Closed since March 5, Santa Anita resumed training this week. This morning, another kill. Princess Lili B, three, broke both of her front legs and was euthanized. Both front legs. Imagine that. Wait, no need, the video can be seen here.
While most of the media declares this the 22nd kill at Santa Anita since December 26, in truth the total now stands at 26. What’s more, it’s 34 since the end of September. 34 dead horses. For gambling. Shut it down – now.
The Santa Anita Carnage:
unidentified, September 24-September 30
unidentified, September 24-September 30
unidentified, October 8-October 14
Beau Square, October 18
Tariq, October 26
unidentified, October 22-October 28
unidentified, October 22-October 28
unidentified, October 29-November 4
Psychedelicat, December 30
Tank Team, January 4
Unusual Angel, January 4
Derby Treasure, January 11
unidentified, January 7-January 13
Noise Mandate, January 18
Amboseli, January 20
unidentified, January 14-January 20
Like Really Smart, January 21
Last Promise Kept, January 21
unidentified, January 21-January 27
unidentified, January 21-January 27
unidentified, January 21-January 27
Kid Cantina, February 2
unidentified, January 28-February 3
unidentified, February 4-February 10
unidentified, February 11-February 17
Hot American, February 22
Battle of Midway, February 23
Just Forget It, February 23
Charmer John, February 24
Eskenforadrink, March 2
unidentified, February 25-March 3
unidentified, February 25-March 3
Lets Light the Way, March 5
Princess Lili B, March 14
Fox news los Angeles was interviewing bob baffert and filmed the whole thing
Outriders tried to stand in front of her to block view.
And the poor Lily b was trying to stand up . Legs floping all over. Then the screen went up.
What the hell, I thought this shit hole track was shut down. Imagine the pain from breaking both of her front legs – just imagine the thought of breaking both front legs. These people who own these animals should all be put down themselves. What in the hell is the matter with all of you – you just don’t get it do you – you are murderers and there is no other word to describe you bastards. No SOUND horse is going to break both front legs – Jesus H Christ you people are unbelievable. Get this race track shut down and stop delaying the process simply over the MONEY issues, because you sure as hell don’t care about the horses.
I didn’t know they had reopened either, this will continue until Baffert or some other big “name” has one break legs. This place should close for good.
RE-POST DUE TO ERROR IN WRONG SECTION – MY APOLOGIES.
SANTA ANITA PROTESTS – LOS ANGELES, CA. – 22 DEAD & counting…
My name is April C. Montgomery. I protested on March 3, 2019 at Santa Anita Race Track. I protested today (March 14, 2019) in front of the Hall of Justice in Downtown Los Angeles. I have waited 4 years to expose Santa Anita nationally when nobody wanted to do it here in Los Angeles. So, I did what I could and then rescued a horse. It took OVER 20 horses (today marks 22) to die since December. Please hear me when I say this. I have been to the DA’s office and LA County Sheriff’s Department. Nothing is going to change until this animal cruelty is OUTLAWED!! The DA’s office is useless and enablers. Heck, they bet too!
LA County’s government and the state of California protect the interests of the owners and trainers and the “underbelly.” This is a MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRY that lines the pockets of greedy, hard-core, and cruel people. That’s right, cruel people. I’m tired of hearing that these people love their horses as they put them down from traumatic and painful injuries from a violent sport only to replace them and do it all over again.
Please keep up the fight. Let your voices be heard. Educate the public. But, the change comes from the legislative branch!!! Again, this is a billion dollar industry. The bets are not just happening at the tracks. They are online and “underground.” I live here. I know how it works. I’ve seen the horses go down and drugged out of their minds and whipped!!! Now, read the open letter that came out today for the Stronach Group who doesn’t give a flying flip about animals.
https://www.santaanita.com/press-releases/an-open-letter-about-the-future-of-thoroughbred-racing-in-california/#.XIrEhihKiUl
Stronach Group is an entertainment and real estate company in North America with Thoroughbred horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering at the core.
Stronach admits against its own interest what we have been saying all along. Drugs. But mark my words, they will never stop the drugs and it’s not just about drugs, is it? It’s about horse racing PERIOD.
