Golden Gate Fields has been granted approval to reopen (sans spectators, of course) May 14. In a statement, (track owner) The Stronach Group’s Aidan Butler boasted:
“The health and safety of every person and every horse continues to be our North Star. As California begins the path to recovery, the best way for us to ensure their safety is to re-engage the economic engine that provides for them.”
As if on cue, the killing has resumed. Yesterday, according to the CHRB, Arky Vaughan was felled while training, no other details provided. The 3-year-old was last raced March 28, right before the current shutdown. Of more import, he becomes the 10th victim at Golden Gate this year, and 38th at all California tracks. In short, folks, they can’t help but kill, even in these extraordinary times.
“…to re-engage the economic engine that provides for them.”
The source of income for The Stronach Group, the racetracks they own, the gambling chips (horses) they own and their so-called “economic engine” is the WAGERING HANDLE besides the government subsidies also known as CORPORATE WELFARE.
In this time of public health crisis, lack of leadership to address the PANDEMIC as a reality and not as a fantasy, extremely HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT due to social distancing to prevent or slow down the spread of the CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019, WHO HAS THE MONEY TO GAMBLE, ESPECIALLY BETTING ON HORSES????
I cannot state this enough — SHUT DOWN HORSE-RACING — FOREVER — If you think slapping a Horse several times is bad — AND IT IS — it’s just the tip of the monstrous iceberg — SHUT DOWN this depravedly, unconscionably cruel, sadistic, hateful industry — let’s continue to expose the continuous brutality to Horses — I’m convinced most fans do NOT know what horror goes on behind the scenes.
I think you’re absolutely correct on all points!!!!!!! I honestly believe that there are hundreds and possibly thousands of people who are completely unaware of the daily routine of endless brutalities against horses exploited for racing at all racetracks (no exceptions) and that the horseracing industry dupes the public on a daily basis to con people to spend their money on placing $2 bets or some other amount to “change it up” in the WAGERING aspect of horseracing. In the horseracing industry, it isn’t about beautiful horses; it is about beautiful horses being used and abused as slaves for their slavemaster breeders, owners, trainers, jockeys, grooms to make “a living” by torturing beautiful horses to death. Horseracing is a criminal enterprise and needs to be de-funded now!
Please, please, please, let’s learn from this pandemic and realize how precious life is, all life. The Horseracing Industry is beyond archaic, cruel, inhumane, with absolutely no regard for the horses, just the money they can bring in. It’s pure GREED and, nothing else. This horrendous abuse needs to end. Haven’t enough horses died so that the horse racing business can continually line their pockets. It is absolutely sickening! I don’t understand what it will take to end this insanity but we must continue to expose the horrific abuse until it finally, finally comes to an end.
Unbelievable how cruel humans and selfish humans can be. There seems to be no regard for the safety and welfare of these amazing creatures. It appears to be all about the money to be made and the horses are exploited and expendable.
I simply don’t know why this obscene business hasn’t been shut down. ESPECIALLY with the covid-19 virus wiping out people’s lives and livelihoods – that should have been the final death knell. On both counts, for what possible reason is THIS considered an “essential” business?
Aside from the obvious outrageous injury and death numbers of this stinking activity, aren’t there more important things for government to do with funding now?
I thought California’s governor was better than most – why the hell hasn’t he slammed the lid on this by now?
It seems the people at the top of this are corrupt and greedy beyond all reason while those at the bottom are unbelievably stupid and oblivious. Neither surprises me, but still, the fact that this industry is still standing now is beyond comprehension.
STOP KILLING INNOCENT HORSES!!!!!
The sheer brutality, cruelty, abuse, doping, beating, maiming, dumping and killing is now being exposed.
The moral issues of shutting this public butcher show down should be obvious to anybody.
However, the billions in financial aid should be immediately stopped.
We are in the middle of a humanitarian crisis, our state and local coffers are empty to the point where politicians are saying that their going to have to greatly reduce essential community services such as EMT personnel.
We need medical staff and supporting personnel now more than ever.
Yet, this vile business gets billions in casino profits and taxpayers money – corporate welfare.
Why, why, why does this unnecessary total waste of precious money go to keep this killing show going?
Now more than ever every single politician should cease horse racing at any track that is dependent upon these sources of money to keep it going.
Don’t kid yourself, the horse racing industry is well aware that some politicians could finally get smart and say “why the hell are they getting all of this money when it’s greatly needed elsewhere.?
So, as a deliberate, clever strategy their releasing Condition Books to their “horsemen” thereby pressuring local governments to keep their hands-off their subsidies and demanding that they either sign long term financial deals or endorse them as per Maryland horse racing.
They were never their subsidies to begin with and they should have never gotten this money to begin with because there are no community representatives or racehorse defenders at any of these meetings.
These highly lucrative financial deals are conducted between “horsemen” (HBPA) and politicians with taxpayers getting ripped-off and, of course, the racehorses are the biggest losers.
These Condition Books are being released without authorization to open the tracks to build the pressure on local governments to authorize them to operate a race meet.
Upon review of their Condition Books, for example, in New York and PA they are sickening to see the waste of money going to their purses.
Races worth as much as $50,000 or more on what will, most likely, be 5 horse fields.
