Shedrow Secrets
Financial Mogul
by Joy Aten
Just two days ago, another trashed racehorse was recovered from a kill buyer. Thanks to a person who makes weekly visits to the notorious New Holland auction, a 5-year-old gelding named Financial Mogul narrowly escaped a tortuous trip to the slaughterhouse. Here is his story:
Financial Mogul ran 12 of his 13 lifetime starts for owners Klaravich Stable/William Lawrence and trainer Rick Violette Jr. He “broke maiden” his second time out. Then “success,” with six consecutive graded-stakes races. But in that sixth one he finished 12th of 13 – 21 lengths behind. Three races at the “allowance” level followed, the last on November 1, 2014. Twenty days later, Financial Mogul was put up for sale in a claiming race; he was claimed for $25,000 (Linda Rice/Antonino Miuccio). Not including the $25,000 sale tag, the then 3-year-old had made over $170,000 for his original “connections.”
After a seven-month hiatus, Financial Mogul re-emerged at Belmont in June 2015. Though he was claimed again that day – Dennis Lalman, The Players Group – his racing career was over. Next stop, the kill auction.
But here’s where the story becomes even more perverse: This past September, three months after Financial Mogul’s last race and a mere seven months before he was slated to be slaughtered, the NYS Gaming Commission hosted a “Retired Racehorse Summit” in Saratoga Springs. At this summit, which talked of “responsible stewardship,” “entire life cycles,” and “viable options once the athletes’ racing careers are over,” Rick Violette, yes the very same Rick Violette who shared in the $170,000 that Financial Mogul earned during his heyday, played the part of concerned horseman. Speaking on the need for more accredited aftercare facilities, Violette said (WAMC): “We just don’t want to get horses off the books and never see them again just because they’re out of sight, they’re out of mind.”
Truth is, Violette and Financial Mogul’s original owners did exactly that – got their fast-sliding gelding “off the books” in a successful claim at Aqueduct in November 2014. And if not for a last-minute intervention, their once-prized racehorse would have met a violent, bloody end in a Canadian abattoir.
Sadly, though, this biography – like the overwhelming majority in Racing – has no happy ending. Yesterday, Financial Mogul was brought to Penn Vet’s New Bolton Center for a full evaluation. Lame even at a walk, he was diagnosed with severe, end-stage fetlock arthritis, multiple chip fractures in an ankle and an old sesamoid fracture. In addition, he was lame behind – which could have been from compensating from his front limb pain or from additional hind limb injury. Surgical intervention was not an option, and his prognosis for a pain-free life, even as a pasture pet, was extremely poor. Financial Mogul was humanely euthanized.
I will give you the benefit of doubt that perhaps you don’t know the whole story of Financial Mogul. The morning of 4/18, as soon as he was identified at New Holland, his former connections were contacted and immediately offered to buy him. In addition, Lisa Molloy of Rerun Thoroughbred Adoption offered publicly to take him into her program, where he would be fully evaluated. She had funds and would not have had to raise funds. This “extraordinary person” as you called her, did not do this horse justice. While we are not privy to the vet reports at New Bolton, we can only assume that poor Financial Mogul was euthanized in haste, when there were those in the thoroughbred industry begging to help him.
So you know more that New Bolten?
And isn’t the REAL point that the tb industry needs to STOP allowing their horses to go to slaughter?
Jill, you make me sick. You really do.
Everybody who participates in this cruelty circus is responsible for Financial Mogul.
None of you saved this horse while he was being used, and abused by this profit slavery ring they call horse racing.
Then you try to make yourself look like heroes stating here that you offered to help? Yea right.
It’s so easy to state this comments in retrospect isn’t it? So typical of you pro-horse racing people.
People “begging to help him?” Yea right. Just like the thousands going to the slaughterhouse every year – disposable commodities for this cruelty circus, and death camp? I guess you were busy having coffee on those days right?
The best vets in the country evaluated Financial Mogul, and were decent enough people to humanely euthanize him and put him out of his misery. They took responsibility for this broken soul.
Indeed, she is an extraordinary person, and so are the countless other heroes that clean up the mess that this industry creates.
Another thing, you people should be speaking out against this industry instead of justifying the maiming, beating, and deaths by accepting donations from the very industry that exploits racehorses.
As long as you sleep with the devil – you become the devil.
Wow, just came across this. I just wanted to say, you’re not alone feeling so angry and incredulous of the betrayal that’s felt. The racing organizations “help”, or should I say, create a smoke screen ,dumping donations into these ottb programs. It’s not to help give them a wonderful rolling hilled pasture to spend the rest of their enjoying. Hell no, they don’t want people to start peeking into the injustices,and awful mistreatment that’s bestowed upon them starting around the time they’re yearlings. People might argue that they’re treated well during their racing career. This argument is from the perspective of the horse owners views of humans superiority over all gods creatures. I believe narcissistic is what the intelligent and,respected society deems them. Spending 23 hours a day in a wooden box without any stimulation. The ulcers inflected upon they’re guts are very painful. Seems sociopathic to inflect that upon your horse. It speaks volumes to those of us that have evolved ourselves mentally,and spiritually. Maybe those people aren’t intelligent enough put an end to dense and rigid thinking. Maybe some realize their failure to “ make right” the pain and suffering others endured. Let’s take inventory on ourselves first. I personally would like to take responsibility for my views that caused pain to an animal that couldn’t stand up for themselve.
See here’s the thing…If it wasn’t for this ‘extraordinary person’ Financial Mogul was on his way to slaughter. Not only was that long loooong ride going to be horrific, but it was going to be done in pain. He probably would have fell, and finished his ride under the hooves of the other terrified horses traveling with him. It wasn’t the caring industry that saved him, or all the concerned horseman, no, it was an ‘extraordinary person’ that tries to save the horses that the racing industry destroys. The accountability for these animals is washed away with the trading of each hands. Your in the business, you know this.
I am confused and I am admittedly naive but people keep throwing around the idea that the horse was “saved”. He was sold to be killed ,was “saved” and then was killed? The method at which he was killed is different but that is splitting hairs in my opinion, end result was the same.
Steve…
Financial Mogul raced 12 times for Rick Violette. Look at the gelding’s PP and you can see his decline. Violette unloaded him in that 12th race via a claiming race. It was 7 months before he raced again for Linda Rice (trainer) and in that race, he was claimed again. That LAST race was June of 2015…the new owner/trainer never raced him. So now April of 2016 and the gelding is dumped at the notorious New Holland KB-attended auction.
Kelly Smith of Omega Horse Rescue makes weekly visits to this auction (and from what I can see, it looks like she attends more than once a week) to save as many horses as possible. She found Financial Mogul. As is normal procedure when finding a discarded racehorses, the “boots-on-the-ground” individual/rescuer starts making calls for whatever might be needed (including using tattoos to identify horses). In that process, Molloy who is the program director for ReRun got wind of this discarded gelding and knowing who he was, she contacted Kelly saying she would take him. Kelly didn’t need Molloy to take Financial Mogul. Molloy didn’t offer to take any of the other discarded racehorses and maybe they didn’t fit her “criteria” – doesn’t matter…that should have been the end of the story.
But Molloy and Duddy and a number of other pro-racing racehorse rescue organization directors and members don’t like the way Smith runs her organization – in addition, Molloy intakes horses for Violette and according to Molloy, and here are her words verbatim; “I have several of his [Violette’s] horses and he does not deserve this [telling the story of Financial Mogul] bullshit.” Her connections with the NY racing industry would certainly color her objectivity (there’s a photo of Molloy with NYTHA board member Rick Schosberg from some recent gathering) and inhibit any exposing of injuries from a rescued-from-auction racehorse. That being said, Molloy chooses to support the racing industry even though on her own website, it states; ” For the vast majority of racehorses, their post-career fate is uncertain and often very sad. Some are lucky enough to find their way to retirement facilities or adoption programs, such as ReRun. Others end up in kill pens, waiting to be transported across U.S. borders for slaughter.” So with her defending of Violette, does any reasonable individual really think Molloy would “out” her “friend” and reveal the extent of Financial Mogul’s injuries? I doubt it…especially given Molloy has already attacked Horseracing Wrongs, claiming on a public forum that our Kill Lists are inaccurate as she has had “several” of those dead horses in her program. I saw her attack and immediately gave her the opportunity to NAME those several horses and discredit HRW!…I’m sure she would be THRILLED to prove the Kill Lists to have inaccuracies! But of course, just as I thought, she didn’t…because she couldn’t. Molloy is one who certainly shouldn’t be throwing around insults.
On April 18, Kelly found Financial Mogul in the possession of the kill buyer at New Holland. She fund-raised to purchase him and at the very least, spare him from being butchered in the slaughterhouse. He was rescued. But his veterinary evaluation at New Bolton diagnosed the severe injuries that had left him in pain. He was euthanized.
So in the end, yes Steve, Financial Mogul is dead. Used by the racing industry, sold during his racing “career” as he declined during his time in the racing industry, left with severe injuries from being exploited by the racing industry, and finally, discarded by the racing industry. He IS a racing fatality. And as far as his “former connections” saying they would take him AFTER they were contacted about the gelding being found with the kill buyer?…it’s too little too late. They ALL dumped him, in one way or another. Not ONE of them was at the auction looking for their former horse…because as Violette stated, “out of sight, out of mind”.
Financial Mogul was injured and discarded by the racing industry. For bets. For entertainment. Tell me…what compassionate person can support this?
Steve Bowman-Google ‘horse slaughter’. that is all.
Ms. Bayern, you “can only assume that poor Financial Mogul was euthanized in haste”. Interesting. Then it would stand to reason that we can only assume that poor Financial Mogul was destroyed by racing. I spoke to Ms. Smith and she told me that the horse was walking “bone on bone” per the vets at New Bolton. This story is about a horse that was used and abused by an industry that we can “assume” you support….horseracing. Regardless of how you feel about Ms. Smith, she is the one that saw him at New Holland and took action. If you are unhappy with that fact, then it would be wise to send one of the many “good” people in racing to NH on a weekly basis. Let racing clean up the carnage that they produce. By the way, there are two small auctions in northeast Ohio (Damascus and Carrollton) and these auctions are approximately half way between Mahoning and Mountaineer. I wish there was a Kelly Smith, a Jill Bayern, or another advocate that would get up off their butts and attend those auctions on a regular basis. I know for a fact that TB’s move through both and that comes from an outrider who bought a TB colt last summer for $65.
Now, you then state that there were those (more than one) in the thoroughbred industry “begging” to help him. Really, Ms. Bayern? This horse had horrific injuries so where were all those “good” folks (more than one) when this horse needed help? I believe I saw a post where Ms. Molloy stated that the horse went “missing in action” about a year ago, yet another racing supporter, Ms. Duddy, stated that I, Mary Johnson, should “go after the Player’s Group” (instead of Rick Violette). Why didn’t Molly and her colleagues/supporters pick up the phone and call someone in the Player’s Group? Again, your words….there were those “begging” to help him. Why don’t you “beg” to help the horses BEFORE they get into a bad situation? Violette needs to put every single horse of his into his VS and FOLLOW those horses. Seems incredibly simple to me….
