the TCA dinner stated: “Racing survived 100 years without it [the horses receiving Lasix], we can do it again, though it will cost horsemen more money…”. Well God forbid, Bramlage!…doing what’s right for the horses will cost MORE MONEY!!! (Of course, Bramlage never admits that Lasix is detrimental to the horses. He just believes racing should rid itself of Lasix because, and again I quote him: “The general public can’t understand it [the use of Lasix in racehorses]…and can’t discriminate between furosemide [Lasix] and cocaine.” No, we know the difference, Bramlage…and we know a pompous ass from a horse’s backside, too.) My point, it’s always about the money and the horses be damned.
It’s at the very least, a step in the right direction to improve the integrity of racing by getting rid of Lasix altogether. I’ve never been a fan of it at all either, I was happy to see that there is at least talk going on about discontinuing the use of it on race-day.
Right on, Joy ! Pramlage’s statement is insulting. But more than that, it shows what fame and money can do to these people.