Through a FOIA request to the Illinois Racing Board, I have confirmed the following 33 kills on Illinois tracks in 2015:
5-year-old Lady Angel, March 10, Hawthorne, training
“collapsed while training with copious amount of blood coming out of both nostrils”
5-year-old Take Heart, March 24, Hawthorne, training
7-year-old Sweet Elation, April 11, Hawthorne 9
5-year-old Wildwood Perfect, April 24, Hawthorne 2
4-year-old Duneside Matt, April 25, Balmoral 2
“horse started pulling up around 1/2 mile then collapsed and died”
3-year-old Super Service, May 3, Arlington, training
6-year-old So So Worth It, May 3, Arlington 1
2-year-old Wollemi, May 31, Arlington, training (being prepped for first race)
5-year-old Try a Lemon Drop, June 2, Fairmount 5
4-year-old More Honey, June 2, Fairmount 7
4-year-old Affirmed Once More, June 5, Arlington, training
6-year-old Bluegrass Dan, June 19, Arlington 6
“taken to designated area and humanely euthanized”
3-year-old Jaye’s Moondust, June 27, Arlington, training
2-year-old State Scholar, June 29, Arlington, training (being prepped for first race)
3-year-old Broken In, July 3, Arlington 6
8-year-old Cherokee Mate, July 14, Fairmount 8
4-year-old Mabee Able, August 18, Fairmount 2
2-year-old DB, August 22, Balmoral 6 (euthanized August 26)
5-year-old King’s Fortune, August 27, Arlington 5
4-year-old Dashful, October 9, Hawthorne 6
“taken to designated area and humanely euthanized”
3-year-old Mr. Kasdan, October 10, Hawthorne, training (being prepped for first race)
“suspensory apparatus failure both front legs”
4-year-old Give It to Mikey, October 10, Hawthorne 6
3-year-old One Em, October 19, Hawthorne, training
“died during surgery to repair fracture”
4-year-old Pferd, October 23, Hawthorne 8
“horse was humanely euthanized on track due to the severity of the injury”
3-year-old Bold N Grey, November 3, Hawthorne 9 (euthanized November 7)
5-year-old Dr Action, November 30, Hawthorne, training
5-year-old Freakin Rocket, December 5, Hawthorne 8
“euthanized on track due to severity of fracture”
4-year-old Oh Suzanna, December 15, Hawthorne 1
3-year-old Mine Forever, December 15, Hawthorne 3
3-year-old Zip’s Moondance, December 15, Hawthorne 7 (euthanized December 18)
4-year-old Schuylercountyline, December 18, Hawthorne 8
4-year-old Lexham, December 26, Hawthorne 6 (euthanized December 27)
5-year-old El Bandito, December 30, Hawthorne 6
“While racing the horse had open comminuted fractures…the horse flipped in the ambulance, went over the partition and had to be euthanized inside the ambulance.”
In addition, these 3 still-active horses died on track grounds:
3-year-old A Real Ladies Man, May 29, Arlington
“died of natural causes [at three, that is] before they could load horse on trailer”
6-year-old Broome Street, August 16, Arlington
“severe laminitis 3 of 4 feet”
17-year-old Mystery Giver, October 17, Hawthorne
“pony horse” – “collapsed and died on track”
Sick, sick, sick. Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting. Death camps is what these racetracks have become.
Another horse that gets overlooked are pony horses. They have horrific jobs, and take abuse.
They keep working them until they collapse, die or end up lame. Many of them – not all.
Just another horse being exploited.
Here’s an article that I laughed at when I saw it. It is put out by the industry – remember that important detail.
What I notice they are doing now is they are deciding when to begin and end a fiscal year in order to determine racetrack deaths. Boy, this is a whopper.
They are ending the death survey in June just before the summer meet when most of the horses drop dead. How clever. Well they can fool some, but not all.
So now they are claiming that the deaths are way down prior to last year, but when you really look at the statistics they are anything, but down.
Besides, one horse dying is one horse too many.
Excerpt from Blood Horse website:
Equine fatalities at California racetracks declined six percent for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015 compared to the previous year, according to an annual report published by the California Horse Racing Board.
These people sicken me. Please shut this business down.
Yes, the often forgotten pony horse in the racing industry – what a miserable existence they endure. At the track where I was just one trainer had a pony horse which lived in the stables 365 days of the year and it never got out for a break in a paddock, never ever! Lived in darkness, stale air, stinking hot in summer, never taken out for exercise like the racehorses were, oh no, that would be just too much trouble, wouldn’t it now! Only saw daylight and sunshine when the racehorses travelled to a race meet but they often raced on their home track so on those days pony left in stall. Got to the stage where I would walk the long way around so as to avoid this stable knowing the inhumane conditions it was living in, I just found it unbearable.