Ms. Maggi Moss brags on social media that ALL horses, previously owned by her, are in her stable alert. That is a monstrous lie.
It appears that Lisa Molloy/Rerun Thoroughbred Adoption contacted FM’s connections to let them know that FM was at New Holland. Now this does not mean that the connections (or Rerun as their agent) had any priority over any other person or entity to buy FM at the auction. After earning $170,000 in prizemoney alone, the connections Klaravich Stable/William Lawrence/Rick Violette Jr. got rid of FM and pocketed $25,000 in the process. One would imagine that given the significant earnings for just 12 starts, one would be hanging onto this horse to make more money out of him. So what went wrong? FM suffered an *injury/condition and these connections appear to have been aware otherwise why would they get rid of him? These connections knew that it was highly likely that he’d end up in a slaughterhouse.
“those in the thoroughbred industry begging to help him” Oh really, Jill?
I think it would be more accurate to say that the “connections” was Rick Violette who, when informed of the situation with FM at NH, instructed Molloy to do whatever it takes to buy him and prevent any other person getting their hands on this particular horse. The risk of this horse’s story being exposed was extremely high. And as it turned out another person did buy him and all was revealed, hence the attempted character assassination of Kelly Smith.
*see New Bolton’s evaluation at the end of Joy Aten’s expose
Humans are barbaric , and abuse and kill animals for a profit ! It terrible and should be against the Law !
It is better for a horse to be put down humanely than go through the horror of hearing/ smelling the slaughter house operations! We have had to put down many of our horses due to injuries that could not be recovered from and we always comforted them as as they peacefully went to sleep. They also have all been buried on our farm, not hauled away to a rendering facility which we think is almost as bad as a slaughter plant.
I’m still confused, the end result in both scenarios is that the horse is dead..I don’t know, I’m also under the impression slaughtered horses are used for human consumption outside of the U.S, unless you are all vegan I still don’t get it. 20yr I did google horse slaughter, the first thing that came up was a video and within 3 seconds it said are you hungry enough to eat a horse? Maybe not me but I bet millions are.
Steve, horseracing killed this horse. Horseracing uses, abuses and throws horses away for money. They are mere cogs in the racing machine. Commodities, bought and sold many times over. No need to Google slaughter, you can find the information here: https://horseracingwrongs.com/2015/05/29/in-all-likelihood-most-spent-racehorses-are-slaughtered/
Financial was saved and due to his injuries, it was determined that he be humanely euthanized. Please watch those videos and see the difference between slaughter and euthanasia. I hope your confusion clears up after that.
Also, for further reading, see the list of dead racehorses from last year here: https://horseracingwrongs.com/killed-in-action-2015/
Those died on the track. Horseracing kills horses. Period.
Steve, if you think horsemeat is the answer to feeding the millions of hungry in the world then you have fallen for that part of the pro slaughter propaganda.
Horse slaughter is a business and there is nothing charitable or altruistic about it. The kill buyers pay money for the horses, the transportation to the slaughterhouses costs money, the slaughterhouses cost money to operate, and so on…. In order for horse slaughter to stay in business it must turn a profit and to make a profit the meat is sold at the highest price the market will bear. Forget about feeding the hungry because it is not happening and will never happen. Further, most of the world hunger and poverty that exists is because of corrupt governments and not food shortages.
You said you were confused. Perhaps you have difficulty understanding the difference between euthanasia and sending an injured horse on a horrific journey culminating in a terrifying and cruel death.
And FYI I have not eaten meat for so many years I have lost track.
Simply outraged. Again and again, multiple times every day, year in and year out, racehorses pay the ultimate price for greed and insensitivity.
Racing cannot be reformed. There is no hope that horses will not be raced to the point of debilitating injury or death no matter the propaganda of this disgusting industry. It is in the nature of the business to view horses as little more than racing machines, susceptible to mechanical damage, and in need of constant replacements for the hopelessly abused, irreparably broken racehorses.
Marc, all I want to say is DITTO from me.
You make such an accurate conclusion, one that took me a long time to arrive at: “Racing cannot be reformed.” Any reasonable effort to reform it is nothing more than window dressing because as long as the fundamental business model is the exploitation of a voiceless, and sentiment being for profit, then the industry can never reform.
Racehorses are being beaten/whipped, maimed, and killed for $2 bets. The kill lists here are proof that this industry fails to protect the racehorses whom they exploit. The lack of caring, the inaction on behalf of many including the failure of the Racing Commissions to deny entries from racehorses who are, more or less, being sent to their deaths.
If they are lucky enough to make it out alive, most are dumped at kill auctions, and subsequently the slaughterhouse where the inhumane ongoing disposable commodity (racehorse) gets a captive bolt to the head. Many times that bolt doesn’t do the dirty work in one zap. Many times, it takes many zaps in order to render them unconscious. Refer to videos of slaughterhouses in Quebec, Canada, and Mexico on YouTube. Absolutely heartbreaking.
Rick Violette, Linda Rice who are both heavily involved with the HBPA are despicable people. Anybody involved with this business partakes in the ongoing exploitation, beating, maiming, dumping and/or killing at some point.
The fact that Rick stands up and spews his 2-faced lies doesn’t surprise me since he’s responsible for dumping countless racehorses that has gone through his racing stable turnstile. One in – one out. Do the same to this one that they did to the other one. Wash their hands of it. No problem. The industry deliberately makes it easy for the dumping to occur. It’s called Claiming Races where many racehorses are literally running for their lives.
For heavens sake, domestic dogs, and cats are treated better then racehorses.
Heartless, irresponsible, and unaccountable is the 3 traits that Owner/Trainers require to be in this despicable slave trade.
When Financial Mogul desperately needed vet care I can rightfully assume that neither Rick Violette or Linda Rice gave ONE DIME to alleviate his horrific suffering which they are more than likely responsible for.
Both Rick and Linda spend hundreds of thousands of dollars at sales auctions to get their next Financial Mogul. You know the one that they probably dope up to run, dope up to cover lameness issues, dope up to keep them running. This endless cycle of joint injections, doping, and exploiting results in heartbreaking scenarios like Financial Mogul. Sadly, he’s one of many.
Not only do these despicable people turn their backs on the racehorses that they exploit, but they do the unthinkable – they continue the ongoing cycle of doping, running, whipping, dumping, maiming, and killing.
Let’s be clear, there’s really no such thing as retirement for a racehorse; at least not by people of this industry. That’s rare.
They call it retirement when a successful mare or sire comes off the track, but it’s not retirement. It’s an endless cycle of hormone manipulation, forcible impregnation, effectively turning them into breeding machines so that they can produce more profit slaves for this despicable industry.
When no longer viable (can’t get pregnant or impregnate) the dumping ensues. Very few get that grassy paddock that the industry so carefully construes for the unsuspecting public.
Most of the very lucky racehorses who get a proper retirement are provided for by people who had nothing to do with the exploitation.
The racehorses are a disposable commodity in the entire scheme of the horse racing slave industry.
Rick Violette, and Linda Rice are exemplary examples of this despicable cruelty circus.
I can say this for Linda Rice. I galloped some of her horses that she was downgrading. She would leave them with trainers at cheap tracks. They were so sore. Instead of retire them or give them time off, this is how she dealt with it. And it did not improve after that, it’s about the money. Their worth lies only in making money, I had to come to terms with this, see the truth for what it really is. When I did this, it changed everything I knew.
Linda Rice claimed FM for $25, 000. She did not start him for 7 months. His one and only start for her was in a $16,000 claiming race where he was once again claimed and never started again. It sure looks like the horse was not fit to race and he was patched up by Ms. Rice in an effort for a return on the $25,000 investment or at least stem the loss. As it turns out, the loss was a few thousand because FM got $5,500 for 2nd and $16,000 for the claim and she was rid of an unsound horse !!
Totally agree with you Marc – Rose Smith’s comment says it all!
You are so right. When there’s money involved these horses – all racehorses – don’t stand a chance. Horses live to be thirty plus years old and it is very expensive, so when they can no longer earn their keep and be financial assets to their owners and trainers, they’re gone. Luckily some find compassionate humans, but they are few and far between. Rest in Peace all horses who have been betrayed by humans.
you are right leslie….the slow, lame ones are doomed. not too many secretariats around
Leslie, I agree with you about Linda Rice. Heard many bad things. Also know of many of her horses that have just disappeared.
So sad! The picture of this 5 year old says it all! Thank goodness for the person who saved that horse from slaughter. God bless their heart and kindness.We left the business 12 years ago and will never again market our horses for racing in our state despite the fact that our racing commissions program of FREE registration of foals paid for by a tax on all Hub wagering funds passing through our state.That is not the commissions job in our opinion! Their job is to ensure the integrity of wagering and care/ training of the horses at the tracks. We have had prospective owners offer to buy our yearlings/ two-year-olds for racing. We then had a frank open discussion of the state of the industry in our state.We explained/ told them of all we know. The couple became very quiet. They then proceeded to tell us of the recently claimed horse of theirs that “fell apart” a few days after their successful claim. They said they managed to win won more race with the mare after spending THOUSANDS of dollars in vet bills and several weeks off. Their mare became unsound again and were told by their home vet she would never be able to run again because of all the bone chips/ damage done to her fetlocks.Sadly they decided to breed their mare to a FREE stud at another farm with the foal to be registered free most likely next year too. Wait until they find out their free stud fee foal doesn`t include the boarding costs/ palpation costs.We have been there! We also remember seeing at the track a very CLASSY woman trainer displaying her $13,000 bill for 3 foals that she said had bad conformation and would never run that also had bad temperaments that would be difficult or impossible to train for any other equine sport.She showed those statements to all the other horse people right on the road if front of the prominent breeders racing stable! She has since left the industry as well.She always took good hands on care of all her horses in her racing stable herself. The couple that came to our farm also told us of how many owners are having to gallop their own horses because they can`t find anyone willing to exercise them in the mornings. They spoke also of one specific trainer who we used to gallop horses for and how that couples horses are the thinnest/ worst looking horses at the track. They couldn`t understand how that training couple even continue to operate. That`s why we now market our thoroughbreds as family horses which now seems tobe growing market for us. We were fortunate enough to have retained several good tempered daughters/ sons of our first farm stallion before his early passing. To this day our honest farm vet and ourselves don`t what happened to our first sires early passing at the way… to early age of 13.
The best way to uncover these people is to TELL the story, keep telling it, repost it wherever you can. Everyone knows that the racetrack is NOT the way to financial freedom, far from it. But morally, these people who buy and abandon horses are so wrong not to take care of them. Having said that, just because the last listed owner might be someone you recognize does NOT mean they are the ones who dumped the horse–that horse could have changed hand several times on the way to the auction. That’s what horse “brokers” and “kill buyers” do……Most recognized racetracks do post that if a horse is found for sale at auction, that the stalls and ability to race at that particular track will be revoked. As you can imagine, with limited budgets etc, making that stick is a huge problem. Thank God for the national racehorse rescues–they can’t begin to absorb the end of market–but they do the best they can do.
