Equibase’s recounting of 6-year-old Aspic’s run in the 6th last night at Penn National: “chased the pace on the outside, broke down at the three eighths pole and was euthanized after the ambulance took about eight minutes to arrive.” Yes, another racehorse “broke down” and is dead. What stands out here is the extra suffering this poor animal was made to endure before being put out of her misery. Vile. Vile.
From NY we learn (Gaming Commission) that 2-year-old Ogan’s Runner “sustained [a] closed fracture” training at Belmont Thursday and was subsequently euthanized. She becomes the 36th dead racehorse at Belmont this year; 112th at NY tracks overall.
This is horseracing.
Penn National is a putrid DUMP – even die-hard fans and bettors exclaim the PA tracks should be closed. Slade was rescued from that track where he stood for three long months with a fractured ankle – and no one did a thing for him… where were all of those “good folks”? Even track vet Kevin Brophy refused my request to give the injured horse pain medication before his transport out of that hellhole. But Google Brophy – he will ILLEGALLY drug horses but won’t administer pain-relieving medication to a suffering racehorse! Scum.
Aspic and Ogan’s Runner – two more sentient beings who suffered injury and died for betting entertainment. Those who support this unnecessary industry are as guilty of their deaths as the scum like Brophy.
The place is a putrid dump because of the putrid people responsible for the running and upkeep of the place and ocourse the care of the horse.
No standards for the place and , more importantly, no standards for the horses.
Brophy should lose his license.. It looks like the standards of vet. care do not apply to racing anymore than animal cruelty laws. Amazing.
Brophy has lost his license to be on the racetrack but he still holds a vetrinary license to practice he still owns abba his practice to my knowledge and word around here is he still practices at penn national just does it outside the security shack across the street in the stone parking lot. I hope when his time comes he suffers immensely just like he made slade and so many other horses suffer maybe we as a group should find out why he still has license to practice, ive heard that someone has to file a complaint for his license to be under review but that is beyond my knowledge also rose if your not familar with penn just google penn national training accident theyve had these problems a couple times before like i said to patrick its just pathetic all of it just like their no slaughter policy latest horse to be found in a killpen DAGGER POINT a 4 yr old bred by winstar farm last raced in may for kim graci at penn national now with kelly smith, yes the same kim graci that i asked face to face about JILLS REFLECTION when i asked how she was i got a very ignorant shes fine and she walked away shes raced one time since and has disappeared i cant find a damn thing on her. Its like mike gill said its a small town where all the regulars have there in gracis boyfriend is ryan beattie son of richard brother to todd things making sense yet theres alot of money in play at penn and all these greedy bastards will do whatever they can for it. Im still trying to figure out how a horse like slade knownfully injured had to stand for 3 months on a broken ankle in a stall and not one damn person did or said anything. It will never end at this place until it is gone.
Billy, there is no figuring out why Slade stood for 3 months with no help at that dump PN – it’s as simple as no one cares. Speaking up about one of their own (like Slade’s owner and trainer) might cause a backlash that will negatively impact the whistleblower…and as we know, horse racing is a BUSINESS – and these low-level racing folks depend on their claimers to keep them in rent and grocery money. And THEIR horses need OTHER horses to help fill races – getting rid of the scum means their horses leave, too.
We saw this type of thing all the time – literally, all the time! Example; owner/trainer puts his big-ankled gelding on the hotwalker but leaves for the afternoon. The gelding goes round and round and round for HOURS
(sorry, hit done before I was finished)….
The gelding goes round and round and round for HOURS on a hot July afternoon. Finally, someone does remove him from the hotwalker but no one says a thing (except to Jo Anne and I the next week) – and why not? – they might kick him out for a bit and they were already having problems filling races.
Money before horses’ welfare.
Yesterday I decided I wouldn’t bet on horses any more. I took the money out of my betting account. I will not go back. This is it for me. Thanks for sharing your observations.
Thank you kindly, Richard. Statements like yours are why I do what I do.
Thank you, Richard. Please also share our information with friends and family.
Expose and close. It works.
: The old saying goes “The bones of millions of horses litter the path of human progress.” Today however, horses no longer die in the interest of “human progress”. Instead, the bones of thousands of young (1 to 5 year old) Jockey Club Registered Thoroughbred horses are found littering the sport of horseracing on the path to human entertainment.
In America’s horseracing industry twenty-four racehorses (on average) die every week on racetracks. About 3,600 died inside track “Blue Rooms” after racing or training inside state regulated horseracing
enclosures over just the three years leading up to 2012. See “Mangled Horses, Maimed Jockeys” by Walt Bogdanich, Joe Draoe, and Rebecca R.Ruiz, New York Times, March 24, 2012
Many more, uncounted, thousands of young racehorses, having suffered painful injuries at the track, are sent to die at slaughterhouses. “The horseracing Industry is a major provider to the slaughter industry”. The Pegasus Foundation
after long, tortuous journeys on cattle trucks to Mexico and Canada. Virtually never are trainers held accountable for the injuries and deaths of the race horses for which they were responsible. Even more alarming, I know of no one in the animal welfare industry, including the ASPCA, PETA, American Humane Association (AHA) or the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) having ever protested, investigated or prosecuted a single one of the thousands of known race horse fatalities. Their silence is construed as approval by the horse racing industry and the general public.
We do (protest), Gail. And my stats are more relevant than the outdated New York Times‘ (24/week). When working to expose this industry, please send people my lists, this site.
