In the trials for this Sunday’s $2 million Futurity at Los Alamitos Race Course, the richest Quarterhorse race in America, these whipping (or “crop,” as the stewards called them) violations:
JOCKEY RUBEN LOZANO IS FINED $150 FOR VIOLATION OF CHRB RULE #1688 (USE OF RIDING CROP-MORE THAN THREE TIMES IN SUCCESSION, WITHOUT GIVING THE HORSE A CHANCE TO RESPOND) – SECOND OFFENSE WITHIN THE PREVIOUS 60 DAY PERIOD – DURING THE RUNNING OF THE SECOND RACE NOV 24.
JOCKEY VINNIE BEDNAR IS FINED $250 FOR VIOLATION OF [SAME RULE] – THIRD OFFENSE WITHIN THE PREVIOUS 60 DAY PERIOD – DURING THE RUNNING OF THE THIRD RACE NOV 24.
JOCKEY JAMES FLORES IS FINED $50 FOR VIOLATION OF [SAME RULE] DURING THE RUNNING OF THE FOURTH RACE NOV 24.
JOCKEY OSCAR PEINADO IS FINED $150 FOR VIOLATION OF [SAME RULE] – SECOND OFFENSE WITHIN THE PREVIOUS 60 DAY PERIOD – DURING THE RUNNING OF THE EIGHTH RACE NOV 24.
JOCKEY ARMANDO CERVANTES IS FINED $150 FOR VIOLATION OF [SAME RULE] – SECOND OFFENSE WITHIN THE PREVIOUS 60 DAY PERIOD – DURING THE RUNNING OF THE NINTH RACE NOV 24.
JOCKEY JAIRO RANGEL IS FINED $150 FOR VIOLATION OF [SAME RULE] – SECOND OFFENSE WITHIN THE PREVIOUS 60 DAY PERIOD – DURING THE RUNNING OF THE ELEVENTH RACE NOV 24.
JOCKEY JOSE NICASIO IS FINED $150 FOR VIOLATION OF [SAME RULE] – SECOND OFFENSE WITHIN THE PREVIOUS 60 DAY PERIOD – DURING THE RUNNING OF THE FIFTH RACE NOV 24.
JOCKEY JOSE NICASIO [yes, same guy] IS FINED $250 FOR VIOLATION OF [SAME RULE] – THIRD OFFENSE WITHIN THE PREVIOUS 60 DAY PERIOD – DURING THE RUNNING OF THE SEVENTH RACE NOV 24.
Lots of cash at stake – whip the hell out of your horses. Please note, also, the repeat offenders – 6 of the 7 – and the wrist taps they incurred.
But wait, there were more:
JOCKEY EDUARDO ROJAS IS FINED $150 FOR VIOLATION OF [SAME RULE] – SECOND OFFENSE WITHIN THE PREVIOUS 60 DAY PERIOD – DURING THE RUNNING OF THE SECOND RACE NOV 29.
JOCKEY VINNIE BEDNAR [see above] IS FINED $350 FOR VIOLATION OF [SAME RULE] – FOURTH OFFENSE WITHIN THE PREVIOUS 60 DAY PERIOD – DURING THE RUNNING OF THE EIGHTH RACE NOV 29.
JOCKEY RAMON SANCHEZ IS FINED $50 FOR VIOLATION OF [SAME RULE] DURING THE RUNNING OF THE FIFTH RACE NOV 29.
JOCKEY ARMANDO CERVANTES [see above] IS FINED $250 FOR VIOLATION OF [SAME RULE] – THIRD OFFENSE WITHIN THE PREVIOUS 60 DAY PERIOD – DURING THE RUNNING OF THE THIRD RACE NOV 30.
All of these “men” would have been arrested for animal cruelty had they done the same to a dog. But done in the name of “sport”? Business as usual.
Widespread, legitimized animal cruelty and abuse of the utmost horrendous nature.
Beating a sore/tired racehorse slowing down to protect itself in order to get the last bit of sweat from them in a cruel, inhumane, and abusive way.
In any other setting in this country, these jockeys would be charged on Felony Animal Cruelty.
Take away the banner of “sport” and “entertainment” and what you have is widespread acceptance of a daily, common business practice that is blatant racehorse abuse and cruelty.
The response from the apologists clearly shows the most evil, sadistic, cruel, greedy side of human nature.
There are many articles put forth by these apologists and defenders of such egregious racehorse abuse, but the following article really exposes the dark side of this industry:
https://thepressboxlts.com/opinion-california-horse-racing-board-should-table-any-discussion-about-use-of-riding-crop-until-more-study-is-done
If you take the time to read this article there are many things that stand out, but never once does the defender of such abusive business practices refer to the racehorse getting public beatings to perform even some while their bones are snapping-off such as Mongolian Groom and plenty more.