PETA needs to speak out against it “at its core” and not give kudos to Santa Anita’s people for anything! Playing nice isn’t the approach when the subject is “death.” You need to be truthful, assertive, but very direct.
Keep in mind that “commercial protests” like PETA unfortunately control the narrative. I’m glad they were there today but note that private protests like we did at the race track almost 2 weeks ago (Horseracingwrongs.com being behind us) were from people who did not speak from a script and did not care about hurting people’s feelings. I had to ask PETA to chant at the protest today and then I was told I could not give a statement to the media because they had “trained people” to do that. I’m a lawyer and a concerned citizen and I have to have training??? “Gimme” a break. The media needs to hear from people like you – like me – everyone who wants this to stop.
Peta, there is NO SUCH THING AS SAFE HORSE RACING with or without drugs!!!
Horse racing is LEGALIZED ANIMAL CRUELTY!
Same with me I posted in the wrong section so I’m reposting it here in reply to you:
Thank-you so much April for your post.
Everything you say is true.
First of all, shame on PETA and the USHS.
That said, there’s NO WAY that any animal lover or any group can call themselves an “animal rights group” while they endorse this massive pain, suffering, maiming, dying, and killing of racehorses unless they advocate for the total shutdown.
Secondly, Belinda Stronach has spent exhaustible hours in the past year touting her “modernization” plan, but nowhere in that plan (as I stated on a previous post) did she ever mention all of the racehorses dying.
Let’s be clear racehorses dying are not an anomaly and there have been hundreds of racehorses maimed and/or drop dead on Stronach owned tracks and all tracks so this is now “willful ignorance.”
Furthermore, in order for Belinda to actually implement these changes it’s going to be enormous because the systemic cruelty and dying is endorsed, enabled by every single layer of countless racetrack groups especially the HBPA or “horseman’s groups” who have been fighting and winning for the liberal use of Lasix and dope.
The only time I will applaud Belinda Stronach (not that she cares about this pea on the pod) will be when she announces that her family, The Stronach Group, is shutting down their horse racing operations.
Folks, these people are filthy rich elite people who don’t need to exploit horses to get richer.
They could be doing so much more for this planet, with the money they have, GOOD THINGS that help animals, children our environment, but instead they CHOOSE to exploit racehorses to fill their wagering coffers.
The racehorses don’t choose to be their profit slaves.
Thirdly, every person interviewed today spewed out the same old lines: “we love our horses,” “we treat them like family,” – NO they don’t.
If they loved horses then they wouldn’t exploit them.
Thirdly, special attention should be given to multiple drug violating “trainer” whose had multiple racehorses die under his brutal training regimes: BOB BAFFERT only because he was present when this poor filly snapped her 2 legs-off, and watching them flop over while she was trying to balance on her knees was extremely disturbing and should be enough for people to demand the shut down of horse racing in California (as if all the previous deaths were not enough).
But for Bob Baffert, he seemed to try to cover it up right in front of the camera without batting an eyelash while he watched this filly snap her 2 front legs-off.
This lack of compassion can only come from a seasoned racehorse killer like Bob Baffert, but we know that killing racehorses (deliberately or otherwise) is a mandatory trait for “trainers’ to get into the Racing Hall of (Sh)ame.
This dude has to be one of the lowest forms of life on the planet and that includes his wife, enabler, Jill Baffert.
You two are despicable. You both make me sick. My only hope is that the racehorses dish out their karma on both of you, for all the pain, suffering, and dying that you’ve perpetrated on racehorses over the years.
Bob Baffert – you are NOT a “horseman” you are a horse killer like most top “trainers.”
It’s an entire acceptable culture of racehorse abuse and dying and that’s why it needs to shut down.
Let’s relive WHATASONG – remember that filly Bob?
She was the one who was suffering for hours while you made sure that the equine insurance policy was going to be paid out to your super rich owner (the late Bob Lewis) if you euthanized her.
This example is just one of many.
Finally, I want to make clear to anybody reading this that I grew up in this business.
Mom and Dad sacrificed their lives, for this vile business working 7 days a week to placate wealthy owners and to fill races for Woodbine Racetrack.
