This morning, I wrote: “The New York Racing Association (NYRA) lie – ‘reform,’ ‘equine welfare’ – continues to be exposed.” And continues, and continues. Today, we learn that Smidge, a “vanned off” in the 2nd at Belmont yesterday, is dead, euthanized for a leg break of one kind or another. That’s 27 killed at NYRA tracks this year.
The Gaming Commission has also disclosed the death of Sky High Interest at Finger Lakes June 12: “flipped…sustained head injury requiring euthanasia.” She was two.
This is horseracing. Every day.
SMIDGE and SKY HIGH INTEREST would still be alive if they were owned by people who care about the health and well-being of horses. Instead they were owned by people who use horses in a very cruel and abusive business propped up by wagering handle and corporate welfare.
#Endhorseracing
For gambling addicts, there is Gamblers Anonymous.
Smidge,Chestnut gelding, was unsound from the BEGINNING!!! I encourage everyone to look at his PP’s. This ‘industry’ sent him out to DIE. KARMA is a BITCH
That was abominable! Despite “poor action behind continued galloping!” If we had been that rider we would have immediately pulled him up.Just looked up his chart record.Disgusting abuse of Smidge.
Fred and Joan, you hear about these fatalities and it just absolutely BREAKS our hearts. It just makes you want to protect and hug them. Horses have done so much for humans throughout history, to my mind we OWE them!!!!!,Big Time.
Reblogged this on Armory of the Revolution.
Smidge was (another) one of Belmont’s highly INCONVENIENT kills. Here they are, busy preparing for their rescheduled, Premiere Pandemic Triple Crown Breakdown Stakes race, and he goes and does what 6-year-old claimer geldings do: publicly snaps a leg right before their big day. Poor, poor NYRA. Now they have to go back into damage-control overdrive as they pretend this doesn’t happen all the time.
Kelly, it’s so GD sad,what they do to these poor helpless innocents. None of these horses deserve any of this bullshit!!!!!!!!!!!!
Emphasis on “ALL” the time.
Would someone please tell me where I can get past performance info online (pps).Hopefully a free site. Thank you so much.
Thank you Patrick for sharing this info with us. I love it, but at the same time I hate it. It makes me so sad, my heart breaks for these magnificent, majestic innocent horses. Then I switch to anger and would just like to have 3-5 minutes alone in a room with these so called “horsemen”, or perhaps a dark,small, smelly, urine soaked stall. These vile,evil,cruel,abusive “horsemen” as they call themselves have got to be stopped…Anyone know how to go about getting a petition, or signatures to make horse-racing illegal ? I want to do something but what?
Thanks, Sue
Sue, if you go to Equibase one can look up PP by horses name all the way back until 1990. As it is an industry site, its emphasis is on races being currently run but it is a frees site as long as you don`t want to view videos of previous run races or betting picks info. We find the site frustrating at times because many of the horses we once rode were active in the 1980`s & so we can`t look up the earlier charts from before 1990.
Thank you so much Fred and Joan for that info. Sometimes in the comments there is something said re previous races, so I wanted to be able to look up that info. I just wish we could draw more attention to this horrendous, sickening issue. I wish there was just one credible journalist or paper that would write up a story with a photo like Patrick shows, leg snapped off etc. A picture is suppossed to be worth a thousand words, so if a couple of actual photos were seen a couple times a week, maybe that would help people to see the truth. Peta reported on Assmusen, and his assistant doping up horses, but havent seen much from Peta since.
Wonder how many horses will die today at Belmont? I used to love watching horseracing because of the horses but since I’ve been finding out how many horses die a day at race tracks, and no one has the guts to tell the facts, it has changed my mind! Those horses give their all in every race, it’s very sad that they usually don’t get the care they deserve. I am thankful that there are places a retired racehorse can go and live out their life with the love and care they have always deserved but far too many don’t get that chance!