This for Hopper Hunter in the 7th yesterday at Thistledown: “suffered a catastrophic injury a few strides out of the gate, was pulled up and euthanized” (Equibase). He was three years old; ’twas his fourth time under the whip.
This is horseracing.
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It begs the question…how the hell did he pass a vet check if he basically catastrophically BROKE DOWN right after the gate opened?!!!!!! WTF
Come hell or high water send them out anyway. And keep your fingers crossed..right
Nancy, I have more SERIOUS questions about the vets in this industry than anything else!!!!!!!!
Bonnie you are absolutely right. These vets take an oath for the wellbeing of their wards. I would not be able to deal with my conscience if something was questionable.
Horse just went DOWN. Horrifically!!!!!!!!! in the first race at Laurel. It was SOOOOO bad
By the way…the 2 guys on tvg, didn’t even Acknowledge. Not even a peep
And they moved on to race 2 already
At. Laurel. The safe ones were #7 1 6 10 and scratches #5 and 8
It sounds like the poor filly who had to jump over the fallen, took the worst of it,and was removed via ambulance. Sick,sick,sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bonnie. Were 2 horses injured then?
It seems to be Hendaya and Annie BooBoo that are listed as last on race results.
Nancy,not sure yet,but Annie Boo Boo,the poor horse who had to try and jump over the bodies took the worst,and the poor dear just raced 6 days prior. She’s also by a sire I admire Albert the Great.
Bonnie, I don’t know how veterinarians can legally approve horses to race that have pre-existing conditions such as small fractures and/ or other conditions that would cause a horse to breakdown catastrophically. It happens as a matter of routine so I don’t know who could investigate the corruption in that part of the horseracing industry other than the FBI. I don’t know who else would have authority that isn’t taking bribes or kickbacks. Remember that Dr. Lawrence (Larry) BRAMLAGE evaluated MONGOLIAN GROOM’s breakdown at the request of the Breeders’ Cup board of directors, and he did so with “outside counsel” and if I’m not mistaken that outside counsel was a group of attorneys.
So, long story short, the veterinarians in horseracing are corrupt; they are there for the money more than anything else.
Aaaaaah yes,the old ‘outside council’. You are so right Wanda!!! If your doing your JOB properly and ethically, then why are they so nervous and squirrelly? Only people who are GUILTY behave like that.
Exactly, Bonnie. Why else would the trainers (Bob Baffert and Steve Asmussen, for example) that have doping violations hire lawyers to fight the rulings against their drug violations? They are there for the money. It’s an industry full of unethical behavior and corruption and definitely needs to be terminated from public assistance/ government subsidies/ corporate welfare!!!!!
As I’ve stated many times on this site it’s not a reflection of a vet’s competency when they pass a horse who subsequently breaksdown.
Please don’t interpret this as me defending vets, but I think that this “go to” excuse takes the attention away from the real issue which is medical/treatment records DON’T FOLLOW THE HORSE!!
This includes such things as previous fractures, previoius damage to tendons/ligaments, cardiovascular issues, stringhalt, joint injections, shock wave therapy, medications etc etc.
For example, you have a dog. You move to a different geographical area necessitating you to change vets. You go to the new vet and what’s the first thing they ask for?
Your dog’s medical records to be transferred from the previous vet to the current one.
There are a multitude of reasons for this, but the main one is the health and welare of your dog.
A medical/treatment history is key to any animal or human for consistency of care etc.
Racehorses are denied this and so are the State vets who conduct the pre-race exam.
There are 2 categories of vets on the track. 1. Private vets. These vets service the barns upon the discretion of the Trainer. These private vets keep the medical/treatment records PRIVATE. The only people who are exposed to these records are the Trainers and Owners. 2. State vet. The state vet is paid for by, yours truly, taxpayers and they are an employee of the State. They are the ones who go to the barns in the morning to do a pre-race exam WITHOUT any knowledge or paperwork regarding the medical/treatment history of the racehorse before them. For example, they don’t have a clue that the horse was given a powerful pain killer and that’s left up to the post-race blood test to catch if it does.
People like myself and some others have advocated, FOR YEARS, for the private vets to submit their medical/treatment records to the state vets and, obviously, has been met with strong opposition.
I’m talking meetings and after meetings as far back as 2005 to protect racehorses.
Most tracks team up with private vets to oppose the release of records because they have races to fill and they don’t want either the State vet or the public to see these recoreds.
These records would clearly show that probably about 90% of racehorses in the claiming ranks (the bulk of this business) are running with serious pre-existing conditions that would necessitate them to be retired or rested – something that they don’t want to do obviously.
This business relies on sore racehorses to fill their races and wagering coffers and they want to keep this one big secret until, of course, a racehorse has a catastophic breakdown.
This business wouldn’t exist if they did the right thing by the horse because they rely on daily abusive business practices to keep their wagering machine greased.
Tha’s precisley why “reforms” don’t work, will never work and that’s why they need to shut down.
Thank you, Gina. The distinction between the PRIVATE VETERINARIANS and the STATE VETERINARIANS is most significant. It is definitely the PRIVATE VETERINARIANS that are directly responsible for the repeated breakdowns as well as the rest of the people directly involved in every day operations of racing and wagering handle.
#Endhorseracing
Exactly Wanda and it’s the Private vets that make a ton of money (6-figure salaries) by knowingly masking chronic issues while State vets make about 30% of what a Private vet makes.
In fact just recently 4 vets in California refused to hand over treatment records leading up to several racehorses dying under their “care” as ordered by the CHRB.
Furthermore, Private vets are usually the ones who sign the Death Certificate when an equine insurance policy is involved.
What they may have administered prior to a racehorse dying is anybody’s guess.
The lack of transparency in horse racing is a Death sentence for racehorses, but this business couldn’t operate under any other circumstances.
As long as this business exists – racehorses will die.
Beautiful innocent horses will never be safe in this dumpster dump of CORRUPT scumbags: trainers,vets,owners (who don’t give a f’n rat’s ass about LIFE) The scumbag owners are only in it for their ego. I f’n HATE them all. The horses lives are worth more than all of theirs put together.
Thank you, Gina! That was brilliant. Every word of it rings true, so it’s no surprise to me that racing creeps at every level of this corrupt horror show they pretend is a sport are looking to silence you and make you go away.
Don’t ever back down, because we really are right there, and even they know it:)
Tragic.
Hopper Hunter, did you ever have any happy days before you were murdered at the tender age of three years old? Maybe as a very young colt? But then, of course, you were torn from your mother and made to live in a closet-stable so some cruel, heartless people could use you up and then throw you away. You got used up fast, didn’t you? RIP and may these thugs one day pay for what they did to you and so many others, Ban horseracing NOW!
Amen, Martha. But it was really only one thug who did this to poor Hopper Hunter. And, it’s a safe bet that he’s reading all of these comments on this site. So, Hi, Josh;)
Absolutely horrific! Horses are dropping like flies in the horseracing industry. Horses are dying at age 3 and 4 when their normal life span is well into their twenties and thirties.
God Bless all of these beautiful souls. I 🙏🙏🙏🙏 pray horseracing will come to an end soon!