Through a “Public Records Act” request, I have confirmed the following 42 deaths at Florida racetracks in the first quarter of 2015:
4-year-old Sharp Harbour, January 2, Tampa Bay 4
3-year-old Humble Hero, January 3, Gulfstream, training
2-year-old Sparkling Form, January 5, Hialeah 5
(chart merely said “vanned off”)
2-year-old Discreet Romance, January 7, Calder, training
TSM Lil Orphan Andy, January 7, Pompano 9
“broken right hind leg”
3-year-old Bob and Louie, January 11, Tampa Bay, training
4-year-old Pinpoint Pal, January 14, Tampa Bay 1
“broke its front right leg and had to be euthanized” (chart merely said “vanned off”)
5-year-old Top Partner, January 16, Tampa Bay, training
3-year-old Mt Everest, January 17, Calder, training
2-year-old Bah Zinga, January 17, Hialeah 8
(chart merely said “vanned off”)
4-year-old Ratso Rizzo, January 18, Gulfstream 5 (euthanized January 19)
3-year-old Brooks Gift, January 18, Tampa Bay 8
(chart merely said “vanned off”)
3-year-old My Uncle Frank, January 21, Tampa Bay 4
(chart merely said “vanned off”)
4-year-old Flying Jessica, January 23, Hialeah 5
(chart merely said “vanned off” – after winning)
2-year-old St Peter of Rome, January 31, Gulfstream, training
3-year-old Andre Five, January 31, Tampa Bay
“neurological condition – presumptive diagnosis of EPM”
3-year-old Force Nine, February 1, Tampa Bay, training
2-year-old Leroy Rose, February 5, Gulfstream, training
4-year-old La Ranchera, February 6, Tampa Bay 6
3-year-old Carol Ann, February 6, Tampa Bay 6
(chart merely said “fell over a fallen foe”)
4-year-old Silic Oui, February 8, Tampa Bay, training
3-year-old Wild Moon, February 13, Tampa Bay 10 (euthanized February 14)
(chart merely said “vanned off”)
2-year-old Lord of Fire, February 15, Hialeah 7
“fracture right carpus, humanely destroyed” (chart merely said “vanned off”)
2-year-old Lookatu, February 15, Tampa Bay, training
3-year-old Exquisite Monarch, February 22, Tampa Bay, training
3-year-old Seeking Sallie, February 25, Tampa Bay, training
3-year-old Inspeightofthings, February 27, Gulfstream W, training
3-year-old Caton’s Cruise, March 7, Gulfstream, training
5-year-old Happy Harvey, March 8, Gulfstream 2
(chart merely said “vanned off”)
6-year-old Rollthediceagain, March 13, Tampa Bay 9
(chart merely said “vanned off”)
8-year-old Varsity, March 14, Tampa Bay 4
(chart merely said “vanned off”)
2-year-old Libertyville, March 15, Tampa Bay, training
4-year-old Golden Friendships, March 17, Gulfstream 3
(chart merely said “vanned off”)
3-year-old Irish Media, March 18, Gulfstream 8
(chart merely said “vanned off”)
8-year-old Riding the River, March 19, Gulfstream 7
(chart merely said “vanned off”)
2-year-old Jake, March 20, Gulfstream, training
5-year-old Wild Kiss, March 21, Tampa Bay 6
3-year-old Iron Media, March 21, Tampa Bay 6
(chart merely said “fell over a fallen foe”)
2-year-old Letshaveacocktail, March 23, Gulfstream W, training
4-year-old Developer, March 26, Tampa Bay, training
5-year-old Carson City Brew, March 29, Gulfstream, training
3-year-old Undercover Kitten, March 29, Gulfstream 12
(chart merely said “vanned off”)
What you posted does not confirm all these horses are dead .
All are most definitely dead – direct from the Florida “DIVISION OF PARI-MUTUEL WAGERING.” Your attempts to discredit me are becoming increasingly desperate. Frankly, I allow your comments so that you may further indict your bankrupt industry.
I posted this comment in response to Natalie Voss’s article
Carolyn McDonald • a day ago
Agreed Natalie. The horseracing world sure is in a kind of a mess – pumping the noble horse with
legal and illegal drugs, horses being beaten with whips when seriously fatigued, racing when carrying pre-existing injuries, racing when sore, suffering injury and death when racing, overraced, bleeding, confined to a box for about 23 hours a day and suffering respiratory problems due to breathing the stale air and then the final trip to the slaughterhouse. Couldn’t agree with you more Natalie – it sure is one hell of a mess!
