There’s No Such Thing as “Safe Horseracing” – 2 Kills at Alameda County Fair

Just a few days after the director of racing for California county fairs strongly implied in a CBS article that the problem rests with Santa Anita and that the fair circuit is a pretty safe affair, we have this for Pleasanton, Alameda County:

In the 5th Sunday, No New Friends was said by Equibase to have “went wrong,” one of Racing’s favorite euphemisms for dead. Indeed, I have confirmed (CHRB) that the 3-year-old was euthanized for an ankle injury.

In the just-released Stewards Minutes (June 23), Joy of the Saints is reported “euthanized/died” while training.

Over the past five fiscal years, 45 horses have died at Pleasanton, this in but a few weeks of racing each year. Here are the kill numbers for all fairs since 2013:

2013-2014: Sacramento 4 dead racehorses; Ferndale 1 dead racehorse; Fresno 3 dead racehorses; Pleasanton 12 dead racehorses; Santa Rosa 2 dead racehorses; Stockton 1 dead racehorse; Fairplex 4 dead racehorses

2014-2015: Sacramento 1 dead racehorse; Ferndale 1 dead racehorse; Pleasanton 18 dead racehorses; Santa Rosa 1 dead racehorse; Stockton 3 dead racehorses; Fairplex 8 dead racehorses

2015-2016: Sacramento 2 dead racehorses; Ferndale 1 dead racehorse; Pleasanton 7 dead racehorses; Santa Rosa 1 dead racehorse

2016-2017: Sacramento 1 dead racehorse; Fresno 1 dead racehorse; Pleasanton 5 dead racehorses; Santa Rosa 3 dead racehorses

2017-2018: Pleasanton 3 dead racehorses; Santa Rosa 1 dead racehorse

“Safe horseracing” is impossible. Always has been, always will be.

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20 Comments

  1. HORSE RACING NEEDS TO END IT IS ANIMAL CRUELTY AND ALSO DEADLY FOR HORSES!!!THIS IS ANIMAL CRUELTY THAT IS ALL ABOUT MONEY FOR THE OWNERS ETC>,!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS DOES NEED TO END !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  2. OMW!! Having grown up raising horse, (Halter Classes), Westernaires, etc., I had NOT heard of any of these TRAGIC incidences. Evil, evil, evil. Pushing these young horse, (their bodily development and growth, stress, genetics, not to mention corticosteroids, when off-track,…and who knows what else has become practice,…is reprehensible. It IS TIME to stop this vile treatment of horses. Just sick,…..Animal abuse doesn’t BEGIN to define such cruelty,…

  3. This is unforgivable. Wake up people. Stop this killing that can be avoided and never should happen. You people raise and race these horses don’t give a crap about them. It’s all greed,ego, being in the spot light. God have mercy on your souls.

  4. STOP THIS NOW its all just for money and NO ONE cares about the hours These heart less people should NOT be allowed to own any kind of animal horse , dog , cat ect

  5. This abysmal non-sport needs to end NOW. The owners, trainers and others involved with this miserable sport are the ones who should have “went wrong.” This whole business is WRONG.

  6. What is it going to take for people to realize racing is wrong. It needs to be banned.

  7. The horse “went wrong” – seriously is that the best they can do – just another poor phrase for a simple out and out slaughter. No CBS has it wrong – it is just not one track it is every single one of these shit holes. They all need to be shut down – they are one of the worst forms of abuse and slaughter. No one needs them and the horses sure as hell don’t need to have their lives ended as early as 2 and 3 years old. The abuse, the doping, the whipping – it is just so tragic and people are so abusive and uncaring. it is about common greed and has not a god damn thing to do with the horses – it is about MONEY and as much abuse as they need to place on these poor horses.

  8. The fact that seeing a living sentient being having a limb literally snapped off their body does not make society at large immediately shut down horse racing says a lot about our current mindset. How can you have any kind of event with the death toll as astronomical as horse racing and still fight to keep it going?

