This morning, one day after officially opening for business, Del Mar recorded its first and second kills of the season – via head-on collision during training hours. Both Charge a Bunch, two, and Carson Valley, three, died from impact – i.e., no euthanasia required. Imagine that scene.
I can hear it now – “freak accident,” “nothing we could have done to prevent this one,” “could have happened anywhere horses exist.” Indeed, it’s already being said. Bob Baffert, Carson’s trainer: “This was a very unfortunate accident and it is a shock to everyone in the barn. We work every day to take the best care of our horses but sometimes freak accidents occur that are beyond anyone’s ability to control. This is one of those times and we’re deeply saddened for the horses and everyone involved.”
Sorry, the American public is growing weary of your excuses, diversions, and obfuscations. Horseracing kills horses. The where and how matter not a whit.
I just did an interview with NBC. I said this highlights the fact that many of the injuries and deaths occur in training and transport and in the barns. Often these are unreported and unknown to the public. Hope I spoke well. It’s all in the editing.
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Can you or anybody please provide a link here so people can see the interview with NBC?
Thanking you in advance for being a voice for the racehorses,
Just yesterday, on the Paulick Report, was an interview with Del Mar CEO Joe Harper who repeatedly stated that Del Mar had the highest safety record and that the safety of their “equine athletes” (AKA disposable gambling chips) were of the utmost priority.
Mr. Harper, you are full of shit and you know it.
If your statements were true than this “accident” wouldn’t have happened.
I worked there years ago and I saw racehorses dropping dead or getting maimed there every day.
Only then you didn’t have a neutral bunch of people down your ass being exposed to the truth either.
Back then it was hidden as much as possible so you are a pathetic apologist and how dare you justify this massive pain, suffering and dying because it supports jobs.
This money could be put to better use that supports more jobs than this business every has or will.
Bob Baffert – spewing his usual bullshit lines. I swear this dude is a delusional sociopath who has plenty of racehorses die under his legal care, custody, and control. “Hall of (SH)ame trainer” that meets all the criteria to get in including racehorses dying. I don’t think there’s one trainer in the racing Hall of (Sh)ame that hasn’t killed a horse that’s how vile this business is.
Carla Gaines is a multiple racehorse killer and from what I saw she’s nothing more than a $2 bet and so are her horses whom she’s willing to maim and kill for the right people it seems.
I will never forget the morning I went by her barn to confirm the identity of a filly who was running in a huge stake race – she wasn’t even there.
The Mexican groom, who couldn’t speak English, grabbed me by the hand and was trying to tell me that the filly was sick and shouldn’t run.
When I got to the stall she was frothing at the mouth had not touched her PM feed let alone her AM feed and Carla was nowhere to be found.
When I finally reached her I recommended that she scratch the filly, but not Carla.
She told me to “mind my own business” and that the filly would run.
The filly didn’t make it through the race, but was alive, walked off, and was shipped out the next day, bleeding from the mouth never to be seen again.
This was my direct experience with Carla Gaines and I refer to my diary for this episode.
Absolute piece of shit.
Del Mar = Death Mar.
This has been going on for years.
How can this go on in one of the most animal loving geographical areas in the world????
This MUST end now and this is being conducted at a taxpayer-funded public property California residents and taxpayers should have their say not these racehorse killers.
You apologists are all fucking low life blood life sucking scum parasites.
There’s just no other way to put it – none.
Just disgusting – and forget all that shit about “some accidents are unavoidable” and “there was nothing that could be done” . A head on collision? Seriously?! Obviously one or both horses were running full speed out of control, probably trying to escape the whips and other torture devices. To say nothing of the fact that these horses were too mentally and emotionally immature to be out there in the first place.
What part of senseless abuse is so difficult to understand? What other equine “sport” has head-on collisions?
I wish the jockeys met the same fate as their poor horses, since they were most likely at least partly to blame for what happened.
Horrendous! Although I was not able to be there opening day due to work, we had a good protester turn out and we will be there every weekend. Thank you Jane Cartmill!
I was there yesterday to protest and what a crowd. My question is how is it possible to publicize what happened this morning to the public so that the message gets across. Was my first time and met a lot of great people who had shown up to protest.
