Last week on U.S. Flat (Thoroughbred/Quarterhorse) Tracks:
Luneaction “took a bad step, vanned off” at Fair Meadows
Betabearly “vanned off” at Lone Star
Madeye “badly [hit] rail, went over the rail, DNF” at Thistledown
Doorag Jimmy “fell after the wire, vanned off” at Louisiana
Whistling Birds “vanned off” at Belmont
Sacred Oath “vanned off” at Churchill
Mamanuca “vanned off” at Golden Gate
First Prize Freight “vanned off” at Ruidoso
Come On E. V. “vanned off” at Belmont
Alarming Light “vanned off” at Louisiana
Princess Latina “vanned off” at Louisiana
Ice Thunder “vanned off” at Ruidoso
Im Macys Princess “fell, vanned off” at Ruidoso
Royal Drumlee “pulled up lame, vanned off” at Glenwood
Traveling “vanned off” at Belmont
Magic Star “fell, vanned off” at Churchill
Put It On Detti “went wrong, vanned off” at Gulfstream
Powerful Favorite “bled” at Los Alamitos
Transcend “bled” at Los Alamitos
Voluptuous “vanned off” at Mountaineer
“Vanned Off”: exactly how it sounds – the horse was unable to walk off the track on his own and required the “equine ambulance.” While not all of these horses end up dead, most do, as borne out by my year-end FOIA reports.
“Bled/Returned Bleeding From Nostrils”: typically indicates pulmonary hemorrhage.
(source: Equibase)
Vile.
Horse racing is massive suffering and carnage.
All of the above racehorses were killed for gambling bets and a bunch of parasites who don’t care.
Yesterday at Churchill Downs, Race 8 yet another victim of Chad Brown.
MAGIC STAR took the proverbial “bad step” “fell” and was “vanned-off.”
Status unknown.
Magic Star – a $500,000 purchase, equine insurance policy most likely in place, isn’t turning out to be the racehorse that they paid for, after 4 starts – probably dead.
Every day the countless maimed and/or dead never ceases.
It’s so disturbing to know about this, fight to shut it down and it’s still operating.
I saw this race and have tried to determine if Magic Star survived. She went flying into the bushes. This almost looked like an error on the jockeys part, riding so close to the bushes. It looked like something happened just before she went crashing into the bushes. Cohen has served a 60 day suspension. Have been inquiring about her since yesterday. Please reply if you find out what happened to her
I found out, after looking for days now, that on Mon. Magic Star was alive. However, they said she was up, but couldn’t walk well, and was very sore. Said they were hoping nothing was broken. Not sure why x-rays would not have been performed yet, so not sure if they will end up euthanizing her this week. They said she just jumped in the bushes, which of course is ridiculous. She didn’t just just in the bushes. Something happened, which caused her to try to jump the bushes vs going down. It’s absurd that KY gets away with not reporting the deaths and injuries on the track. I found info on FB
Kim, thanks for your effort to look into this.
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) never published equine deaths prior to 2019.
They were forced to do it when it was determined by the Kentucky Center of Investigative Repoting that their lack of transparency was actually illegal and was also responding to public pressure.
Here’s an article for reference:
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/horses/2019/06/27/kentucky-horse-racing-commission-makes-necropsy-reports-public/1556756001/
The article makes reference to Patrick Battuello and this site.
Once again, we can thank Patrick for his hard work and determination in getting out the facts that I think had a direct effect on the necessary reporting procedures resulting in greater transparency.
So they now publish the deaths with the detailed necropsies.
http://khrc.ky.gov/new_docs.aspx?cat=30&menuid=30
If a racehorse is euthanized on the track they make the list.
I invite anybody to read these reports – they are heartbreaking.
However, if they van the horse back to the stall and wait a couple of days before they euthanize it then it’s not considered a track death or if a racehorse is brought to a vet clinic where it’s subsequently euthanized than it’s not considered a track death and in both of these circumstances the necropsy is not published nor is this death considered under their statistics for the most part.
As for MAGIC STAR?
When a racehorse bolts like that into the bushes it can be an electrical device in the whip that a jockey uses and it shocks the horse to go sideways.
Anytime I’ve investigated this type of reaction from a racehorse it seems to be the case, but I have no evidence or confirmation that this happened to Magic Star.
It sounds to me like he won’t make it, but probably won’t make the necropsy list.
It is extremely disturbing to know that these horses and so, so many other horses have been used to the point of injuries and injuries leading to the deaths of these horses!!!!!!! It is my hope that there are people investigating the circumstances leading up to these catastrophic injuries and deaths. I believe that there are felony crimes being committed against these horses and that they may or may not be investigated and prosecuted or indicted. All I can do right now is hope that the FBI is investigating the use of legal drugs, the use of illegal drugs and the illegal use of legal drugs on racehorses at all racetracks by all of the trainers and veterinarians (and others) that are connected to the willful exploitation of the horses. I’m thinking of Los Alamitos in particular but all of the racetracks have horses that need protection. It is heartbreaking that it is too late for so many of these Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses.