And the teaser ponies in the breeding barns – what a cruel life they have!
Saw that article Gina in the Paulick Report. Agreed – anything put out by the racing industry cannot be taken too seriously because they are so self-serving. And they expect the public to believe that they’ve included EACH AND EVERY DEATH in their statistics?
Ending the death survey in June. Oh how very convenient…. more to the point, how very manipulative and deceitful!
Gina, and everyone, did you notice the details about the horse EL BANDITO that Patrick put up on this post?
As we know they loathe euthanasing the horse on the track in full public view and shove them on the ambulances no matter how bad an injury the horse has suffered. Several weeks ago I put up the following comment –
“Never heard of a racehorse being euthanased in a horse ambulance before? Most of the time when a horse is euthanased there is unpredictable movement in the horse with it not having control over his body and then they drop. Now if this happened in a horse ambulance, there would be the risk of vehicle becoming unstable, the vet would be confined with no room to get out of the way and then when they pull up out the back, well ….. what a job it would be getting the horse out of the ambulance?”
5-year-old El Bandito, December 30, Hawthorne 6
“While racing the horse had open comminuted fractures…the horse flipped in the ambulance, went over the partition and had to be euthanized inside the ambulance.”
OMG I feel so physically ill reading this. “comminuted” being gaping open pulverized wounds (plural – not just one!) oh this poor horse! At the VERY least these bastards should’ve euthanased him on the track given his horrific injuries. And look at what he suffered, forced him on the ambulance, he must’ve been in so much pain, traumatized and so fearful as to what was going on with him and he was alone without his mates, the herd, that were being hosed down out the back. No comfort whatsoever, just brutal treatment and death.
This is CRIMINAL! This should be in the people’s courts of law. Animal welfare is a major issue in society today and these inhumane racehorse animal cruelty acts, as in the case of El Bandito, must be dealt with OUTSIDE the horseracing industry jurisdictions – no explanation needed!
PS 5-year-old Freakin Rocket, December 5, Hawthorne 8
“euthanized on track due to severity of fracture”
Same track as El Bandito
Well folks, this means that despite their futile efforts they just couldn’t get Freakin Rocket on the ambulance and much to their chagrin had to euthanase the horse in full public view.
And at the famous Arlington track, Bluegrass Dan was taken to “a designated area and ‘humanely’ euthanased” – well we know what these designated areas are about, usually pits in the ground with the smell of blood and death all around Bluegrass Dan who would be in so much pain and fear and probably not given a sedative prior to the lethal injection which is very distressing and traumatic for the horse.
I did, Carolyn…and I felt sick, as well. What is wrong with those who witness this immense suffering yet continue to stay employed in this industry?
These people have no heart, no conscience, no ethics, no morals and no respect for the noble horse. These horses are at the mercy of the people that “care” for them and it breaks my heart when I see these horses, who are so trusting by nature in their relationships with humans, being callously and brutally mistreated. These people obviously don’t give a damn about the sufferings of these voiceless horses. And that speaks volumes about the type of person they are.
I did post a comment regarding policies now on certain tracks that do everything they can to load up the horse, and van them to the stable area for euthanization out of the public’s eye.
I am sickened to death reading about the carnage and total neglect of these poor horse’s pain, terror, and suffering before their alleged “humane” euthanasias. The vast numbers are shocking; the lists seem to go forever for each year, and as pointed out by other commenters, we are reading about only those deaths officially reported by the industry. Since when did “horses” and “industry” become synonymous? It’s just plain sick.
The killing of these beautiful, innocent, and delicate creatures should always be done in the public’s full view – on the track where they have fallen. Racing fans need to see the result of their direct support of this cruel, criminal racing industry by their betting on horse races and paying track admissions. I know this is all “wishful” thinking (if you could call it that), as that will, obviously, never happen.
Unless PETA and other animal conservation organizations have success one day, sooner than later I pray, in putting this miserable industry down once and for all, refusing to allow the cruelty to be camouflaged, the numbers of deaths will continue to rise, thanks in part to the over-breeding of thoroughbreds and racing them before their bones have matured and strengthened.
I am grateful to and for the creators of this website, for keeping this in the public view by maintaining and reporting these statistics.