Agree with much of your comment except I take issue with you on this: “the last listed owner….does NOT mean they are the ones who dumped the horse.” They most certainly dumped the horse at some point in their life which is precisely why they are standing at a kill auction. So it in no way precludes them from the dumping scenario.
In fact, many times we have contacted Owners who owned, and raced the horse when it was profitable (whether that’s in the thousands or hundreds of thousands), and they rarely send ONE DIME to get the horse out of harms way. We are talking $200 to $500 dollars.
So if they really cared then they would cough up a couple of hundred dollars to make sure the horse doesn’t die in a slaughterhouse or even pay for the trailer fee back to a safer place. So many things they could do beyond the usual lip service.
So by suggesting that the previous Owner wasn’t the “dumper” is insinuating that they may really care about that horse standing at a kill auction. Maybe so, but caring, and lip service is entirely different than action backed-up with much needed funds.
At some point, that previous owner dumped the horse whether that’s with another owner who they felt were good, or somewhere else. I realize that their intentions may have been good, but not always.
Another thing, we have cell phones, social media, and countless ways to contact the subsequent owners to ask how the horse is or even visit the farm where the horse is.
I just don’t buy the “I really cared, but found another owner for the horse.” Or, “I didn’t know that the horse was dumped.”
There have also been times where the Owner deliberately dumps the horse with another Owner who will register it at the kill auction to cover-up for the Owner who was really doing the dumping. This can be the same Owner that claims “I wasn’t the owner who dumped it.”
Irresponsible, and unaccountable seems to be the 2 traits common in this scenario.
Ironically enough one of the former owners of this horse was contacted and wanted to help him. In fact several people reached out and offered to take him. The “extraordinary person” that had him wanted him for her own nefarious purpose. Fundraising. She has made a career of finding that “celebrity” horse that will ensure the pipeline of dollars to her bank account. Why else would she turn down all offers for this horse?
Ann, if you or anyone else cared so much about the countless maimed, and dumped horses at kill auctions then YOU would have been there for Financial Mogul – you were not there. If it wasn’t for kind people who had nothing to do with this exploitation then FM would be a piece of steak probably on his way to France right now.
You pro-horse racing people are sick individuals who are living an ongoing deliberate delusion actually defending, and supporting the ongoing maiming, abuse, whipping, beating, dumping, and slaughterhouses that are part of this entire cruelty circus.
You have the audacity to attack somebody who is kind, and had nothing to do with the maiming, and killing of racehorses?
You are deliberately taking the attention away from this cruelty circus that you call horse racing. MILLIONS of racehorses have gone through the turnstiles of racetracks generating BILLIONS in profit while they are beaten, dumped, and killed, and you focus on one caring individual who rescues broken racehorses almost every week?
You may be able to portray a fancy hat, and grassy paddock image to the public, but your not going to pull it over on me or the younger generation either.
The young generation who are much more conscientious then you are going to make sure that this cruelty circus ends.
You forgot to mention the BILLIONS of allegedly unreported wagering income going through the HBPA on racetracks via the Interstate Horse Wagering Act that needs to be cancelled. Nor did you mention the BILLIONS in either tax breaks or taxpayers money, or casinos money that amounts to welfare handouts.
Suddenly this “rich mans sports” is nothing more than a beggar begging for handouts so that they can use, and abuse a sentiment being.
The only way that you people in the past have been able to get away with this ongoing abuse is because the racehorse has no voice. You certainly were not a voice for Financial Mogul when he needed you. No, you became a voice AFTER a kind person rescued this broken soul.
I will be a voice for racehorses by speaking out about the ongoing abuse.
First off Gina you don’t know me or what I have done or am doing now. Just FYI New Holland is not the only auction house in the country. ;)
People who had nothing to do with this horse being exploited? Why on earth do you think Kelly Smith jumped on this one? WHY did she refuse to let a rescue take him? There are many ways to exploit animals and Kelly has just found a different way to do it.
Perhaps you should take a gander at her 990’s. $91,655 that she gave to Rotten Rotz. OVER $91,000 TO A STINKING KILLBUYER! Oh and she shows she shows having $110,000 in cash on hand (basically). Why then does she have an outstanding vet bill for $28,000? http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/272/272849659/272849659_201502_990.pdf
But by all means you go right ahead and support her and in turn you support slaughter.
If you aren’t part of the solution you are part of the problem. Congratulations.
And then go ask her about Lady Primrose. A mare she sold to Kendall Hansen SO HE COULD BREED HER.
http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/beyond-the-blinkers/archive/2012/05/29/kendall-hansen-reveals-unusual-future-plans.aspx
Now, who’s contributing to the problem?
Ann….why would Lisa Molloy/ReRun want to pay the kill buyer for him and intake him when she doesn’t purchase horses from the kill buyer? “Cherry picking”? A stakes horse-rescued-from-kill buyer that could be a nice PR story for Violette? (even though those “feel good stories” are so easy to read between the lines…kind of like that nice Ramon Preciado guy who swooped to the salvation of Grand Strand when he was found headed for slaughter) I guess anyone who would pay the KB’s price for a slaughter-bound horse really fries you?…there are a few racehorse rescues that do it regularly…at least a few. So I imagine you go after them, as well.
Ann Brooks…so it looks like ReRun/Molloy are guilty of what you accused Kelly Smith of. Racing trainer Gary Sciacca; “They [ReRun] really, really wanted him [Saratoga Snacks].” Yet in the meantime, a NY-bred aged broodmare who no one has ever heard of waits for help…in the hands of a kill buyer.
http://www.drf.com/news/empire-dreams-racing-saratoga-snacks-retiring
Thank you Joy for your investigation into FINANCIAL MOGUL and exposing what really goes on with these voiceless horses. Sick callous heartless people in a monstrously cruel industry. It must end!
That’s so sad to hear!! They need to make stricter laws to protect horses!! This is why I hate horse racing. The horses pay the price, while people get rich. I would love to see the owners of these horses pay the price. For every horse that they bring in to this world, they should be held responsible for it’s entire natural life!! These horses didn’t asked to be brought into this sicking world. They where forced in to it. I LOVE HORSES and I feel that the owners should pay the price. For every horse they should have to pay the price, just like the horses. For every horse found at a horse sale the owners should have to pay one million dollars to take care of the horse to a rescue group!!! And never be allowed to own any horses or other animals. And they need to shut down ALL RACING!!😢😢😢😢
Thank you Joy for exposing this story and for giving some respect to Financial Mogul something that the horse racing industry never did.
Also, both Rick Violette and Linda Rice should be denied stalls because they are somewhat responsible for FM’s demise, and subsequent dumping at a kill auction.
However, I would never expect this vile industry to do something right. After all, both Rick and Linda have been directly associated or actively part of the HBPA which controls the Interstate Horse Wagering Act which makes billions in allegedly unreported wagering income.
Little or nothing of that profit goes to the horses as seen here with Financial Mogul.
Isn’t it ironic that these names are so opposite of what the scenario is? The names are another way of diverting attention from their horrific lives.
Financial Mogul prior connections didn’t even cough up a dime to save him from his horrific fate. He was anything, but a Financial Mogul. He was totally physically, and mentally spent by this industry.
Once again it was people who had nothing to do with his exploitation that stepped up to the plate.
The day this industry shuts down is the day that racehorses can rejoice.
The only time they care is when they get caught. And even then they go down fighting. An example of this is when Solar Lady was rescued from the kill pen. This was on facebook, and the barn help for Anthony Farrior was bullying and harassing, the poster (I think she was the one to rescue her). This was on social media for all to see. I think the only way to fight this battle is through the court system for animal abuse. There are so many examples of abuse by whip, beatings, break downs, and slaughter. I mean the racing industry as a whole. That this is abuse, and that the court is asked to put into place a no whip rule, lifelong suspensions for trainers caught doping, and a fund set aside for the retirement of ex-racehorses. I know that barely covers it all, but with the anti-abuse laws now in place, whipping should fall under those guidelines. Fight that, take away the whip, racing will not survive. That is all it will take.
To clarify: Most tracks have whipping rules in place. These rules are broken repeatedly or not taken issue with at all. Jockey Espinosa was in violation of these rules with American Pharoah, for all to see. Watch the reruns of races, and see how many times no issue is taken up on these rules. The racing industry claims whipping does not hurt horses, a claim that has already been debunked. So already we can see time and again that these so called ‘rules’ are not effective.
Most horses, especially the cheaper claimers will tire of running quickly, due to fatigue, lameness, or outright disinterest. The whip is the only reason they continue the race. Without the whip most will fade back, out of contention. It is the whip that drives most horses to winners circle or to catastrophic injury. Take the whip away, and when these horses stop performing under duress, the betters will leave, and only subsidies alone will keep the industry alive. And subsidies will only last so long, as they are already under attack. The law to end the use of the whip needs to be put in place. I don’t have the money or means to do this, but some of you here may know how to get this done.
20yr+ industry insider – really appreciate your comments!
I’m confused about the whip rules, I thought it was the relevant State racing commissions that were responsible for them, or, are the tracks (Club racetracks e.g. Aqueduct) that set the whip rules?
Re the merciless beating of American Pharoah in the 2015 Kentucky Derby (32 hits with the whip in about 35 seconds if my memory serves me correctly). From the media reports I got the impression that there were no whip rules in Kentucky and a racing official in response to the public outcry implied that no rules had been broken and that they didn’t get any phone calls….? Victor Espinoza was fined I think about $300 for another merciless beating of a horse, the mare Stellar Wind (when she won a big prizemoney race in another State) just a few weeks prior to the Kentucky Derby – he broke her skin in this sickening incident and as I understand it a vet on duty reported it to the stewards.
It appears that there were whip rules of a kind in that State. Are there any whip rules in Kentucky?
Carolyn-I assumed this was the case for all tracks.http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/106539/california-implements-new-whip-rule Apparently not, though.
Many thanks for putting up the link 20yr+ industry insider. It seems that the racing commissions in each State have their “own” whip rules for the horses that race in their jurisdiction. It is staggering that these whip rules vary from State to State, at the very least they need to be nationwide. However, the horseracing industry requires one whip rule only and that is:- the rider can carry the whip on the condition that it is only to be used for safety reasons such as horse takes fright or is green and heads towards the outside rail looking to jump over it. There’s no horsemanship in racing just cruel punishment when the horses are doing their best, many racing with pre-existing injuries, many sore and many being raced into the ground. This is horseracing!
Carolyn-This ex-rider could not have said it better.