This doesn’t enter the equation for this immorally bankrupt human being whose reportedly a heavy gambler.
The article than continues to present the usual arguments and attacks on PETA or anybody who advocates for kindness to the racehorse on any level.
When one considers that this “sports” writer probably reflects the majority of people who partake, support and defend the inhumane act of beating a racehorse than it should be obvious to anybody, especially animal lovers, that this business can’t continue.
There are NO REFORMS that can obfuscate such inhumane deeply ingrained psyche – none.
In essence, by requesting to “table” delay the obvious he wants to watch racehorses get beaten while they are sore and/or tired so he can place his bets.
This is the core of this business where the racehorses are nothing more than disposable gambling chips.
Gina Powell, thank you for your input and sharing the link. I started reading it but it is so nauseating and narcissistic and condescending that I had to stop at the phony line of egotistical crap about horseracing being the world’s greatest sport and puke like that.
These horseracing people which are horse abusers need to know that they are criminals and the law against animal cruelty and torture needs to come down on these toxic incorrigibles like it never has before!!!
Gina,the way I got involved in HRW,is because 7/3/17 watching tv I saw a very young horse John’s Afleet go “wrong” in a race,and the apprentice jockey whipped the living hell out of him,even though he knew his left front leg broke. I will NEVER let these precious babies deaths be in vain.
This was at Parx wasn’t it? And the jockey still races.
Where is that long arm of the law when it is needed by the horses?! These racehorses need to be PROTECTED FROM CRUELTY AND TORTURE!!!!!!
The horses are having the life sucked out of them. PACT ACT needs to be applied.
It is crazy the crop is allowed on the race track. Everybody knows it in the thrill of the moment so to speak the jockeys are looking at winning some money if they get that horse across the line 1st. You would never see an exercise rider or a trainer be a horse during training. Why is it acceptable during the actual race. These jockeys are criminals the law is clear and they still violated It is crazy the crop is allowed on the race track. Everybody knows it in the thrill of the moment so to speak the jockeys are looking at winning some money if they get that horse across the line 1st. You would never see an exercise rider or a trainer be a horse during training periods why is it acceptable during the actual race. These jockeys are criminals the law is clear and they still violate it
Janwindsong- they do beat them during training also- especially when they are working from the gate or are doing a timed work. I’ve known exercise riders that used to be jockeys that bragged that they can beat a horse bloody or welt them. Or they come back to the barn and tell the trainer “he was being a donkey so I lit his ass up!”
I’m also amazed that currently the jockey guild is fighting any whip reforms or taking the whips away for safety reasons. I’ve seen exercise riders in the morning get run away with and horses bolt because of having a whip used on them. I’ve seen them, in races and in the morning, crash over and through the rails because they got whipped. So much for safety. I don’t get the rationales.
Reblogged this on Armory of the Revolution.
Such a ‘joke’…..I would start the fines at $1000, and increase by $500 each time thereafter. These jockeys know the rules, as do the owners and trainers. I would also fine the owners and trainers every time the jockey is fined. If I owned a horse, I wouldn’t mistreat them in anyway and they would want to run..and win. No jockey would be allowed to have a whip, there would be NO 2 year old racing, no drugs (neither oral or shots). All in all I would treat them with the respect they deserve, both as a horse and as an athlete.
Those fines mean nothing to them with the money they make and there is no repercussions!! Some Jockeys will continue!
Stricter standards like long term suspension, etc.
Why put regulations in place if they don’t get severely reprimanded?? Its a joke.
JAIL TIME FOR JOCKEYS! JAIL TIME FOR OWNERS AND TRAINERS! TEN TO TWENTY YEARS IN JAIL FOR THE FIRST DEAD HORSE! TWENTY TO THIRTY YEARS FOR THE SECOND DEAD HORSE! LIFE IN PRISON FOR THE THIRD DEAD HORSE! THAT’S IT, NO EXCUSES, NO BULLSHIT!
Wanda, all on board for that. It is outrageous that no serious legislation/bill or even conversation is currently active or being utilized to address this atrocity.
Diane, if there is any serious conversations anywhere to pass any bona fide legislation to make the punishments fit the crimes, I have not been in the right place at the right time to see it or read about it or hear it.
If jockeys were really punished a lot more then maybe the abuse of these magnificent animals would stop. Fining them $150 won’t cut it, the sum should be several hundred dollars maybe even thousands!
$150.00 is about the cost of spending one night in a motel in a lot of places! It is definitely a joke!
Yes, Nancy…you are correct!! The corruption and pure evil I began discovering,albeit what I was capable of uncovering on my own, was DISTURBING,to say the least! Gina is totally correct there is no “fixing” this sleazy bullshit.