Gail, thank you for commenting. We at Horseracing Wrongs have protested Saratoga Race Course for the last four seasons – at least six protests each. This past summer our Travers Day protest brought out over 100 protesters. Horseracing Wrongs has recently become a 501c3 non-profit organization with the mission: to end the cruel horseracing industry through educational campaigns and supporting grassroots activism across the United States. Much of our efforts go toward facilitating local animal advocacy by providing posters, literature, advice, press releases, and social media support, to individuals seeking to put an end to horseracing in their communities. To date we have supported protests in 5 states, adding up to dozens of protests. As Patrick was saying, we are the only organization with up-to-date, accurate information on the daily carnage inside the horseracing industry. With the help of people like you, we are the organization that will take it down. Thank you for reading and commenting and being a voice for the horses. – Nicole Arciello, Vice President Horseracing Wrongs
Nicole thank you for your efforts in behalf of the horses used for racing and for responding to my post. The goal of ending the horse racing industry overnight-like trying to eat an elephant in one bite- is unrealistic. Could your group PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE also consider taking one small bite out of this enormous problem by attacking the much needed immediate, achievable goal of ending 2-year-old racing at Breeders’ Cup? Please start asking your people to contact the sponsors of those Breeders’ Cup races to demand that they withdraw sponsorship NOW! It worked for the whales at SeaWorld and Ringling Brothers Circuses and Will work for the valient young horses used for racing if organizations like yours will get behind the idea by simply urging your followers to call and email the advertisers behind Breeders’ Cup 2-year-old Races. In this way, while you continue to work towards your bigger goal of ending racing for all horses, you will substantially help ameliorate the suffering of the horses which will be sucked into the vortex of the racing industry in the meanwhile. Thank you.
Gail, thank you for applauding our efforts, however I want to make it clear that we know that we will not end horseracing overnight. Racing will end, track by track (as is happening already – see “Shuttered U.S. Racetracks (Since 2000),” here on this website). This happens through educating the public about ALL of the cruelty and death that is the horseracing industry. All of which the industry cannot “fix.”
Contacting the sponsors of the Breeders’ Cup (and other high-profile races) and awakening them to the carnage through our Killed in Action lists may be worth while. With the current atmosphere of the public recognizing the exploitation of animals for what it is, this action could start spreading the truth to those sponsors. If enough customers make noise they may decide to pull out.
I cannot offer help with any measure of reform, for horseracing is gambling pure and simple. What would be said if someone offered up a way to make dogracing better? My job is not to provide a feel-good public relations plan for horseracing, and that is exactly what your suggestion would provide. The industry is already working hard using terms like “aftercare,” and “no slaughter policy” to put the concerned and back-turning public at ease. It won’t work. Horseracing kills thousands of horses. That won’t change.
Your passion and sense of urgency for the horses is wonderful to see, and there IS no time to waste. The most important thing we must keep doing is educating the public. That is how change will happen and we can’t waste a minute. We must stay on course.
Ending 2-year-old racing at Breeders’ Cup is a “feel-good plan”? Nicole, I must challenge your perspective and grasp of the problems of the horses used for horse racing. I have studied the horse racing industry from deep inside “the belly of the beast”. I have also studied, from inside, the animal welfare industry. The primary reason AHA, HSUS, PETA and ASPCA and you have failed to effect any positive reversal in the escalation of death and suffering of horses used for racing is that they, like your group, have only one giant plan of attack, destroy horse racing. Your superficial knowledge acquired from outside looking in is myopic and disadvantageous. As such, your enemy, horse racing’s administrative and Marketing arm, Will continue to defeat your unfortunately limited efforts. Please reconsider your decision to ignore a plan which would carry you towards your ultimate goal in a giant step forward while affording substantial protection for the young horses which Will, in the meanwhile, end up otherwise cannabalized by the Breeders’ Cup 2-year-old Division. Your and your followers joining An organized attack on Breeders’ Cup 2-year-old Division will cost you and your followers not one penny and could quickly succeed in saving hundreds if not thousands of young horses from a great deal of completely avoidable pain and suffering. PLEASE reconsider! Help End 2-year-old BREEDERS’ CUP RACES NOW! Expand your battle plan. The horses which will be used for racing need you!
Why the ambulance took so long i thought vet rides in car behind ambulance i sae the rsve it looked like aspic got run over by another horse not a word abou jackie davis that poor horsr had to wait 8 mins in so much pain that vet should be fired i feel upset when i see horses get hurt
So most of you know that I grew up in this industry, that I owned/trained racehorses, and that I left because I could no longer rationalize what I saw, and what I was partaking in.
My biggest regret is that I didn`t leave sooner, but I just kept rationalizing what was going on around me until I could no longer rationalize it anymore.
From the dumping to the dying to the corruption, and everything in-between.
The majority of racetracks are in peril, and it’s the racehorses that are paying with their lives.
Most all training centers that I stabled at had absolutely no emergency protocol in place or they never shared it.
Consequently, I saw many racehorses suffer there just like ASPIC.
Either the ambulance was not working or the personnel to drive the ambulance was not there or a vet was not on site at the time or the vet was too busy tending to another emergency especially on private training centers.
So nobody can tell me that they `care`and `love`their horses when they subject them to this VILE business that not only risks their limb, and life, but also subjects them to massive suffering like ASPIC.
Moreover, the BILLIONS in casino money, and the related increase in purse money – NOTHING for the racehorses or very little has changed for the better.
This is common business practice in horse racing, and we must continue to be a voice for these vulnerable racehorses that will, most likely, end up dying in the dirt or being dumped at kill auctions or into neglectful situations while their connections move on to their next potential victim.