#Endhorseracing
Madeye did a timed work today. After watching this horse hit and scramble over the rail, I can’t imagine he wasn’t scraped up and sore.
It’s shocking to see what the racing people put the horses through, what injuries the horses sustain and the people expect (and demand) the horses to perform regardless of the fact that the horses would be in either a hospital or a care and rehabilitation facility if they were human beings instead of equines.
WHAT????? INCREDIBLE and he’ll probably race again next week
I wish I knew more about this. Why did this horse veer to the inside and hit the inside rail? This sounds like the jockey hit him with something. This horse was desperate to get away from something. Horses don’t normally go this crazy. Wasn’t this at Thistledown? This place has a very unsavory reputation. If that was my horse, somebody would be facing charges and a lawsuit. Everything I could throw at the trainer and rider.
Marymbaggaley, I don’t know all of the details either but I am suspicious of the owner or owners of any horse racing at Thistledown or any racetrack as well as the trainer and jockey. It isn’t like the owners just “fell off a turnip truck this morning” in any case.
There are pictures on the paulick report twitter of Magic Star and the jockey falling. People of course are asking the jockey if he’s ok, and a few actually were concerned about the horse’s welfare.
And then there are those lauding the talents of the photographer and are verbalizing that they feel the pics are award -winning. That’s the sad mentality of the pro racing crowd. Here are dramatic pics of a poor horse, and human, falling traumatically, and these idiots think it’s award winning.
By the way, jockey mentioned that as far as he knows, Magic Star is ok, but sore. Yes, I would imagine so, with a horrific fall such as that.
Thank you. After days of digging I did find that on Mon Magic Star was alive. They said however, she couldn’t walk and weren’t sure if she had broken anything. Which is bizarre. It would seem that by Mon., a vet would have seen her to know if anything was broken. They said she just jumped in the bushes. Which of course is ridiculous. She tried to jump the bushes to keep from falling. I saw the race and the fall, and she just didn’t decide to jump the bushes. I hope she survives. Award winning pictures like Sports Illustrated put on their cover when Go For Wand snapped her front leg in the drive for the wire. It was awful! I have no idea why they would use such a picture
Is there a rail hidden inside the bushes or not at Churchill Downs? I’m not sure if the bushes/hedges are a substitute for the white colored rail or what…? I Googled “Churchill Downs Magic Star” and a video of the June 14, 2020 race came up. It looked like Magic Star got crowded into what would have been the rail except it was the bushes or hedges instead. So I’m not sure if she was so crowded that she felt the need to jump away from the crowding or if the jockey did something to her. I think jumping was the only option to clipping the heels of the horses in front of her. Her speed index is listed on Equibase as being 105. That indicates to me that she has a lot of energy and spirit so she possibly could have decided on her own to jump but I can’t know for sure. Horseracing is dangerous.
#Endhorseracing
Gina, I love so much your daily factual contributions based on your many years of racehorse and racetrack experience. Especially your comments on the use of electrical shocking devices and keeping the subject in the forefront of one of the many ways racehorses are tortured to death. We know that all of the jockeys and trainers use them. At times we can actually see when they are being used by watching the responses of the horses. One only has to refer to the YouTube video of D. Wayne Lukas and Jockey Mike Smith yukking it up in a bar and joking about the fact that “everybody has them” and when “they all go off at once it sounds like an orchestra.” Ha ha ha, how funny. And yet people wonder what causes racehorses to rear up and fall over backwards and get cast sideways in the starting gate breaking their neck, legs, and pelvis, or to run faster down the track than their bodies can carry them causing heart attacks in their efforts to outrun the fear caused by the electrical shocking device that their minds can’t understand. One more reason why whipping should be banned. Beating the crap out of the horses isn’t enough I guess. It’s just soooo heartbreaking to watch. Thank you for continually enlightening all of us as to what goes on in the dark cruel world of horseracing.
Sandy K, I’m not sure if you meant to say Mike Smith (jockey) because I saw a video of Jockey Gary Stevens talking and laughing about the handheld electrical shocking devices sounding like an orchestra in the starting gates. Actually, there were two different undercover PETA videos that I saw with Gary Stevens talking about the shocking devices and laughing. It gave me a completely different perspective of horse racing and of Gary Stevens and D. Wayne Lukas!!!!!
#Endhorseracing
Wanda, Thank you. In going back to find and watch that video about the shockers, I was once again totally repulsed by the things Lukas and Stevens said and did. It absolutely turned my stomach. Why is “shocking the hell” out of a horse and putting the shocker under the horse’s blinkers right by his eye so funny!?