We get this out via media, Richard, and we are making tremendous strides. Please consider calling in to your local tv and radio stations (or even a letter to the editor); tell them you are outraged and that this can no longer be tolerated in 21st Century America. And please reference this site as horseracingwrongs.org – with cold-hard data going back to 2013 – is the best possible case against horseracing.
Seriously a head on collision – come on people do you think that everyone else is just stupid – how in the hell does something like this happen – possibly because that is how your drive your personal vehicles as well – just look down at the horses head and not in front of you – what the hell kind of bullshit is this anyways – true horse people will never believe any of your bullshit and this is just another day of the same as always. Too bad the jockeys survived – they should have been put down as well. More torture, more kills, more doping, more whipping – and it just goes on and one. How in the hell is it possible for so many ignorant bastards to all be in one place. All of these race tracks need to be closed forever and ever. They are nothing but “KILL ZONES” for these poor horses. You people involved are not horse people in any sense of the word – you are murderers and abusers. The world does not need to see these events and unfortunately too many people do not understand how bad this really is and how much abuse these poor animals live with on a daily basis. You are a bunch of low life bastards and the racing commission is right in there with you – with their god damn hands out for payments under the table to turn a blind eye – what a sad sad world of events we live in. Stop this torture – shut down these tracks and do it NOW!!!
Horses are more important than money. If the track is not safe it should not be used until it is made safe. If there is not the money to renervate the track close it.
I was incredulous when I read this story! How could anyone believe two horses would colide with each other ans it be an “accident”. Death Mar indeed. If ypu believe this you will believe anything!
This is abhorrent – utilizing animals that have no choice in the matter for spectator sport. How does this kind of “freak” accident occur. In other years I’ve read that Del Mar and other tracks, run horses over and over again in high heat days – this is abuse of animals for greed.
Are we going back to the days of the gladiators in the Coliseum? This has to stop.
Hmmmmmm, yea sure it was a freak accident,let hear what happens tomorrow and then the next day and the next. It goes on and on. Everyday another magnificent horse needlessly dies at a horseracing facility yet nothing is done to prevent it or stop it. This is Heartbreaking.Its Cruel and unnecessary. Yet Humans continue to go and bet on these poor animals. It will never stop bc the law turns a blind eye to the abuse that takes place that kills these animals. SHAME ON OUR LAW MAKERS FOR NOT STOPPING THIS MASSIVE ANIMAL ABUSE AT THE HANDS OF TRAINERS THAT THEY KNOW ARE GUILTY
A head on collision, those poor horses how excruaiting painful they must have felt. Horseracing is horrendously cruel, they say they love the horses and everyone at the barn is saddened but the races still go on and on……None of them care one bit about these magnificant animals except what lines their pockets. This story is very sad indeed and heartbreaking!!
We have NO idea what dope was into these racehorses because they keep their doping/vet records secret.
Since it was an official breeze by Hall of (SH)ame Trainer Bob Baffert I would bet my bottom dollar that they were pumped full of Laix, Amacol, pain killers and/or tranquilizers, but we will never know.
When a racehorse is under the influence of medication then their perception can be altered or delayed perhaps resulting in this horrific accident.
And Carla Gaines – well it seems reasonable to assume that she sent a baby out that had no business being on the track, but you can’t tell these apologists anything because even killing is not an issue.
It’s no different than a drunk driver and those people are suspended not these people because this is the vile world of horse racing where accountability to nobody is the main operating process.
Heartbreaking!!! Insane!!! Why does this continue??????????
Oh yes I can hear the trainer and owner crying all the way to the bnk with either insurance pay out or ‘compensation’ from one government body or another. My latest adoption, a 3 year old Greyhound suffered just like the horses.
STRING THEM ALL UP!
Del Mar = Death More!
Maybe if a few jockeys were the ones getting killed, there would be more of an outcry. The poor horses sure don’t matter to the track. And why is anyone STILL GOING to see horseracing anyway???? Braindead bastard know-nothings. Safe track my ass. END HORSE RACING.