He was only five. Beaten up by racing, cast aside, and rescued by a kind, knowledgeable and concerned woman who does her damnedest to do right by each horse that she takes off the slaughter line. This boy was lucky to know the expertise and care that would help him to leave suffering behind for good. God bless the rescuers.
Thanks to ALL who have shared this true account. It’s so unfortunate that certain individuals are taking the focus off this poor gelding by battling over who rescued him!
Were his former racing owners/trainers AT the auction looking for the horse they made 170K with?…the horse they sold via claim when he declined (with injuries, obviously)? Absolutely not, they weren’t there! Out of sight, out of mind.
The identity of the gelding’s rescuer does NOT change the fact that he was suffering with racing-induced injuries that necessitated his euthanasia AND that he was dumped at an auction.
The focus and outrage should be over the condition and dumping of Financial Mogul…unfortunately, selfish and jealous people are robbing this poor gelding of the only thing left to give him – acknowledgement that racing killed him and that he once shared this earth with us.
Of course, racing supporters would like to take the spotlight off the injured, discarded racehorse and argue over who should have taken him from the killer’s grasp. Absolutely astonishing…
Absolutely, Joy!
Accountability…? http://www.drf.com/news/maker-suspended-40-days-plans-appeal
Racing is what caused the death of Financial Mogul. When he was all used up and no good to anyone any more, he was dumped at the kill auction. Only 5 years old. Thank God for the rescuer who saved him from a horrible death at the slaughter house. R.I.P. Financial Mogul
Lisa Molloy of RERUN was only trying to help Financial Mogul because another rescue called her and informed her about the horse. She never knew anything about the horse having an injury and would never ever try to hide or cover up anything. Anyone saying otherwise needs mental help. As far as someone in racing stepping up to help Financial Mogul, this is not shocking. Most of the thoroughbred horses unlike other breeds are given second careers because of those that do help in the racing and breeding industry. With that said, there is no excuse for even one horse to end up in a slaughter situation. And while I find myself more and more disgusted with the bad in the racing industry, I don’t feel that the good in the industry should be attacked when they are at least trying to help.
Rotz told me several years ago that the rescue people make money from the horses that they save from the people online. I doubt he lied. It is hard to believe that anyone puts their everything into all of this rescue and gets zero for it. Christy (AC4H) and others tried to say that for years and it turned out they were making a fortune off of it. Then you have the QT and transport people that get their share. You don’t have to be a genius to figure out how it all works and in the end you just follow the money and it tells you everything. I have piles and piles of photos of horses that were saved from kill buyers “bailed” by rescues or rescue people that later turned up at auction or for sale cheap and even for free on ads. Sadly the people that donate all this money to help really believed that they were in some forever home happy for the rest of their lives. Alot of the horses that the kill buyers will allow the rescue people to “help” are horses they can’t ship. If people would use their heads and realize that there is no way there are so many “private homes” out there for all of these horses that can afford their many MANY physical issues. But unfortunately people are not using their heads and instead they are thinking with their hearts. I tell them if they really want to get involved with helping horses to visit a local rescue and make sure the money they give is truly going into a horse and not just someones pocket book.
As for Financial Mogul, I would not even believe he was dead or existed at this point unless I had 100% proof. Over the years horse advocates have seen fraud run rampant with the broker owned horses. A very sad day indeed . May Financial Mogul RIP.
The saddest part about this…is Financial Mogul was so bad off that he had to put down. Those greedy so called horseman would not even pay for him to be put down to end his suffering. Instead shipped him to auction, to try and make a buck more. I remember the kill buyers walking through the barns, trainers just couldn’t wait to unload their destroyed or not performing horses. I thought they were disgusting then, and I still do.
It is hearbreaking to see him in his Glory day, and then standing beaten down in a kill pen. Damn heartbreaking! And the horseman pretending to care to save face. And please, don’t come at me with some crap story, about how horseman care. Do not come at me with that, I’ve seen too much, and I know better. Damn disgusting all that I have witnessed. And this proves nothing has or will changed. Because you racetrackers are all batting for the same team.
I am not sure that I am ready to congratulate someone who euthanized a horse when that horse had an offer of vet care and rehab at Re-Run. This horse would have had all expenses covered, and may still be alive today, had Kelly Smith of Omega Horse Rescue not turned down that offer. We will never really know how this would have shaken out. I am the director of a non-profit horse rescue, and had Re-Run approached me with an offer for a horse that I had pulled, I would have wept tears of joy, because they have money to support NY Bred horses. They would have had the money to do the comprehensive testing and evaluation. And even if the horse truly had needed to be euthanized, it would not have come out of our small little budget- we would have then had help, which would have meant that we could help another horse in need. Kelly Smith’s Omega Rescue had, at my look at their 990s, a fund balance of over 100 grand in 2014. Meanwhile, this rescue is on GoFundMe begging for 28,000 to cover vet bills. I do not understand how any rescue would have turned down that offer from Re-Run, and what agenda they may have had for so doing- and then, not only do they turn down the offer, but they begin FUNDRAISING for the horse on their Facebook wall, when the funding was in place from NYRA through Re-Run.
Lizzie Dickerson, you, as a racing industry supporter, and Molloy, as a racing supporter as well, should be grateful that Kelly Smith makes weekly visits to New Holland – because in doing so, she finds the discarded “athletes” from the entertainment business you and she support. And as we who rescue the countless trashed racehorses know, there are never enough homes and never enough funds. If Molloy had room for Financial Mogul, then she will have room for another crippled racehorse, instead.
All of the attacks on Kelly Smith on social media over Financial Mogul are coming from the pro-racing/”advocate” camp. And their ire over the issue is clearly ONE thing – they don’t want the story of Financial Mogul presented truthfully. Molloy has stated (regarding the save of FM from auction); “the system works”. Really?…the “system” is having a non-racing funded individual making weekly rounds at a kill auction and in looking at all of the equines there, she’s to identify each and every TB racehorse there and successfully get them out?!? THAT’S the “system”? There shouldn’t be ONE racehorse even AT the auction – THAT might be the “system” working. No, Financial Mogul was miserably failed – nothing in the racing industry “worked” for him. Not a damn thing. Had Kelly Smith or some other rescuer who might have happened to see him standing there that day NOT seen him, he WOULD HAVE BEEN SLAUGHTERED. So in the case of the “system working”, that is only this, at best…too little too late. The damage was already done to the young gelding.
Since you and a couple of others have mentioned Molloy’s name here, that gives her the perfect invitation to make good on her claim she made several weeks back. As a staunch racing supporter, Molloy is quite displeased with Horseracing Wrongs (as are a few other racehorse rescue programs – more on that later today or tomorrow)…and so she spewed, regarding the KIA lists, that the lists were incorrect because SHE had a “few”/”several” of those horses that had been confirmed dead by the different racing sources. I immediately offered her the chance to NAME those “few” or “several” horses (seems she couldn’t decide if there were three or more…). But she laughed it off with an “lol” and replied she wasn’t going to be “bullied” by me. Speaks volumes, doesn’t it.
Oh but there’s SO much more concerning the pro-racing/”advocate” group…and how I wish I had the time RIGHT NOW to address each and every lie and smear they’ve spewed on social media over Financial Mogul and the efforts of Horseracing Wrongs. But I’ll get there….
Lastly, the FOCUS should be on the crippled and discarded Financial Mogul. Sadly, Ms. Dickerson, you and Molloy and other racing supporters just cannot stand the exposure that once again, a defenseless creature exploited by the industry you support has shown us all.,
Joy, once again you have expertly said it as it is – there’s nothing like the wholesome truth. The likes of Molloy and Dickerson are classic examples of the racing industry’s pitiful supporters – they are obscenely detached from the inhumane treatment of these horses and they simply cannot cope with the ugly truth being revealed to the public. That truth being the abhorrent, horrifically cruel treatment of the noble equine, a sentient being without a voice.
You make an excellent point, Ann…since slaughter has long been and continues to be racing’s “system” for disposal of their unwanted horses, it’s pretty likely that not only will this mare’s offspring one day be in the hands of a kill buyer (if not dead from their racing injuries), it is probable she will be discarded herself. If she and her progeny are lucky enough to be spotted amongst the many dumped-at-auction equines, I hope someone will do the right thing and expose all who were at any given time her owners.
Well for some reason I’ve been censored. My post regarding Lady Primrose has been deleted.
Obviously, Lizzie Dickerson, it appears that you have no understanding that when a horse has been so badly damaged by racing it is the humane thing to euthanase the horse on expert veterinary advice. It appears to me that you are making a pathetic attempt in declaring that the horse had a future? For what reason Lizzie? Oh, I think we know the answer to that……trying to defend the racing industry – hate to disappoint you but you sure have an uphill battle there! As the saying goes “you cannot defend the indefensible”.
So, what are you trying to say? That the vets at New Bolten (The best of the best) are not qualified to decide when a horse needs to be put down? Would you be willing to take them to task. I think not…it would not turn out well for the TB industry.
Ms. Dickerson, you and I have crossed paths before but, prior to going into that, I want you to know that I do not support broker programs but I do support humane euthanasia. I just want to be very clear on that issue since there seems to be a tendency to “twist and spin” the truth. Yes, I have worked with kill buyers (Bauer, Baker and Gold) a handful of times but I would certainly prefer not to. I always try to get the horse BEFORE it ends up in bad hands.
You seem to be missing a very important point. Financial Mogul was found at NH by Smith…not by you, not by Molloy, not by Violette. Smith purchased and then decided to keep the horse. Therefore, once she purchased the horse, she was the owner of said horse. Back in 2012, you, Ms. Dickerson, seemed to struggle with the concept of ownership when it came to a horse I owned by the name of Canuki. I paid Mark Wedig $4,250 for two horses that he owned at that time…Cactus Café and Canuki. Once the money changed hands, (Joe DeLuca facilitated that transaction), I owned both horses. There was also a handwritten bill of sale. Wedig did haul the horses to a farm outside of Beulah (Doug Shaneyfelt’s facility) and within a few days, I went to pick the horses up. As soon as I got out of my truck, Joe told me that you had phoned him and asked if you could send a transport to pick up Canuki….not Cactus, but Canuki. Joe told you that I owned the horses and he couldn’t let you just take a horse that did not belong to you. I was appalled that someone, such as yourself, would even ask to pick up a horse that did NOT belong to them. You were quite brazen at that time.
About nine months later, you were still trying to acquire Canuki, this time for a gal by the name of Ms. Danielle Tursky, a buddy of Dr. King’s. You didn’t seem to care that Canuki was in rough shape at the time…thin, covered in rain rot, plus he had patches of hair missing from his rump and legs. At one point on the day of the show, Canuki put his chin on the dumpster, closed his eyes, and fell asleep. I have been around horses for well over 50 years and I have never seen that but the horse was physically, and mentally, exhausted. One of your colleagues told me that he looked great at the TB Challenge (obviously she didn’t know what she was talking about) and asked me if I was going to bid on him. At the time, I didn’t want Canuki back but I knew immediately that he was in trouble, big trouble, so I stepped up for a second time and, as you know, I was successful in acquiring him. Since you supported Tursky during the bidding, I wonder what would have happened to Canuki if Tursky had been successful. Scary stuff. I ultimately re-acquired Cactus Café a year later when her owner no longer wanted her. Both are safe and will be with me for the rest of their lives. Again, neither of these horses made me a damn dime but cost me thousands of dollars and they are worth every single cent I spent on them. I dare someone to tell me that they aren’t.