All of us paid a price as a family because you don’t do much with your folks when their working 7 days a week from dusk to dawn – the only time you see them is when you go to the racing stable to help them, but it was there that I grew to admire and love the racehorse in all my childhood naivety.
I was a strong supporter of this business, I later invested with my late husband and fully participated in this business as a delusional apologist.
I went out to California, in the capacity of Associate Steward, to change things for the betterment of the racehorses – I went there on a very positive note, hoping to change things, hoping to make a difference for the racehorses – I wasn’t out to get anybody.
What I found out there was a complete and total lack of empathy, compassion or caring for the racehorses on many levels to the point where I cried almost every night when I went home.
What I also found was a company, then called Magna Entertainment Group now called The Stronach Group, who had no interest in changing things for the better – they were flying high with the millions pouring in.
Plus they were doing a great job at controlling the message every time a racehorse died.
I tried so hard to raise the alarm bells, but didn’t get anywhere.
Oh, they sure talked the talk, every single one of them blabbed out of their mouths proclaiming that they “loved” and “cared” for racehorses, but they were all empty words and nothing changed.
I was crushed out there, plain and simple, and when I started to get death threats taped to my golf cart in the morning I high tailed it out of there.
Then the newspaper article that labeled me, more or less, as an evil witch when I was just doing my job – protecting the racehorses (or trying to) that I loved so much.
I’m heartbroken over all of this, but I now realize that racehorses must die to fill races and that’s why I can no longer rationalize supporting it.
May all the racehorses who have been killed in action for this vile business, may their spirits forever run free in horse heaven, and may their vengeance rain down on those who exploit them.
April, thank you whinnies for your protests and efforts to inform and educate and horse racing. I thank you on behalf of the thousands of racehorses who have been brought into this world only to be gambling objects that all in racing know are just that — objects — objects expected and accepted that they will give their LIVES so others can try to make money from their backs and broken legs. Forget PETA and the HSUS. There is NO WAY ON EARTH that horse racing can EVER be made “humane”. SPEED KILLS. It is that simple.
Is the Santa Anita Track being DELIBERATELY USED == in order for owners and trainers TO COLLECT THE INSURANCE PAYOUTS ON UN-SOUND HORSES.???
Excellent question!
Gina, your comments and voice of experience are so appreciated! Thank you for always being ready to fight for these horses’ lives!
I will never ever watch another Death Race as long as I live! horses weren’t made for racing stop the killing of an innocent animal..you people make me sick!
I’m not watching those tortuous races anymore either! Those dear horses never have a horses life they never get to go out into pastures and just be a horse with other horses. Their leg bones aren’t strong enough to hold up to that hard pounding on the ground because they stand in a stall all the time and these knuckle heads think their minimal bit of training does anything for the horse it doesn’t!!! It doesn’t strengthen their leg bones!!! These horses aren’t trained really but only to run hard on nseasoned legs! It’s maddening and 85% of the time AN UNHAPPY ending for the RACEHORSES most that do survive THE racetrack END UP IN SLAUGHTHOUSES. AND THIS IS THE TRUTH AND ITS VERY SAD FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAVE TRULY LOVED OUR HORSES. 😢
So sad!! Santa Anita limits drugs on the day of racing as well as excessive whipping. It’s not fantastic, but it’s a start. The pressure needs to come down harder on all tracks across the country.
I agree with you April. Thank you for protesting!
OBITUARY for Princess Lil B.
You were not “born to run,” – you were born to die like so many others before you.
You were born to be doped, beaten/whipped, and exploited for $2 bets your entire life as you were turned into a profit slave for your owners and to fill races for tracks in California and perhaps in other states eventually.
You were not a “family member” as your owner claimed because if this is what they do to their family members than I would hate to see what they do to their non-family members.
They counted on your silence to not reveal exactly what they did to you leading up to your horrific death and they count on the total lack of transparency to the public so that they can force their will on you.
I can see you now on the track, your 2 front legs snapping-off while you struggled to get up on knee stubs.
A horrific end for you, but know this.
Know that this horse lover will continue to fight on your behalf, will continue to be a voice for you and for all the racehorses being exploited to the point of dropping dead in the dirt or dropping in their own puddle of blood bleeding out on the slaughterhouse floor after they are done with you; their multi-billion dollar profits nowhere to be found.