I find it so repulsive that we are giving these racehorse killers $50,000 of taxpayers/casino money on 1 race while our front line medical personnel are risking their lives for an entire year on that salary.
Just think about it – $50,000 for a 2-minute race while states are going to have to shut down EMT personnel.
It’s insanity and it has got to stop and stop now.
Gina the MORAL reason alone should be enough…end of story. This tells everyone all you need to KNOW about what kind of black hole for a heart these craven,selfish,lazy losers we are talking about. Maintaining their empty,lazy lives is all that matters to these sloths,truly “pure evil”
I can’t help but wonder if the lobbyists for horseracing (whoever they are) will be at the table when the new slush fund created by our current administration is doled out to corporations with 500 employees or in that range. There will be no normal checks and balances to regulate this slush fund. It is corrupt crony capitalism at work.
And speaking of California carnage, looks like good old Los Alamitos had its race 4 “winner” injured and vanned off last night. Wonder if Tap the Wire is still among the living, or succumbed to another of Los Al’s disgusting, “Mixed (breed)/Quarter Horses Preferred” debacles.
Kelly, I was doing A Lot of reading today…this Pandemic is bad,really,really bad.Most “experts” are saying we are going to have to “live” with this,unless they can come up with a vaccine,or some kind of treatment. I don’t see this “hobby” of the rich being sustainable.
Wasn’t sustainable before this virus, either, Bonnie. The only way the entire industry was able to trick the greedy and the gullible into buying in to the ILLUSION of sustainability was by cycling through dead horses as if this had been their actual, meat-producing business all along:
Step One: salvage a pittance of the annual crop for regeneration purposes (breeding of the true one-percenters.)
Step Two: dispose of the others quickly and quietly, while hoping the public fails to catch on in the age of social media.
Step Three (and this one’s important): make a huge, self-congratulatory to-do about it when one of the 20,000 or so coming off the track each year survives it sound enough (and lucky enough) to be retrained, repurposed, and adopted. Act like this one horse is not the outlier, but instead represents the fate of all but a handful of U.S. racehorses.
*When an event like a COVID-19 pandemic strikes — or a mass public uprising against your entire anti-sport for its abusive, drug-addled and corruption-fueled waste of equine life — just go on about your racing business as if you’re as legit as anybody else. Keep your hand out for those subsidies you thrive on; tell them how horse racing folks need them and deserve them more than all others. Demand recognition for your hardships, and acceptance of your demands to reopen and keep the killing-show going. And, most importantly, remind those pesky officials that it’ll suddenly be THEIR fault if horses continue to die. “Let us race, or the horse gets it!” should be your battle cry.
The horse gets it either way, whether they are racing or not racing, as you already know, of course. I have heard that this novel COronaVIrusDisease-2019 may drag out for two years. As long as our current lack of competent leadership exists, there will be much more loss of human life as well as pushback against valid scientific solutions. Instead of going forward to do what is right for humanity as well as what is right for animals including horses, and especially racehorses in this case, there will the “good ol’ boy” cronyism that will profit from the suffering and dying of humans and racehorses. The corruption in the WH is overwhelming and I don’t see it changing soon enough. As long as there is money to be made by multi-billionaires in certain drugs, even though it may be highly unproven and highly unethical and most likely illegal, we will continue to suffer as do the horses suffer. Hydroxychloroquine has not been scientifically proven as a treatment for COVID-19 but certain people are using it as an unproven treatment on especially elderly patients with dementia. They are doing so because someone in power can push this drug. These patients don’t have a chance to say “No” to the “doctors” who administer the drug that does cause, has been known to cause, arrythmia. The horses don’t have a chance to say “No” to their “caretakers” either; they don’t get a choice even when they do say “No” in equine language. Their “caretakers” don’t care what the horses want or need. It’s all about the money! The greed and incompetence is staggering. The Performance Enhancing Drugs used on horses are something that have and will continue to put money in some unscrupulous people’s pockets. So, who is going to stop this nightmare? Time will tell.
The Stronach Group, the business that is directly responsible for the massive pain, suffering, and dying of racehorses is at it again.
They are now taking “entries” at Santa Anita in “anticipation of the resumption of horse racing.”
Notice that they haven’t been authorized yet to open, but this is their ploy like so many others.
Whether they resume or not there’s one thing for sure:
Horse racing will end in California.
It’s just a matter of time.
Furthermore, there is not enough of a foal crop nor an existent crop to fill races at the ridiculous amount of racetracks in this country.
Most all racehorses will be training and running with pre-existing conditions and by virtue of this default racehorses will be sent out to die, as they are now, only it’s going to get much worse if you can imagine that.
How do you define “worse” – is dying not worse enough?
This will, most assuredly, result in plenty of racehorses dying although it’s always been inherent in horse racing.
It’s sad and sickening to anticipate the deaths.
It’s also a sad reflection on a bunch of morally deprived parasites that have nothing better to do with their lives than to prey off the bones, backs, and lives of non-consenting, voiceless victims.
I will continue to be a voice for the racehorses because, most assuredly, many are one step away from dying as long as this business continues and resumes their killing show.
The Stronach Group and all apologists have blood on their hands.