I tell this story in part because I always hear about all the “good” people in racing. Several people have sung the praises of Rick Violette and bent over backwards to repeatedly state how he “stepped up” for a horse that made him a lot of money. Yes, he did step up when called by Ms. Molloy, but did he follow FM for the 18 months that he was under different ownership with Player’s Group and Ms. Rice? Nope, Mr. Violette was at some conference babbling about how racing needs to do a better job helping horses after their productive days are over. He was talking up a storm but I suspect he didn’t do a damn thing to try and track down FM. What a different scenario between FM and Canuki and, ultimately, Cactus Cafe. You also seem to have a problem with two stories in the DRF written by Glenye Oakford about the racing industry sending these two horses to slaughter. Truly pathetic, Ms. Dickerson, truly pathetic. Perhaps you should focus on the horses and not your personal agenda.
Why doesn’t Ms. Smith bid against Rotz when she is at New Holland? If I had the financial backing Ms. Smith does, I would be there too ($100,000 in surplus according to the most recent 990). The Riggio Foundation supports Omega (and their lawsuits). What stinks is there was another rescue willing to provide for FM and Ms. Smith denied that offer; then immediately went on to beg for money to pay his bail. How much money did you raise KS?
You are a racing supporter, Collette Duddy. You defended Tito Rivera and said he did nothing wrong – Rivera, the owner/trainer of You Got the Silver…the little racehorse Rivera RACED with a pus-draining hole that extended into his pleural cavity…the little racehorse that came into your program and that you begged for funds necessary to cover the surgeries he needed. YOU defended Rivera who RAN YGTS with that chronically infected and painful draining “fistula”. You are a racing supporter.
Financial Mogul endured racing injuries and stood waiting for help at an auction. THAT is what this industry does to their “athletes”.
Oh no, Ann…the TRUTH is never nasty. Thank you for providing this article…in reading it, I see that Lady Primrose was ANOTHER used-up, neglected and dumped racehorse! She was rescued from a “low-grade meat auction” in 2011 and was “very thin”, in the “poorest condition of the group [of FOUR thin and rescued broodmares with foals at their side]”! It just never ends, does it Ann…
Yes Lady Primrose was Joy. Then she was betrayed yet again by this “extraordinary person” who sold her right back into the system simply because she is/was very well bred. Look for her foals to be on the track~2 have already been sold, that records have been found for. Wonder if Kelly will seek them out and provide care for the rest of their lives once they are used up and discarded, like their dam was.
YOU GOT THE SILVER……… eh Collette Duddy……. need one say anything more? I have an excellent memory as to what happened in that case. You serve no purpose here – take your comments elsewhere. Au revoir!
Never in my life have i ever requested that a commenter be blocked and some have been obscenely obnoxious but Patrick, please block her.
Wow Collette.. ‘You Got the Silver’ . Easy to see which team you are batting for.
To all you pathetic pro-horse racing people who come out of the woodwork to criticize, and even question the validity of some of the best vets in the country: SHAME ON YOU!
All you pro-horse racing people do is deliberately provide countless paragraphs to divert attention from the maiming, dumping, and deaths of racehorses for $2 bets.
Instead, you should all be collectively speaking out about this cruelty circus where beating, maiming, dumping, and killing is happening on a daily basis.
The reason why none of you speak out about it is because you accept donations from the horse racing industry which, by the way, is a pittance relative to the billions they make in profit.
So you are 2-faced people. You are caught in a trap. You figure if one is saved and about 10 go to slaughter then you pat yourselves on the back while discrediting people who speak the truth about this industry.
You know darn well that if you spoke out about what’s going on or discredit the industry in any way your financial support from the industry would abruptly end.
You are all in a perpetual state of delusional denial. You deliberately turn your back on countless racehorses just so you can get a buck to save a few.
This entire industry is based on the exploitation of a racehorse. They are turned into virtual slaves while they are being whipped to perform, mentally/physically maimed for life, dumped at kill auctions, and subsequently killed at slaughterhouses. This is the main operating procedures of the entire industry in order to grease the wheels. You are spokes on the wheels so to claim that you are the “good” part of horse racing is just a delusion, and a deliberate one at that.
You make me sick when you say that there are “good” people in horse racing. That’s like saying there are “good” killers. Funny how none of these “good folks” of horse racing never prevent the maiming, and dumping to begin with.
None of you were nowhere to be found when Financial Mogul and countless others are being maimed, and dumped for this cruelty circus. None of you spoke out about the ongoing maiming, and fatalities going on for $2 bets.
You completely, entirely, and deliberately ignore speaking out about the ongoing slavery ring called a racetrack. Yet, when horse advocates continually clean up the mess that you “good” folks create then you come forward and start to defend this cruelty circus.
You all know darn well that there are not enough homes to go around now. There are countless OTTB’s with no homes, and you know it which is precisely why many of the pro-horse racing retirement facilities have impossible caveats to meet, have extensive waiting lists, and are regularly turning away racehorses.
There will never be enough homes for the irresponsible breeding taking place on farms all over the country in order to fill races for $2 bets.
The irresponsibility is present from start to finish throughout a racehorses life cycle. You know the racehorses that you all bring into this world that usually end up getting whipped/beaten, maimed, dumped, and killed?
You can’t be “good” and support this unacceptable cruelty to animals. You don’t have to be the actual abuser because as long as you defend this industry then you are inadvertently supporting the cruelty.
That’s like saying 4 out of 5 bank robbers are good because the good one didn’t actually kill the bank teller during the robbery. You are guilty by association – all of you pro-horse racing people.
You are all sleeping with the devil, and when you sleep with the devil you become the devil.
None of you are good, you are pure evil to support such horrific abuse of a sentiment being.
If any of you are religious shame on you. You are abusing, and dumping God’s creation.
If you are not religious, then you are still part of the deliberate ongoing abuse, maiming, dumping, and killing of precious beings.
For the racehorses who are lucky enough to make it out alive, a grassy paddock is hard to come by. For those racehorses who are successful, they are turned into breeding machines for the industry in order to create more profit slaves for this despicable industry.
So don’t tell me that there are “good” folks because, like I said, there are no “good” devils just pure evil.
Until you start speaking out about this industry, call it out for what it is, you are on the dark side. You are part of the problem. You are not part of the solution.
You can spew that evil on other people who are ignorant enough to accept it, but not me.
The only reason why you get away with such horrific abuse, and ongoing deliberate delusions is because the racehorse has no voice. While they are being whipped, maimed, dumped, and dying in the dirt on racetracks they can’t speak out for themselves.
Well I will.
No, Joy, my issue with Kelly Smith of Omega Rescue is that she seems to have plenty of money in her fund balance- 100 grand as of 2014- and yet she’s on GoFundMe begging for 28 thousand for vet bills. My problem with this situation is that an organization out there is getting 70 thousand dollar donations from foundations and managing to get people to give hundreds of thousands of dollars from people through Facebook pleas, and yet, there is a 100 thousand dollar fund balance at the end of 2014 and they are STILL begging for money? And by the way, Omega Horse Rescue sold a Danzig mare to Dr. Hansen- for breeding. How much did they get for that sale? Now, aren’t you opposed to racing and breeding? Do you have any idea what my day would be like if I had to pick up the phone and explain to my funding organizations that I was now selling my mares to be bred? On the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance application, we have to submit our No Breeding Policy. So what would I then do- explain that I got a very nice donation, so, we had to change the rules a little? While meanwhile, my org is running a fund balance? So let me get this straight- there was funding in place from the New York Racing Association to help Financial Mogul and any other NY bred horse that comes to their attention, and this help was refused simply because of the fact that it was the New York Racing Association helping its own, and then this organization that refused the help gets on Facebook and starts fundraising? So, what did Omega do with the money it raised for Financial Mogul, after the horse was put down? Technically, no, they don’t have to return it, per IRS rules, but don’t you think that it would be the right thing to do? Do any of us even know if this horse truly had to be euthanized? Are you a vet? Did you look at the X-Rays? We will never know. It’s a lot easier to bash the racing industry than to ask the obvious questions: WHY would a non-profit with a fund balance of 100 grand at the end of 2014 be on Facebook begging for money?
You are a racing supporter, Lizzie Dickerson.
And I guess we, as equine rescuers, should be thrilled that your rescue doesn’t need to ask for funds – or do you?
Financial Mogul suffered racing-induced injuries and stood waiting for help at an auction. That is what the horse racing industry does to its “athletes”.
What will happen if New Bolten does release the x-rays. It will hit the fan with the public. New Bolten is the best of the best. What if they released all racing induced injuries. The right person, with the right lawyer, this could very happen. And it is going to bad, really bad for the racing industry. Be worried about what the public knows now, and be very, very worried about all they still don’t know.
And in case you haven’t taken your misplaced complaints to an appropriate forum yet, Lizzie, let me address just a couple of more things for you…
-on that TAA application, aren’t you also to promise to always put the racing industry in a “good light”? The last time I looked at their application, that was stated on page 10. That’s right…if you want their crumbs, you need to keep your mouth shut.
-absolutely I’m opposed to breeding…and obviously racing. I don’t know anything about your organization so I don’t know if you’re expecting a foal like ReRun is…a foal that in time, is going to RACE for them. Maybe you do that, as well. Yes, the pregnant mare is Casey Roo…and according to Molloy; “Baby Roo will be running for Rerun.” Better keep an eye on that baby, Rerun members!…you might need to hope SOMEONE is at New Holland some day when the little colt or filly is standing there injured and waiting for help!
Ms. Dickerson, one of my issues with you is that this blog is called Horseracing Wrongs, not Rescues Who Raise Money Through GoFundMe, or Rescues Who Work With Kill Buyers, or even Rescues Who Sold A Mare To Be Bred. For some reason, the intent of this blog escapes those who support the exploitation of the TB racehorse. We want racing to CEASE! However, I’m sure you can find many blogs on which to post on the various topics that I just mentioned.
You then ask…”Do you have any idea what my day would be like if I had to pick up the phone and explain to my funding organizations that I was now selling my mares to be bred?” I have no idea what your day would be like and, frankly, I don’t care but I do know that New Vocations allows their mares to be bred and they are building a $2 million facility in Lexington so I doubt if that would be an issue. Again, if you don’t like the way Smith does business, I would gather my colleagues/supporters together, save up my dollar bills, and enlist the help of an attorney who could represent you in your quest for answers. The focus of this story, written by Joy Aten, is about a horse that was used up by Mr. Violette and sold via a claim. The horse then ended up at New Holland. Easier to bash the racing industry? No, it would be much, much easier, Ms. Dickerson, if racing would do the right thing for their horses but that will never happen. Why you might ask? Because the industry likes things just as they are. Slaughter is racing’s disposal system. Anyone with minimal intelligence should be able to figure that out.