I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the American FREE PRESS and to this smart lady journalist who kept the cameras rolling because the American press is NOT FAKE NEWS as Tim Ritvo seemed to suggest in an interview the other day.
These journalists are on the front line exposing the horrors going on in this country and horse racing is a horror show for these racehorses from start to finish and no amount of changes will alter the stubborn facts.
Princess Lil B – may your spirit run free little girl for you are no longer a servant for the death and slave ring called horse racing.
“She was a slow runner.” If so, why was she still being trained to be a racehorse? Why wasn’t she sold as a riding horse to someone who would REALLY regard her as a “pet?” To someone who would keep her until the day she died of old age? To someone who’d actually love her?
Why doesn’t the industry, the breeders, owners, trainers, and veterinarians admit the real reasons these horses break down. Inbreeding, racism nag before they are physically mature, the drugs, both legal and illegal, the way these horses are often incessantly raced, the unnatural conditions they are forced to live in.
Karen, thank you for your comments and truths but the answer to your questions is one word – Money!
Follow the money and you will find the underbelly (corruption and illegalities).
Theses race track vets are also co-conspirators. “They” (owners, trainers, vets, etc.) will not admit anything that jeopardizes or compromises the truth because they will not only be out of business but have to answer to other people that control this industry and control them. I don’t have time to explain or reveal the “other people” but do the research – you’ll find the wicked truth.
In actuality, horse racing is a business of exploitation, greed, and power. Animals are the victims. The egos that permeate this industry are so strong that you can smell them a mile away.
I am posting another comment (much shorter than this comment) that is going to put some of this in perspective since the deaths at Santa Anita deaths. I urge you to read it. I live in Burbank, California. My Dad was born and raised in Pasadena, CA near Arcadia where Santa Anita Race Track is located. I still have family here in SoCal.
I’ve seen the mayhem at the tracks on race day when these horses eyes are as white as pure snow bulging out of their sockets because they are amped up on drugs – when they can’t be controlled until they are put in the gates ready to race to their graves.
These horses are slaves but you will read and hear that this is “love.” Evil never sees evil. It destroys good and it twists and crucifies the truth to get what it wants.
This industry will continue to drug these horses! Make no mistake. The so-called testing is a joke. It’s random and the system is rigged.
PETA and HSUS are controlled which is why PETA did not want me making a statement to the media yesterday at the protest. I want horseracing to END! PETA (and HSUS) endorses self-help and excuses. They are in the business of “negotiating” mayhem so that they can keep making money for their “causes.” That’s another story.
Don’t be fooled. The government (Congress) can put an end to this but they won’t because this industry is mafia-driven. The state of California is not going to end this (yet). They profit too. Again, follow the money. When you connect the dots and the dots start to disappear you will know that this is a crime syndicate.
The New York Senate passed a radical pro-abortion bill that would allow unborn babies to be aborted for basically any reason up to birth. This is only the beginning. The procedure is they snap the necks of children born out of the mother’s womb. People need to realize we are absolutely vile “as a people” to the core for allowing this! It’s murder but what is murder anymore and who cares, right (sarcasm)?
If we allow innocent human babies to be in a mother’s womb for 9 months and then snap their necks when they are born we are fooling ourselves into thinking that horses dying left and right in an industry that is funded and controlled by corruption is going to stop.
We still fight for life and animal rights (not welfare, but rights) because that’s what we do! We have no choice but to fight for life!! Thanks again for the post.
The Interstate Horse Wagering Act AKA The Wire Act seemed to ensure that one of their best buddies, former AG Whitaker, changed the Wire Act as soon as he got into power to make it less transparent, to increase their profits with little to no accountability to the American public.
A preliminary legal review of the changes appear “illegal” and fraught with corruption.
This was the “elephant in the room” when Whitaker was being questioned about it by Congress.
Congress needs to investigate this much more extensively because it will lead to much more – I’m sure of that.
According to the statistics put out by respective states the majority of them get 1% or LESS from the billions that they facilitate on their tracks while the racehorses get nothing, but a bunch of dirt in their face when they drop dead even state residents are forced to pay for all the required services to keep this Wire Act going, but get little to nothing in return.