Deb Curtis Olivas Carolyn McDonald • a day ago
Natalie , wrote an excellent article . Your problem is , her article does not meet with the approval of Animal Liberation people such as you and your friends on HRWS. We celebrate the greatness of these horses and mourn deeply the losses. And yes Horse Racing is pro active on the bad side of it , more so now than ever. Do we have more work ahead yes we do . But ending racing is not in the plans.
Could the above Deb Curtis Olivas be the one and same racing apologist “debraolivas78”? Yes, I think so.
What you are having difficulty with, debraolivas78, is the fact that racing kills and maims a lot of horses. It is safe to say any horse from the list that is not already dead faces an uncertain future. Thoroughbreds die at a young age on the track, in the barn or in the slaughterhouse. You know very well not many survive to old age !
Racing uses up and discards a whole lot of horses and that is a fact.
I would say this is unbelievable, but as we know, this industry just wipes out horses day in and day out.
So here, the death of a racehorse EVERY OTHER DAY – in ONE state. Of course, this doesn’t include the injured horses that are taken “home” and quietly euthanized off-track…or those that enter rescues only to be humanely put down because of the prognosis of a lifetime of pain, thanks to the abuse he/she endured for $2 bets…or the most horrific yet widely practiced by the racing industry, the poor horses that ship to slaughter. So while this most current list is believable just because we know the truth, it is still sickening beyond belief.
What a wretched industry…
Why is this “Deb” chick still trying to comment on things she knows nothing about?
Seems to me that she is making a pitiful attempt to try and defend the indefensible.
All these beautiful babies, their lives snuffed out in a moment; suffering and dying needlessly for a blood thirsty industry, that is as corrupt as the day is long. An industry that has the finances and power to dramatically improve the safety and well being of every thoroughbred at the very least, by stringent enforcing of standards and policies, yet turns a blind eye to the drugging, and other abuses that happen every day.
All of these deaths are the direct result of an industry with no oversight or accountability. They should be shut down for the murder and abuse of innocent creatures, forced into a life of misery and bondage, and if this isn’t animal cruelty than I don’t know what is. How many do you think were forced to race with injuries, were shot up with drugs, were over raced, and how on earth do you justify sending 2 year olds out to race when their bones are not even fully formed?
The clock is ticking and they won’t stay unregulated forever. If Rome could fall, so could this empire. One day the thoroughbred will be free, and God I pray that I see it in my lifetime.
Marlene Thornley
Carolyn, I see where Takeover Target was euthanized following a paddock accident. You must be aware of his racing career. Also, I noticed he was not allowed to race in Hong Kong because a trace of a banned substance was found in his system.
P.S.
There is a piece by Natalie Voss,”If You Came for The Horses, It is a Great Time to be Alive”, posted on the Paulick Report that I found sickening. Plus, the comments from the “fans” were so fawning they were hard to take.Talk about tunnel vision and a heavy dose of denial….
Rose, I saw the same piece about TT. I about hurled when I read their words of “gratitude” for the horse that did so much for them and how he’ll be missed…topped off with “we’re going to have a beer for him”. Sound like inconsolable sorrow? Callous morons.
Takeover Target was a magnificent horse. He began training/trialling as a 2 year old. During this time with his first trainer he had a 67 weeks’ spell and I believe he had significant leg and joint problems. No alarm bells ringing here? Joe Janiak was a country circuit trainer and became TT’s owner/trainer. He was out for 42 weeks before racing and then had 7 consecutive wins as a rising 5 year old and the rest is history.
On ABC radio this morning Joe was interviewed about TT who was just 15 years of age and he was obviously upset about Target but he didn’t come out with any of that sickening hypocritical rhetoric as others do in these circumstances. Target raced in England in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. After racing unsuccessfully in Singapore in 2009 they took him to England and on the eve of the Golden Jubilee at Ascot he was withdrawn, he was sick and had an elevated temperature. 3 weeks later he raced unsuccessfully at Newmarket when he suffered the serious injury – he had fractured the cannon bone in his near hind leg. They didn’t know if they could save him. They operated on him and put pins/screws in his injured bone and he was brought back home and retired.