For those who have experienced the dirty side of racing, we know full well that horses, who are no longer productive, are unloaded into the slaughter pipeline. Financial Mogul is actually one of the lucky ones since most horses go “direct to kill”…Deputy Broad being one of them, as well as Cactus Café and Canuki. FM was discovered by Ms. Smith at a notorious kill auction and it is quite obvious to me that Ms. Molloy and Mr. Violette weren’t looking high and low for him over the last year. Again, as with the vast majority of these horses, the motto is “out of sight, out of mind.” Hill City Miss disappeared from the scum bag adopter approved by New Vocations and I did look “high and low” for her even hiring, and paying, a private detective. I STILL have a $4,000 reward for her return but I assume that she has disappeared into the slaughter pipeline. I did more to find that horse than Mr. Violette did to find FM, yet Hill City Miss didn’t make me a damn dime. Anyone who chastises me for throwing aspersions at Violette can take a “long walk on a short pier.” These so called “good” people make me sick. Got it?
Blonde Marie, Rock God, Old Sparky and an injured TB mare sit in the kill pen with Rotz; while Ms. Smith watched Rotz purchase them on Monday. I estimate $3,000 per horse just for the initial bail price, quarantine, vet and shipping to a rescue. Who is helping these horses?
Why not you, Collette Duddy? More discarded TB’s? And make sure you don’t beg for funds…
Financial Mogul stood injured and discarded at New Holland. This is what the racing industry does to its “athletes”.
Collette-Who is helping these horses? Certainly not you, or the racing industry. Put your money where your mouth is…or better yet the horsemans money. NOT going to happen…is it?
Collette Duddy, you run a rescue organization, do you not? Get busy! You aren’t expecting me to rescue them, are you? I’m sure not as you so emphatically stated; “[those] Horseracing Wrongs people just bitch.”
And now that my class is done for the day and I’ve got the time to look back at my notes, let me fill the readers in on Collette Duddy and the Tito Rivera/You Got the Silver tale:
From Duddy’s own rescue site; “[You Got the] Silver had pleuropneumonia as a 2 y/o and needed to have a rib resected. He has had a draining cavity on his chest ever since. Silver raced 15 times this year with a draining infected wound.” Her rescue took the colt in and the costs for surgery, including for this pus-draining wound, were estimated at “over $1500”. She fund-raised for it.
But the kicker?…prior to Silver’s intake to Duddy’s rescue, we did a story on this little suffering colt, made to race with this chronic draining wound…and named his owner/trainer, Tito Rivera. Here, Duddy’s comments; “Tito is not a scum bag. He did nothing wrong.” Rivera DID NOTHING WRONG? Let me quote a little more from Duddy’s website, AFTER they got the colt from Rivera; “The vets spent over 3 hours debriding the infected tract; and when entering the thoracic cavity, encountered an infected piece of bone that had been festering for over a year. Silver…has a long road ahead of him.” Rivera, claims Duddy, did nothing wrong racing Silver with that infected wound…
And THIS is a person criticizing Kelly Smith and her rescue of Financial Mogul.
You, Collette! You know this happens at virtually every single auction in the country, so why don’t you rally your colleagues/supporters to get up off their asses and attend these auctions? I’m sure you could count on Ms. Kemling-Mohr to help and she might even kick in a few bucks. Give it a try!
No one who is attacking me or Lisa or Collette has any answer for WHY an organization with a 100 thousand dollar fund balance would be begging on Facebook and GoFundMe for money to pay vet bills. Not one of you has an answer to that question. It wouldn’t matter WHAT the non-profit did, I would still be asking the same questions after looking at the financials. It have very little to do with racing. It has everything to do with a tax exempt organization’s accountability. It doesn’t matter what the cause is. A non-profit organization has a responsibility to be accountable to the American taxpayer.
Talking about accountability, it would be nice if racing had some!! Yet, it is solely responsible for the desperate plight of thousands of horses. The focus is on the money . The horses are doomed. How can a person defend this.
PS I have several thoroughbreds that had nowhere to go just like thousands of others. My part is miniuscule. The magnitude of the problem is overwhelming. God bless the person who takes any horse out of the slaughter pipeline. I could not attend one of these auctions and witness such misery. I do not care about how much money they have or if they “beg” for funds I care about the horse, It is glaringly obvious racing does not.
Lizzie Dickerson, 1), “attacking” you?…I’m sorry but with all of the “attacking” of Kelly Smith these last couple of days by the likes of you and Molloy and Duddy and the other pro-racing crowd, I actually find it amusing that in light of what has been answered to you here, you whine about being attacked. Wow. “This ain’t nothin'” in comparison to what you “ladies” have wielded upon her!
2), Financial Mogul suffered racing injuries and was dumped by the racing industry. He is a racing fatality. And there are countless of them every day – Collette just named more – so since you’re a racing supporter and wish for the gambling industry to continue, you better get busy fund-raising (and hope you don’t get bashed for doing it!) because you will have a never-ending flow of damaged and discarded racehorses.
Now I would suggest you find an appropriate site where your complaints are applicable. This is an anti-racing blog and you clearly have nothing to offer. YOU are a racing supporter.
Ms. Dickerson, no one, who attacks me constantly (because I am anti-racing) has an answer to my question so I feel your frustration. When Deputy Broad was sent to slaughter, a group of us put up two billboards by Mountaineer asking that track to enforce THEIR anti-slaughter policies. Well, as you can imagine, the pro-racing people went nuts, one being Ms.Jen Ruberto who is a colleague of Ms. Molloy’s. Ruberto had the audacity to tell me that I needed to be “patient” when it came to the racing industry sending horses to slaughter. Yes, I should be “patient.” I asked, multiple times, how long I should be patient…one year, five years, fifteen years….over and over again. She NEVER answered the question. Imagine that! However, I think she did have an answer but perhaps she was too embarrassed to put it on social media because the answer is FOREVER. Now, I’ll ask you. How long should we be patient? I bet no one in the racing industry has an answer to that question. It wouldn’t matter how I asked it, I would still be asking the same question ten years from now.
Again, this seems to be one of your “slow” days and I want to help you with that. This blog is called Horseracing Wrongs and the blog addresses the “wrongs” in horseracing. It doesn’t address the financials of various rescues, or a non-profit’s accountability to the taxpayer. I’m not so sure why that is so hard for you to grasp. Please try to search out other sites where you can post your questions and, hopefully, get answers.
Joy
To clarify exactly – Kelly asked Gail to ID the tattoo, Gail did so and seeing it was a NY bred called me stating “Kelly asked me to ID this horse and see if I can find anyone to take him” and I said I would. She called Kelly back and Kelly said no, she had changed her mind and had decided she wanted him as an adoption prospect. I messaged her personally offering and she again declined and that is where the story would have ended except she then started fundraising for him from the public and comments were flying around on social media about how his former connections would not help and clearly that was never the case.
Since I made it known that an offer was made, I have been accused of having “inside knowledge” about the horse, wanting the horse to take him and hide him, my failure to attend auctions when I have 30 horses here to care for and although I never thought your supporters would go so low, they went there and posted that I was clearly sleeping with Mr Violette – I guess when nothing else will stick huh? That is the basis of everyone’s argument but why am I surprised when there is no substance to any of this being put out.
It was her prerogative to keep the horse and if the horse needed to be euthanized based on a vet recommendation then so be it, the crux of it was the fundraising and the misinformation.
Furthermore regarding inaccuracies on your MIA lists – those with a high chance of being dead, whereabouts unknown, I am not obligated to tell you anything but seeing as you persist in bringing it up and calling me a liar straight off the top I see Mam Bird (adopted), Stephen A (adopted) and Dawnandlori (sanctuary per owners request) – go through my albums on FB and you’ll see them.
There is little else to say – you can sit holding court casting aspersions on me including those about my personal life if that’s what works to further your agenda but I take in over 100 horses per year and place the majority in good homes in addition to having a sanctuary farm – this is made possible due to funding by the NY racing industry. The ones in the worst condition usually come from private owners that have got a horse and then got in over their head. And as we did not take FM, I took in not one but three more horses this past week in addition to making arrangement to move the other one I bought at New Holland to the farm now his QT is finished.
The moral of the story is one opens themselves up to attack if they do not step up for a horse and sadly now the same applies when you do try to assist.
I will respond to the “MIA” reference because it concerns me. Not one of those three horses (Mam, Stephen, Dawn) has ever appeared on my KIA lists. Not a one. In addition, I do believe you claimed (in a FB comment) that there were inaccuracies on my lists. Not true. Not a single horse that I have declared dead has been shown to be otherwise. I report facts.
Patrick – thank you for responding. I do not have the time to troll through all the lists and an am certainly not casting any aspersions on the veracity of any horses that are deceased. The ones cited I guess came with a high presumption that they were indeed deceased (vanned off etc) and merely offered up the information that they had all been with me thinking perhaps people might take comfort that these horses were indeed ok and safe and that am sure there are many other such cases.
Appreciate you taking the time to respond
“And facts are stubborn things.” Oh yes they are…
Ms. Molloy…”I never thought your supporters would go so low”…well firstly, I wasn’t aware I had supporters! Great news! But it seems reasonable and prudent that you address those comments directly with those that made them, don’t you?
And regarding what you claimed about having horses in your program that were on the HRW KILL LIST?…you did say KILL LIST. And I will be more than happy to supply that screen shot. You only back peddled to the Missing in Action list when I challenged you. And I have that screen shot, as well.
Ms. Molloy, your colleague, Ms. Duddy, told me that you had TWO horses in your rescue that were on Patrick’s KIA lists…again, TWO horses. You also stated that there were “inaccuracies” in those lists and there were “several” horses on the list that were in your rescue. How I wish your statements were true but, unfortunately, they weren’t. I personally believe that you were intent to discredit Patrick, or at least plant a seed of doubt with your supporters, because his lists certainly don’t put racing in a favorable light. In fact, they put racing in a horrific light.
Now, you state that you ….”never thought your supporters would go so low, they went there and posted that I was clearly sleeping with Mr. Violette.” Really? I’ve been following this story closely and I haven’t seen any statements concerning an intimate relationship between you and Violette. Why don’t you state who made the accusation that you were sleeping with Violette because, if that was said, then a line was most certainly crossed and you should be angry about that. This isn’t about your personal life although you did say that I knew your “life history”, which is just another fabrication, i.e. there is no substance to your claim. I know little, if anything, about you except you are the Program Director for ReRun and you previously ran the NV facility in Kentucky. Sometimes I just get weary of the lies and the twisting and spinning of the truth.