Whenever I see that jockey on a horse it gets on my nerves.
And we’re supposed to feel pity for these sackless animal abusers when they get hurt? They are literally addicted to beating horses and they love the feeling of power it gives them. Instead of these pidly ass fines, they should be given jail time – I’d love to see these little pieces of shit in the same cell as a 300 pound hardened convict.
If the dead horse is a yearling, life in prison without parole on first offense for breeder, owner, trainer, jockey, Fasig-Tipton auction personnel, every body involved in the cruelty, torture and killing of any yearling forced to carry weight and run and run fast! No excuses! No BULLSHIT!
Creative Mist: Pulled up LAME VANNED OFF-Charlestown,just a while ago.🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
Surprise surprise-He was dead last by a MILE last time out.Who didn’t see that coming. Poor 6yr.old gelding.
Shameful behaviour, these poor horses deserve a better life than this torture.
And speaking of whipping Cali racehorses, the CHRB is busy congratulating themselves for being “the first” to enact limits on whip use. They’re so proud of their “Crop Reforms,” that they delayed release of results of their investigation into The Santa Anita Death Track’s now-world famous spate of fatalities this year. If it were any other agency doing the digging — like the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, which really IS conducting such an investigation — we could expect a modicum of effort, integrity, and even justice. But this is the CHRB we’re talking about here; secrecy, obfuscation, and outright corruption is their stock in trade. Half of them have slithered away since the SA so-called crisis was brought to light, but their replacements (and the die-hards who insist on remaining to see this shit-storm through to its end) won’t answer any questions either. One good question that should be asked is, “WHY?”
Why is the CHRB delaying the release of its findings? Of course, none of horse racing’s “journalists” will bother to ask that one, nor any of the others that real reporters start asking from their first day on the job. So, now we’re looking at Jan. 15th for their report. How many more dead horses will they pile up until then?
Kelly Griffin, thank you for your comments. I read part of the announcement that they have changed their whip/whipping rules which they refer to as riding crop rules; however, I was not aware of the other information you said about the fatalities supposedly going to be reported but delayed. Maybe they have not finished figuring out how they are going to cover their behinds because a real investigative report would be so damning to their criminal activities. The “new” riding crop rules might be an offering of sorts in hopes we will overlook the obvious, dead horses.
They should ALL be arrested for animal cruelty!
Lets whip the crap out of the jockey’s…hate horse racing
I’m sick to my stomach reading these. Take the whips away!
A fine for breaking the whipping rule is so wrong! A suspension and loss of real income would be just! Rather than repeat offenders there would be compliance. Are there requirements as to the type of materials a whip is constructed of, size and an inspection of the whips? That is only a beginning. Better to start somewhere and get something than try for the whole shebang at first.
These little cruel, sadistic jockeys feel powerful when beating a defenseless horse into submission.How sad & demented is that! By not enforcing serious penalties for animal abuse they are just inflating their inadequate egos that much more.Aside from the horses, the entire horse racing industry is rotten to the core !
My heart is in agony for these noble animals who helped to build this country. Now, they are abused with impunity in the “ sport”of Horse Racing… money, money, money! Shame on al who participate & excuse.
These impotent little “men” are taking their frustrations out on these innocent animals. Let’s “crop” their tiny genitals over and over and over. After another violation, they get their arms chopped off.
If we could whip these jockeys for not jumping high enough, on demand, I wonder how the would like it. I would be willing to pay for the entertainment their jumping around would provide. Oh. Did I mention they would not be allowed to stop jumping. Yep. Another whip for that. Continuous jumping while being caned. What fun (for me that is).
Yes! Yes! Yes! Outstanding idea… and the vizual fills my heart and soul with so much happiness
This is animal abuse and the abusers need to be in jail where they belong.
Cruel bastards!
What is needed is some type of grassroots organization/effort to bring these issues to Washington to begin the process of holding the racing industry accountable, reforming and restructuring the rules/regulations of the ‘game’, and ultimately, put this on the ‘fast track’ to ending horse racing of any kind, period. I know it’s about money, but there has to be a path to effectively phasing out this very cruel and inhumane practice. If this type of organization exists, please let me know who and where they are, cause I’m in.
So the “punishment” is the equivalent of about 15 coffees??? Unbelievable indeed! These are not jockeys. They are the lowest quality of beings, as I cannot qualify them as humans. As Gina so fittingly put it in her post… what happened to animal cruelty?
How many more horses need to suffer and die? I open these articles with a heavy heart every single time and my heart breaks a bit every time. Unacceptable for society that considers itself “civilized” STOP HORSE RACING ONCE AND FOR ALL. It is the only way to stop the horrendous abuse of these magnificent beings.. the horses. I constantly wonder what more I/we can do to get our message across and have our voice heard.