The figures are astounding as the profits are running in the billions and if their state taxes were upped even to 10%, which they should be, that would be a windfall for many states, but the politicians just turn a blind eye when this would be a huge source of income for the state.
Everything from the racehorses dying to the deeply ingrained corruption clearly shows an industry rotten to the core, not good for our communities, for our children, and for American society as a whole.
It must be shut down and the financial network must be immediately shut down.
Thank you Gina. You are correct and very wise to address it. Like I said, it’s money. California allows it because they profit.
CAUTION: The Tonka / Barr bill on the Senate floor is a smokescreen and being passed for damage control or shall I say to protect the interests of the crime syndicate. Too much money and corruption are tied to this industry that if more horses keep dying like this so close together the probe thickens even more. Our government doesn’t want that to happen.
So, the government has responded but it’s not to protect horses!! This bill is worthless and it will pacify and calm the storm for awhile while horses will continue to die and money continues to line the pockets and be laundered.
In fact, it will probably be worse when this bill passes because the general public (who we are trying to educate) will believe that since there’s a federal law in place the horses and horse racing must be safe. To the contrary, this bill is a deceptive tool to distract and divert away from the investigative process right now into all the trainers, owners, and vets of those 22 horses that died. The law will then be used as a weapon to fight truth – that truth is “HORSE RACING KILLS.”
Trust me. It would then lead to some very dark holes and the latest Triple Crown winners for the past 5 years including Baffert as well as George Soros money. I’ll stop there. This is why it is being passed now — to distract and deceive. Who do you think is really going to investigate these deaths? The crooked California Horse Racing Board and its paid-off vets?? BEWARE!
The Udall/Pitts bill (not exactly the best bill either because it doesn’t end horse racing) was better in terms of regulations. I brought this to PETA’s attention a long time ago to make sure to highlight why the Udall/Pitts bill was the bill to support of the two. Of course, PETA supported the Tonka/Barr bill.
I have supported PETA in the past and also a member. However, I’m wising up to their weak and almost patronizing efforts to really stop this animal cruelty known as horse racing. I am not impressed.
Yesterday was the telltale sign of a lack of conviction and strength. PETA’s statement yesterday made by Guillermo to the media was like a shot in the chest — like a betrayal — a surrender. It was not the statement of a leader of a group to fight animal cruelty.
I’ve asked to meet with her on this and other issues. We’ll see…
PETA and the HSUS has done so much amazing work on behalf of animals.
I can’t take that away from them, but they got this one wrong – so wrong.
This is the reason why I’m such a huge fan of HRW and Patrick’s unequivocal stance that horse racing needs to be shut down – no changes, no compromises – shut it down.
There’s nothing that either Belinda Stronach or the industry can do to change the fact that racehorses die for this vile business.
For years, I tried to rationalize it because I really wanted horse racing to succeed, but I came to the self-realization that no amount of changes will stop racehorses from dying nor will it prevent the massive suffering and deprivation that racehorses are forced to endure leading up to their death.
I could not and will not rationalize it anymore and that’s why I stand with Patrick and HRW supporters.
I would also like to appeal to American taxpayers – please get your local/state politicians to STOP diverting millions in casino profits to support horse racing.
Horse racing is a deadly virus on our communities, strips away millions of taxpayers dollars in one form or another while providing financial networks for nefarious activities such as GUMPSTER STABLES LLC.
The FBI directly linked them to the Gambino crime family network with criminal charges and the racing commissions in New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia STILL LICENSED THEM!!!
Make no mistake this business is corrupt to the core and the poor racehorses are paying with their lives for these horrible people.
Horse racing needs to shut down.
Thank you, Gina.
THINK about this : How did a five-year-old racehorse named Princess Madeline end up in a feedlot on July 13, priced for slaughter? — Ask a horse trainer, and they’ll probably shrug — More than 10,000 U.S. Thoroughbreds a year ship to slaughterhouses in Canada & Mexico, slightly more than the 7,567 yearlings sold at auction in 2010 to American, Japanese & Middle Eastern billionaires, among others.
Tooooo over bred too undernourished took young tooo many horses tooo overlooked. Not good trainers not good jockeys .
I.have horses that came off without a scratch .. they were older and more developed.