When you were contacted by a colleague of yours, who is also a racing supporter, you did offer to take FM. Your offer was declined by the owner of the horse at that time, Ms.Smith/Omega Horse Rescue. That is really the end of the story for you. You offered…your offer was declined. It happens so now it is time to “move along.”. I continue to hear that if you had taken the horse, then Smith would have had space for another horse which is certainly a true statement but the same applies to you.
I remember, years ago, talking to Anna Ford about the low level horses at Beulah. I told her that I would guess that 60% of them were running with injuries. She said that she would guess that it was closer to 80%. I clearly remember being heartbroken at that statistic but I believed her then and I believe her now. So, anytime you question my “agenda”, think of the 80% running injured at Beulah. Yes, my agenda includes shining a light on racing’s dirty secrets and continuing to spread the word about the atrocities. I can only hope that racing continues its precipitous decline.
Take an add out in the New York Times, Washington Post..ect. Put those before and after pictures of Financial Mogul. Send it to the public.
I love your idea…
Is it possible? This is what the public needs to see. And keep it coming. There will be a lot of support against subsidies for horseracing.
Hi Joy, Yes, my organization does fundraise. Right now, we need $275 dollars to transport a gelding called Touch a Prince back to the rescue in order to retire him. We also need $300 dollars for the next load of hay. I spend most of my time trying to figure out where to get money like that, when I am not filling out the millions of forms that need to be done for the IRS, various grant applications, and also taking care of horses and attempting to keep the bank from taking my ranch. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to raise funds for costs that are not the big crises that pull at heart strings. People will send money through Paypal all day long for a crisis that pulls at the heart strings. I’ve had fundraisers for horses about to ship, and I know that people will donate to that situation long before they will donate to an ongoing hay fund for that same horse. The crisis is what gets the donation. And yes, there are very many legitimate crises. But do all of these fundraising crises need to happen, or are some of them simply expedient fundraising tools? That’s when it’s time to go to the 990s and see what is going on. And I still do not understand how an organization can have a 100 grand fund balance, and yet, be on social media asking for 28 thousand to cover vet bills. It’s a simple question.
Quite frankly, I don’t think any one of you should pay for it. I think that the multi-billion dollar horse racing industry should pay for it. After all, they make billions off the bones, and backs of these slaves/racehorses.
It’s long overdue for the industry to have a mandatory financial commitment to the racehorses whom they exploit.
This will never happen. I hope this industry shuts down so that we can be no longer be burdened with cleaning up the mess that this cruelty circus creates.
The sooner it shuts down the better for all involved especially the racehorses.
Absolutely, Gina. The racing industry cannot find a lousy 1% of turnover to help these discarded horses.
Here is the 990 :) http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/272/272849659/272849659_201502_990.pdf
$100,000 may sound like a lot of money but it is not when it comes to caring for horses. Horses are expensive. So what”s the fuss about ?
PS While I disagree about breeding the mare I find it absolutely incomprehensible that 4 mares with foals at their sides were on their way to slaughter. Further, that fact was reported in a pro racing publication as though it were acceptable.
As Joy mentions, racing does an excellent job of self incremination over and over.
Ms. Brooks, there seems to be some confusion on your part. This blog is called “Horseracing Wrongs”, not “990’s of Rescues” or “Cash on Hand at Various Rescues.” If you, and your colleagues, feel that Omega isn’t running their rescue up to your standards, then you need to choose a different venue where you are able to air your grievances. This blog is about the WRONGS in horseracing.
Again, Financial Mogul was exploited by his connections (including Violette), he was injured, and then he was dumped at a kill auction. If not for Ms. Smith, FM may very well have had one way ticket to a Canadian plant. That is the focus of this story on this blog. Got it?
Rose, and there are other TB adoption organizations, such as New Vocations, that allow their mares to be bred which, of course, brings even more horses into a world where homes are in short supply. Idiocy at its best!
Hate to bust your bubble Mary but you are not the boss of me and I’ll comment wherever and about whatever I chose.
So you don’t think taking a mare from the killpen and selling her for the sole purpose of being bred is wrong?
I suppose you can cherry pick what you think is acceptable or not, eh?
http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/beyond-the-blinkers/archive/2012/05/29/kendall-hansen-reveals-unusual-future-plans.aspx
Ann, your words; “I suppose you can cherry pick what you think is acceptable or not, eh?”….so one can only assume you must have a real problem then with Molloy’s attempt to purchase Financial Mogul from the kill buyer. Molloy, according to Mindy Lovell, does not buy horses from the kill buyer. But the exception?…maybe you call it cherry picking?…Financial Mogul. She’d make an exception for Financial Mogul. Hmmm…..
Ms. Brooks, these are YOUR words “…it’s really no one’s business but my own what I do. I do not ask for anyone’s financial assistance so I owe no one any explanations.” That would apply to me, as well, eh, Ms. Brooks? It is none of your business what I do and I do NOT ask for financial assistance so I owe no one any explanations, even you.
My bubble was burst a long, long time ago when I opened my eyes to the atrocities that occur in every single industry that mixes money and animals…every single one of them. Anyone with minimal intelligence should know that the animal ends up losing 99% of the time.
So, Brooks, you are on this blog criticizing how someone runs their business with the kill buyers. I am against working with kill buyers but, on occasion, I have done so. I have also bought horses from the low life trainers at a low level track to keep them from going to slaughter (enabling them to buy another horse to exploit), and, one of those, Hill City Miss, was donated to New Vocations and, ultimately, ended up disappearing. She was adopted out to a low level breeder by the name of Alfredo Gonzalez (Ceiba Ranch) in Florida. We think she went to slaughter and I still have a $4,000 reward in place for her safe return.
As far as “cherry picking”, I think a better one to ask about that would be Ms. Molloy. It has been posted on social media that she doesn’t work with kill buyers, but it appears that she was receptive to working with Rotz in order to bring Financial Mogul into her program. I wonder what limited info would have been put on social media in regards to his horrific injuries. I have a feeling that Molloy and Violette would have “cherry picked” what they wanted to divulge about a horse that was badly damaged. Just my opinion…
If Touch a Prince is the 2004 Touch Gold chestnut gelding bred by Adena Springs and formerly owned by Stronach, seems they should be able to cover that $275 transport bill – that would be peanuts for them and doesn’t the industry like to claim how they will take care of their athletes?…even after they no longer have use for them? I think you’re out of luck with getting any help from the gelding’s last owner of record. That’s how things go more often than not for racehorses – and Touch a Prince is another perfect example…bred and once owned by racing’s “royalty” only fall to a 4K claimer at Suffolk, owned by Michael Gill.
Again, this true account of Financial Mogul is to help the public understand the plight of racehorses in our country. And while the racing industry – including Frank Stronach and Rick Violette – exclaims they’re taking responsibility and providing for their cast-offs, they clearly are not. And all of the many rescues begging for funds are just more proof of the industry’s staggering failure.
I have commented here only once or twice but I never miss the daily posts. My group of friends do the same and at least once a week when we get together we discuss the latest stories on this site. Some of us used to think horse racing was OK, some of us had no opinion. Now all of us are disgusted and mortified, actually, knowing how many horses are injured and die and sent to slaughter. This most recent story about Financial Mogul broke our hearts. Seeing him in the photo was terrible. Could he have looked like that when he raced? My friends who used to watch racing a bit say no. But there’s one thing we have wondered about and that is, why do the people that support racing comment on this site? What do they think they can possibly say to convince anyone that racing horses is acceptable? Look at all of the dead horses! In what other sport (and we now know, horse racing is not a sport) do the athletes die in such astounding numbers? But then this Lisa Moloy comes here to comment. Why? It seems to defend Mr. Violette. And Joy points out where Moloy said that Mr. Violette didn’t deserve this, whatever “this” is. I don’t know how to check the racing site that shows a horse’s races but one of our friends in the group does. So I asked him to read the story that Joy wrote about Financial Mogul and to check every thing she said in the story against the racing site. And I looked at the article where Joy used the quotes from Mr. Violette. Do you know what we found out? Everything that was written in the story was exactly what we saw on the racing site and the quotes she used from Mr. Violette were exactly what was in the article about the summit. Everything in the story was corroborated with the racing site and the article. We are again so thankful to this site and for always telling the truth. Your credibility is outstanding. We will continue to stand behind you and even though we are invisible to you, we are here and we will use our voices for the horses. They are the ones that don’t deserve what is happening to them. Thank you so much.
Victoria Leonard and friends
Thank you, Victoria. That is very heartening.
Patrick, you took the words out of my mouth. Your comments are very much appreciated, Victoria Leonard, spread the word – thank you so much and thank you to your friends as well.
Victoria, thank you and please thank all of your friends for me as well. If your group would like some of our literature, please email me at hrwrongs@gmail.com and I will get some out to you.
Ann Brooks
I’ve probably missed somewhere here what you actually do Ann in relation to thoroughbred racehorses, I can be a bit dim at times, so could you let me know?
You aren’t dim I just keep a low profile because it’s really no one’s business but my own what I do. I do not ask for anyone’s financial assistance so I owe no one any explanations.
Also I have no need to toot my own horn nor have countless people on social media rain praise down on me.
Mary Johnson had shared an excellent comment on her FB wall that led me to the piece at which the comment was directed. Basically, the article was written by a supporter of the racing industry (and who has worked in the industry and maybe continues to). Without going into great detail, the individual was upset with Financial Mogul’s true story here on HRW and didn’t want the gelding’s connections that used him, injured him, sold him and dumped him to be identified as responsible for what he endured and where he was found. The excellent comment to this piece? – “this is an extremely ridiculous and weak comparison”. Ridiculous and weak, indeed. Additionally, in reading through the article, I was struck with the amount of self-incrimination of the very industry this person tries so desperately to defend!
A little background: She sold an unwanted racehorse for the racing owner but after some time, the horse was sold again and she lost track of him. In trying to locate him, she “re-entered him in my Virtual Stable, fearing that he might even end up back on the track.” FEARING he might end up back on the TRACK. Yes, exactly…I’d be scared as hell for that horse, too.
Joy, but don’t the racing apologists babble incessantly that horses are bred to run, born to run, and love to run? If they are speaking the truth, and not spreading their propaganda, then this concerned horsewoman would have been thrilled if a former racehorse resurfaced into an industry that is filthy to the core. Self-incrimination at its finest.
Why is the truth being censored on this blog? Are you afraid that people will find out that this “extraordinary person” SOLD A TB MARE SOLELY TO BE BRED???!!!
#LadyPrimrose
http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/beyond-the-blinkers/archive/2012/05/29/kendall-hansen-reveals-unusual-future-plans.aspx
Ann, I answered you before and I am all for the truth…every bit of it. Kelly made a decision back in 2011 that I strongly disagree with. She’s maybe made others I would not agree with. But the stubborn TRUTH remains, Finacial Mogul stood INJURED and DUMPED at a KB-attended auction. Another discarded racehorse. Another racing-injured “athlete”. If the fact that Kelly rescued then sold LP for breeding purposes is so horrific to you, and you truly care more about that in comparison to crucifying her, then I can only imagine how mortified you are that ReRun plans to RACE the unborn foal of Casey Roo.