Joe said that he put his foot in a hole or slipped in the paddock and broke that leg and added that the screws/pins had been coming loose, there was calcification of the bone and I’m pretty sure he mentioned arthritis (which no doubt Target had). Joe mentioned that he’s now throwing the towel in and is walking away from racing. I met Joe once when I was strapping, I was on my own with four horses in the tie-ups who were getting twitchy pre-race, he was next to me and gave me a hand and he seemed like a quiet decent bloke. Not that long ago he came to punches with another trainer at a race meeting where he had a horse running. I can only speculate that he saw a wrongdoing and acted. The Stewards fined him.
Notably absent in the interview was any praise, positive comment, encouragement or promotion for the horseracing industry. The interviewer is very much a pro-racing man and despite his prompting, Joe was not forthcoming. Has the penny finally dropped with him as to what racing does to horses – it certainly killed TAKEOVER TARGET! He should’ve been retired after failing in Singapore, he ignored the signs TT was giving and continued to race him (resulting in the serious injury) despite the fact that TT had ALREADY won prestigious races, won international fame and glory and had earned over $6.3 million!!! Enough said.
Rose, this link contains the Hong Kong drug incident that you mentioned https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeover_Target
“In Hong Kong, where he was to compete in the Group 1Hong Kong International Sprint, Takeover Target was withdrawn by stewards on the morning of the race for returning a positive reading to 17-alpha-hydroxyprogesterone hexanoate, a hormone. The horse was a short-priced favourite and, if he had won the race, his connections stood to collect a further US$1 million bonus in prize money for winning Group 1 races in the Global Sprint Challenge series in three of the four host countries. Instead the horse’s owner and trainer, Joe Janiak, was fined 200,000 Hong Kong Dollars by stewards.” (2006/2007 season).
http://www.racing.com/horses/takeover-target-1999 link to his racing history/profile.
Joy, i’ve just had a look at social media and the comments are pathetic and chose not to read any more.
Exactly! why would you want to celebrate with a beer when racing sent TT to his death? It sure puts racing in a bad light.
Couldn’t agree with you more Rose and thanks, I found it but unfortunately read it not long after breakfast! Yes the fans’ comments were so far removed as to what really goes on with the horses and it is not easy reading for people like us on this site. However, unlike the racing apologists, we do not have difficulty with the facts and the truth when we expose the abuse, ill treatment, pain and suffering of the racehorse.
Natalie Voss’s article is a pitiful attempt to justify horseracing. She mentions drugging but one could not possibly avoid that sinister issue especially when there is so much adverse publicity and talk about it at the moment. I understand Natalie is equine educated but she is either ignorant and/or misinformed of the truth of the life of the racehorse. She makes no mention of jockeys beating horses with whips, American Pharoah being mercilessly whipped 32 times in the Derby – the first race of the Triple Crown that she raved on about, horses racing with pre-existing injuries, racing when sore, suffering injury, overraced, bleeding and then for the great majority the trip to the slaughterhouse.
I guess Natalie was not “encouraged” to mention such things…after all it was the PaulickReport!
http://www.paulickreport.com/news/ray-s-paddock/if-you-came-for-the-horses-its-a-great-time-to-be-alive/
Thank you for speaking out for the poor horses. The racing industry whether it’s dogs or horses is curel and sick. Of course the horses suffer the most. They just shoot the dogs if they can’t run fast enough.
Thanks for reading here, Sidnie, and for sharing your thoughts. We’re becoming an army.
Carolyn,
Thank you for your post on TAKEOVER TARGET. Another TRAGEDY.
Carolyn, thank you for your posts. What a shame Takeover Target was raced until he was badly injured. You know he must have been in constant pain with that leg. He did not have the retirement he more than earned and deserved. His owner/trainer got carried away with greed. He did his wonderful horse very wrong. These people don’t know when to stop.
Money certainly is the root of evil in this game
Completely agree with you Rose. When he did an exhibition gallop he didn’t look right to me in his action and pulled up lame – says it all!
Yeah, Joy, they’ll have a beer for him ! They certainly can afford a few beers thanks to the great horse that they destroyed. The greed is palpable.