But my search brought up more and more articles about the terrible things these racing people do to their horses. The list is endless. It just broke my heart to think what these beautiful sweet innocent horses have to go through every day at the hands of their trainers and jockeys.
I just found this HRW site about a year ago and also have gotten a completely different perspective of horse racing. Every single day I read about more horses being tortured, abused, beaten, broken, maimed, and killed for greed and the $2 bet. I’ve had wonderful horses my all of my life but never knew, until I found Patrick and HRW, what horrors went on in the horseracing industry 24/7. Most people who don’t know about this website think horseracing is a big happy party all about the pretty dresses, hats, and mint juleps.
I truly do not know how Patrick is able to do what he does and keep going by relentlessly researching and bringing all of this information to us and anyone who cares about horses. The same goes for everybody on this site with so much knowledge and firsthand experience with this dark and cruel industry (including those who do undercover videos worldwide) where the horses pay in horrific ways with their precious lives.
My hope is that one day soon everyone will know the brutality of what goes on and all of us together will be able to successfully shut down the brutal horseracing industry. It would also be nice if our elected officials would step up and help save the innocent horses…
An electrical device – yet another excuse as to why jockeys fight to keep the whip.
That and the sadistic, abusive action of beating a sore/tired racehorse to derive pleasure from it when they bring in some cash.
I don’t see the whipping and beating of racehorses as anything different than soring Tennessee Walking Horses.
Both are deliberate egrecious abuse of a defenseless horse and both should be banned with the perpetrators held accountable in a court of law.
What planet do these people think they are on – I mean really?
This is not “entertainment” nor is it a “sport” rather, a grotesque display of animal abuse and lots of dying along the way.
Incidentally, prior to the PETA video release I was called “crazy” by pro-horse racing entities because I exposed the use of electrical devices on social media.
I don’t take credit for this at all because there were many more before me that said the same thing, but for some reason they went after me like you wouldn’t believe.
I was so relieved and felt vindicated when PETA published their video of Steve Asmussen’s racing stable which included the conversation between D. Wayne Lukas and Gary Stevens laughing about shocking a racehorse – sadistic
Donna Brothers AKA Donna Barton was one of the main jockeys that D. Wayne Lukas used and it was a widely accepted notion that any jockey he used had to carry a “shocker” or electrical device.
Donna Brothers, to this day on Twitter, outright denies that racehorses go to slaughter.
Their delusions are expansive, but so sad that the racehorses pay the price.
Gina, I saw a video of two jockeys in a race that showed one jockey losing his whip and asking another jockey for his whip during the race. I’m sorry I can’t remember the names now. The horse slowed down a lot after the jockey had given his whip away. The jockey with the whip whipped his mount to gain speed. Both jockeys were penalized somehow. That incident indicates that it isn’t just the jockeys that want to keep the whips. It seems that all of racing depends on faster speeds or faster horses so it is all of the people involved in horseracing that are responsible for abusing horses with whips and anything illegal as long as they are sneaky enough. But, even when someone is caught with certain infractions, it doesn’t bar them from racing forever. As far as the abuse inflicted on Tennessee Walking Horses for the “big lick” they use electric cattle prods on them in the barn to get the horse to put a large portion of his or her weight on his or her hindquarters. That abuse was shown in an undercover video. They call it training I suppose. It’s straight up abuse!!!!
Thank you Gina for all that you do help rescue Thoroughbreds from being shipped to a slaughterhouse in Mexico and Canada or any foreign country.
#Endhorseracing
And horses also die in containers on board freightliners.
Hard to believe, but there is nothing illegal about shipping horses on long sea journeys packed into containers without room to turn around and without adequate ventilation simply because there is no law to prevent such extreme cruelty. The mode of transportation for these unfortunate horses is up to the “owners” who are importing them.
Last year 8 horses packed into a container for a 3 plus day journey to Puerto Rico from FL died slow agonizing deaths.This horror would not have received any attention except there is now a lawsuit filed.
The lawsuit is obviously more important and newsworthy than the extreme cruelty involved.
The whole despicable scenario illustrates the pathological greed that permeates racing as well as the “negligence” on the part of this country in preventing such abhorrent animal cruelty. The horse is nothing but a commodity to all sides. The sellers made MONEY selling the unfortunates; the shippers made MONEY; the buyers were saving MONEY shipping via container ship. The buyers gambled cruelly with the lives of the horses and they lost MONEY. But horses lost their lives in an appallingly cruel way.
And now what do the buyers want? They want MONEY, of course!
Blood Horse: Dangers of Cargo Shipping to Puerto Rico. June1, 2020
I wonder if this one lawsuit will be enough to change the rules or laws on how horses can or cannot be shipped on freightliners, or by sea. I’ve seen videos of draft horses being loaded into those shipping crates which the horse cannot turn around in and then loaded onto airplanes to be shipped by air to Japan.