You are, like other racing supporters, displeased that another discarded racehorse is in the spotlight for everyone to see – for once again, the ugliness – the TRUTH – of what this industry does to its horses being exposed. Just like it did to Lady Primrose, as well. (I’ve included my previous comment to you about her below.) Kelly’s poor decision in the past doesn’t change the truth about Financial Mogul, does it. She rescues horses from slaughter but the big difference between Kelly and the likes of racing supporters-slash-racehorse rescuers – and we know a number of those who rescue racehorses but keep their muzzles about the destruction firmly in place so as not to miss out on the crumbs thrown to them by this multi-BILLION dollar industry – is that she doesn’t support the slaughter industry and advocate for it to just be “cleaned up”. Extraordinary by comparison to those racing supporters/racehorse rescuers for certain.
(Thank you for providing this article…in reading it, I see that Lady Primrose was ANOTHER used-up, neglected and dumped racehorse! She was rescued from a “low-grade meat auction” in 2011 and was “very thin”, in the “poorest condition of the group [of FOUR thin and rescued broodmares with foals at their side]”!)
“You are, like other racing supporters” Do not assume because you know what that makes you. You, like the other lady that attempted to question me do not know me from Eve to know what I do or do not support.
I will tell you this much. I do NOT support ANYONE who deals with the killbuyer and puts money in their pocket. The fact that you and your friends are trying to make Kelly some sort of hero because she saved this horse just brings to light the problem….SHE GIVES MONEY TO THE KILLBUYER. THAT is what I object to. If you support her, all your talk about the racetrack means nothing.
You cannot have it both ways.
She gave the killbuyer money for Lady Primrose, pulled her out of the auction yard, supposedly fed her and got her back to health again.
Then betrayed her by selling her to a breeder because of her pedigree.
I wonder how many dollars that betrayal put into Kelly’s bank account…….
Keep telling yourself she’s such an extraordinary person.
To Ann and all of the other pro-racing folks commenting here, those who are desperate in their attempts to take the spotlight off what should be the focus – the horribly damaged and discarded racehorse, Financial Mogul – by directing it elsewhere…obviously none of you even noticed the Kelly Smith’s name was never even mentioned in the gelding’s story. Never mentioned. So thanks to all of you, in your scurrying to your computers to comment, you’ve made certain in naming her to allow others to heap on some more praise. That must just really get under your skin…you all did that yourselves.
To Joy and all the other pro slaughter advocates that want to support this “paragon”, have a sparkly day. Sleep well knowing that your support of this woman and her activities is sending other unfortunate souls straight to slaughter and making the person driving them there a wealthy man.
Ann…please be certain to go after all that purchase and fund-raise to purchase from the kill buyers. There are some that even support the racing industry! I’m sure you know who they are. As it appears this is your cause, I can only assume you don’t cherry pick but instead, go after them all.
Financial Mogul endured racing injuries then was dumped at the KB-attended auction. Five years old. Racing used him, abused him, injured him, dumped him. Financial Mogul – a racing fatality.
Ann….you abhor the slaughter industry and those that “support” it in anyway, I can safely assume? But you don’t have issues with those who “support” an industry like horse racing? You are hell bent in your attacks on Smith. Yet you support Duddy? Smith purchases horses from the kill buyer. Duddy defends horse abuser Tito Rivera. YOU cannot have it both ways, Ann.
I am anti-slaughter and anti-racing. Anti-animal exploitation. Anti-animal abuse. All of it. But not you, it seems. Heed your own words, Ann…you cannot have it both ways.
Patrick, I understand your blog’s cause is to bring to light the exploitation and animal abuse in the horse racing industry…and I’ve shared in getting off point through my responses. I just ask that the off-point comments aren’t deleted…the truth is never inconvenient.
Wow, Ms. Brooks. You have really gone off the deep end by calling us “pro-slaughter.” You know nothing about me yet you take the liberty to proclaim that I am something that I am not. Just another liar trolling this blog.
Joy, is this not a case of attacking the messenger when one does not like the message ?
And as you pointed out, the situation with the mare has nothing to do with the dumping of FM. It looks like a lot of people did not like the well deserved negative publicity for FM’s connections and racing. I think of it as a little justice for Financial Mogul mixed with a little revenge!
It certainly, is Rose.
Ms. Brooks, yes, Ms. Smith adopted out a mare solely to be bred. I find your “play on words” interesting. I took time out of my sparkly day to actually read the article in the Bloodhorse article. It does state that “…Hansen’s future hopes include mating Hansen with the Danzig mare, Lady Primrose, who he recently adopted from Omega Horse Rescue.” Did you not know that New Vocations allows their mares to be bred? Have you gone after them recently? What about CANTER? When I volunteered for that organization, they allowed their mares to be bred, as well. You can’t “cherry pick”, or do you talk out of both sides of your mouth? Smith then goes on to say that, “We (Omega Horse Rescue) do not generally allow any breeding of our rescued racehorses.” Lady Primrose, according to the article for which YOU posted the link, was ADOPTED – not SOLD. Yes, she was ADOPTED to be bred and there are rescues that do allow mares to be bred. In addition, I do NOT agree with breeding any horse since we can’t find homes for the ones that are currently on this earth. I don’t care if it is Zenyatta or a horse that never made it to the track. I am against breeding, period, just to be clear. Now, I’m sure someone will begin to “twist and spin” my words but, again, just to be crystal clear, I do NOT approve of breeding. I have owned mares and I have NEVER bred them.
I have never used the words “extraordinary person” when describing Ms. Smith, but, what I have said is that I am thankful that she was at NH to pick up the broken body of a horse destroyed by the scum bags in racing. Those are MY words. Since most horses off the track go direct to kill, I personally believe that Financial Mogul was fortunate that Smith was at NH on that fateful day. I sincerely hope that I have made myself clear.
What is this “she gives money to the kill buyer” about? Someone has to purchase these horses. What do you think you can walk into an auction or kill pen, and say I want this one, that one., the one over there…and you get them for free? So, what if she is paying a kill buyer? Would you rather she didn’t, and these horses end up in the truck on their way to slaughter? Of course all of you would, the truth is very ugly about what this industry does to it’s athletes. And much more ugly about how hard all of you fight to cover it up. The bottom line is you would rather save face, than look at the cold hard truth. I hope in time FM x-rays are released. It will show the wear and tear that only happened in a few short years, and that those racing injuries in the end, are what destroyed him.
Thank you 20+….yes, the truth is VERY UGLY. But it needs to be seen, acknowledged and addressed.
And I do understand the dilemma of buying from the kill buyer, I really do. As irritated as Ann is with me, I even understand her irritation and frustration. Buying from the kill buyer – especially at marked-up prices – is a double-edged sword. There’s no denying the net result is zero…one horse purchased/rescued from the kill buyer only means he turns around and puts a different one on the trailer…maybe another two or even three. Net result = zero. Except there’s a net gain in his filthy hands. That being said…the horse that’s purchased from the KB by the rescuer?….THAT horse is damn happy to be escaping the horrors. It’s a debate I struggle immensely with and most times, stay away from. And even though I don’t actively support the programs that purchase from kill buyers, I’ve done it myself – negotiated toe-to-toe with kill buyer/racing owner Jaron Gold over a little paint mare with a broken knee that WE won the bid on but the auctioneer gave the nod to Gold. Gold paid $150 and 20 minutes later, I handed him $300. Another horse – and maybe two – took the little mare’s spot on the truck. It sickened me. It does to this day. I’ve never gone back. The mare?….well she could hardly walk with her broken, twisted limb. She knew love and a full belly in her last day…and died without terror with someone who cared about her right at her side.
So, thank you again, 20+….your wise words I always appreciate.
Joy-Thank you. Every bit of it is ugly. Until the TB industry takes care of these animals for life, it will never change. I am not an expert, as to why other horses end up at slaughter, but I am speaking up on what I do know all to well. I guess I don’t have it in me to fault Kelly at all. She is doing what I cannot. If she saved even one horse from slaughter, than that is a win for me. I think kill buyers will always have the funds to get what they need. I looked at her FB page, and have seen some really good things. I don’t think she is deserving of all the attacks from those in racing. But that is what in industry does to you. It will chew you up and spit you out, horse or not. I would rather support someone like Kelly, than the people in racing that put the horses in her path to begin with.
Thank you, 20yr+ Industry Insider, for speaking up for the horses. Everyone posting here has made mistakes yet the vigilantes have come out against someone who prevented FM from being loaded on a truck to Canada. I don’t support broker programs…never have and never will…but I am sickened by the atrocious behavior that I have witnessed over the last week or so. For those that are so quick to bash and trash, my suggestion is to get up off your asses and go to these auctions and outbid the killers, or go to the tracks and buy horses from the creeps in racing when they want to unload their lame horses. There are hundreds from which to choose.
“I would rather support someone like Kelly, than the people in racing that put the horses in her path to begin with.” THAT is it, right there. Absolutely, 20+…absolutely.
Joy, I couldn’t agree with you more. I would rather support someone, who tries to help, than those in racing who toss their horses in the trash can with the utmost of ease. I simply despise them.
Where were all the NY racing friends, families and qualified home offers for another x race horse who sold to slaughter yesterday, Johnny Star raced soley in NY. This horse to was sold to a kill buyer, no he was not famous like FM but he was still deserving, not one of the people bitching about FM offered or stepped up to help Johnny Starr,
Exactly, Kelly L Smith – where were they?
Yes indeed, Kelly, where were they. You can bet we will not here much from them on this one.
Kelly-I just wanted to thank you for all you do. You do what I cannot. You do not deserve the bashing from the racing industry. Have you ever considered releasing your New Bolten x-rays of your rescued racehorses to the right source? Please consider this. I am positive many right here on this blog would be able to get them to the right people. I wish you the best.
Thank you Kelly for saving Johnny Star, his bail was paid so quickly once you put out a plea, it seemed you had it covered. I know you were trying to bid against Rotz at the auction, but you didn’t get enough money until after he was purchased by Mr. Rotz. I’m sure if a NY rescue was asked to help, they would have kindly obliged; but no one was ever contacted.
Well you obviously knew about it, Collette. Since supposedly there are funds available for the NY-bred and NY-raced horses, it would only seem appropriate for YOU to reach out then to those who were bashing Kelly over Financial Mogul, claiming there were funds already in place and a spot for him to go. Kelly was busy trying to save lives…and you certainly had all kinds of time getting your digs in over FM…
Thank you, Kelly, for once again coming to the rescue of another trashed horse from the racing indystry. As I’ve said before, where are the racing industry members?…are THEY at the auctions looking for their discarded athletes? What a joke they are.
Heinous/horse racing/horse killing/greed/apathy/greed