It makes me sick to my stomach to read that this blatant abuse of horses is castigated with a meager find or short suspension. These guys should be totally removed and never be allowed to handle a horse or any animal. I wonder if the new federal law that makes a crime to abuse animals apply to these cases? It should!
Every state has anti-cruelty laws against cruelly beating an animal. The reason the horse racing industry gets away with it is because there is no legitimate oversight. Neither police or SPCA’s are present at race tracks!
The blatant abuse is televised for the world to see, yet there are no charges filed, no serious repercussions for trainers or jockeys, and no animal welfare groups seem to give a shit beyond what two minutes of attention they can get. Where are the felony charges? Or does beating a horse in the name of sport not count as animal abuse in America now?
It appears as if this industry has MANY rules protecting the Horses — these rules are meaningless — they give appearance of legitimacy but the rules along with the punishments are laughable — moreover, they’re insulting to the Horses as well as to the rest of us – like we’re stupid or something — SHUT DOWN this EVIL INDUSTRY — FOREVER.
These abusive thugs should be arrested, convicted, and banned from racing. Horse racing is a blood sport and needs to be shut down forever.
Disgusting cruelty. jockeys who have no idea how to successfully ride a race. They have no skill, no empathy and no future. Get rid.
Add a couple of zeros to those fines and see if this abuse doesn’t stop.
This is disgusting! I don’t think the fines are doing anything. The abuse continues – as they say “Business as usual!” Animal cruelty is now a felony. Why is this not being enforced?! Enough is enough. Please make this stopQ!
This is beyond disqusting! And I have said it bfr and I will say it again. These tiny cowards climb on top of beautiful majestic beings then they abuse them to compensate for there tinny tininy worthless exsisstance in life. All these emails should be forward to these cowards. When is our OWN WORTHLESS GOVERNMENT going to step up and do what is right. Our goverment holds the key to stopping these atrosities. ALL animal racing and explotation of animals must STOP. lately the only hope I have is faith that there IS A GOD AND HE WILL LASH DOWN ANOTHER FLOOD. REMEMBER ONLY THE ANIMALS WERE SAVED!! ONLY THE INNOCENT. These owners,riders trainer and mostly spectators are beastly COWARDS!!!
There is NOT ONE DECENT THING about horse racing. Not one decent person is involved in it, there is absolutely nothing in this abuse (it is NOT a sport) that can ever be fixed. Forget reforming, restructuring, reworking….it is irredeemable. TIME TO END IT.
Wanda Diamond – absolutely RIGHT – JAIL TIME FOR THEM ALL, ASCENDING TO LIFETIME. But, also they should all be whipped and tortured while the horses get to watch. There is no excuse for any of this to happen, if people would stop going and the govt would enforce the PACT ACT. There is SO much animal abuse in this country, it seems that there is an abundance of sick, sadistic freaks everywhere. Maybe one day WE THE PEOPLE need to get up and GET RID OF THESE SCOURGES ON HUMANITY. It makes me sick that they – ALL of them – get to run loose while horses and other animals are tortured and killed – I hope these sickos really pay for all their CRIMES one day soon. I’d like to be in on meting out punishment.
It is disgusting and disgraceful that in the name of food or entertainment we abuse all creatures. I wish that horse racing and rodeos would be banned. We are supposed to be civilized and wize yet we brutalize animals with no compassion. This doesn’t make us civilized or wize at all.
These jockeys need to be whipped like they do to horses. And the owners for allowing it. Horse racing needs to be abolished!
When it comes down to money, all humanity and empathy is gone.
Some members of the human species will trade anything in for money – I’m not one of them.
Although I totally support success and money it’s what you do with it.
Obviously, money can do so much to change things for the better, but evil people use it to destroy other living beings whether that’s an animal or a person.
The horse racing business exemplifies what you said.
The racehorses are there to make money and/or to stroke their ego while their standing in the winners circle.
They are defenseless, voiceless victims of human inequities who are quickly dumped when not fulfilling their demented reasons to exploit them in the first place.
If they were to inflict the same treatment on Humans as they do on these Horses, they’d be arrested and thrown into Rubber Rooms — SHUT DOWN the cruel, unconscionable, depraved industry of Horseracing FOREVER — the Horses suffer greatly only to meet with brutal deaths — something is VERY WRONG here — again, SHUT them DOWN.
No matter which way you turn, someone, somewhere is ABUSING a Racehorse — WHO do they think they are?! — the Abusers DO whatever they like, whether we’re watching or not — we MUST SHUT DOWN the brutal, unconscionable, sadistic depraved industry of HORSE-RACING — FOREVER.