    I look into my own horse’s soft eyes and can’t imagine putting him in a place that would give him a scratch, let alone run the risk of him breaking a leg. True love is putting your animal first, something these owners and trainers don’t have enough of a heart to do.

  9. Those in horse-racing and too many so-called fans call those who want these deaths to end ‘the enemy.’ What these short sighted people cannot seem to understand is that horses have died by the thousands, just because of what humans are doing to them. They cite paddock accidents, stall accidents, and many other things that happen to horses as a reason to dismiss the deaths on the tracks. Right. Heads totally in the sand. And don’t get me started on the drugs, the cheaters and those who wind up dumping their horses at auctions that oftentimes lead to kill pens. Those who have been calling for changes are ignored or ballyhooed. This must not be allowed to continue!

  10. We must continue to raise awareness of the horrific consequences of this barbaric slaughter called horse racing!

  11. Thia is Absolutely Animal Cruelty at it’s best and it ALL ABOUT THE MONEY.
    When for THE LOVE OF GOD IS OT GOING TO STOP. DAY AFTER DAY THIS IS ALL WE HEAR. BEATINGS, THE POOR ANIMALS MADE TO RUN UNTIL THEIR POOR BODIES JUST GIVE OUT.
    ALL FOR PROFITS OF MONEY¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿SOMEONE NEEDS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLEAND IT MUST STOP NOW

  12. Disgusting betrayal of the trust these noble, beautiful animals put in humans. All racing must be stopped. NOW.

  13. A couple of things.
    First of all, as a former Associate Steward for the CHRB my brief stint included browsing the kill lists at the tracks which were never made public.
    It was horrific then just as it is now and the fairs were horrible abuse and kills because most of the racehorses there are the rejects, the sore/painful racehorses that shouldn’t be racing although none of them should.
    Anyways, the main difference is that back then they had no reporting requirements for kills and the industry did a good job at hiding the kills, putting out the rhetoric (“love them like family members,” etc.) back then without any neutral/public scrutiny plus a bunch of pro-horse racing entities on the board which hasn’t changed.
    The only difference between now and them (since the kills are always present) is the onset of this blog with the Kill Lists – the Death Facts.
    Patrick has blown their well-construed public image and lies out of the water and it’s about time!
    Second, the horse racing business is scrambling and they are looking for a scapegoat – enter Santa Anita.
    Let’s be clear Santa Anita is NOT the only track where racehorses are being killed.
    It’s on every track throughout America and the previous years Kill Lists show that nothing has improved – absolutely nothing and the kills were going on then as they are now.
    This business cleverly controls the message and puts it out to the public, and they appear to be doing this with the media in some cases.
    It’s important to realize that horse racing kills.
    There aren’t any fixes that will guarantee that racehorses will not be maimed or killed.
    The facts and evidence clearly supports this so the question remains:
    HOW MUCH LONGER ARE WE, OUR SOCIETY, GOING TO PERMIT THE MASSIVE PAIN, SUFFERING AND KILLING OF RACEHORSES TO CONTINUE?
    The horse racing business is wholesale carnage whether they die on the tracks, in their stalls, at private training centers or bleeding out on the slaughterhouse floor.
    Racehorses are their disposable trash, disposable commodities to be exploited, dumped, and killed as they see fit and they’ve been getting away with this for far too long now.
    How much longer are we going to let this business dictate to the taxpayers who are footing the bill either thru corporate welfare and/or billions in casino profits?
    Contact your local politician, find out what their stance is on horse racing, VOTE OUT politicians who are adamant on supporting this carnage with funds that should be going to education.
    VOTE IN the politicians who are committed to ending this.

  14. This is animal abuse and cruelty, plain and simple. We need as much publicity as possible so the public know exactly what is happening. Horse racing is nothing but greed and selfishness.

  15. Horse racing as it is connected in this country is inherently cruel and abusive. It should stop.

  16. Every time I turn around, another depraved, sadistic act of cruelty is inflicted on our majestic Animals – SHUT DOWN this EVIL INDUSTRY – it’s filled with indifferent & neglectful MONSTERS –

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