Headline in The Sydney Morning Herald Saturday: “‘Carnage from start to finish’: Jockey hospitalised, horse euthanised.” The euthanized horse was Hot ‘N’ Hazy. What caught my eye – beyond the fact that another racehorse has died in horrific fashion, that is – was this from the write-up: “A hush fell over the crowd as fellow jockeys sprinted to Adkins’ side, fearing the worst for the horseman [who will survive].” The dead animal? Nothing, not even a perfunctory moment of silence. Indeed, the remaining eight races went off as if nothing at all had happened. Vile, worldwide.
Dear me, this poor creature, yet another sacrifice of these exquisite equine beauties, sickening and tragic.
Will not watch. The first frame of the video makes me sick enough. I support Patrick’s decision to post it — with a warning.
But for me, it would be like watching a video of a little kid getting run over and killed by a car.
I am with you, Kellie! Can’t watch… the still shot is very telling in itself… Such Monsters!!! I for one don’t care about the minion with the whip! He has a choice every time he mounts a horse. The same cannot be said about the poor horses. Sickening…
How the HELL can civilized society put up with this freakin horror show. No way F them all. We will not stand for this.
I truly hope that if readers here are ever invited to a race for a company or social event they refuse in the most vehement manner, and tell the organisers exactly why you won’t be going.
They do not care for these beautiful, God created animals..they sre just money makers. And, the main concern for the injured jockey is probably that they might have to answer to the riding commission for something.unlike the horse who obviously means nothing.
Anthropocentrism – the belief that humans are separate and superior to nature. Human life alone has intrinsic value while ANIMALS and other resources are JUSTIFIABLY EXPLOITED for the benefit of humankind.
Amen.
Yet another horse dies as a result of interference which is not uncommon amongst the appalling number of racehorse deaths in the past 12 years in my home state of NSW. Having investigated many hundreds of deaths and scrutinizing each video, to watch this video of a two year old suffering a horrible death is almost too much to bear.
And, as always, the concern is for the jockey. The callous and deliberate act of not being concerned for this poor horse is disgraceful. Rarely does a jockey come to grief, it’s always the horse.
The stewards like to call it “careless” riding but I call it abusive riding which is terrifying and life-threatening for the horses. And most of the time, the riders get a slap on the wrist or a short suspension which is useless because the abusive riding continues to injure and kill innocent horses.
Utter bs, the owner, trainer, jockey and strappers were all devastated. Stop talking bs.
Well Steve if they were all so “devastated” then they should walk away from the business.
In fact, if they never got into it in the first place than racehorses wouldn’t continue to die horrific deaths and be subjected to uncivilized brutality leading up to their death.
They should also be devastated by all the dumped racehorses at kill auctions that they won’t send one dime to prevent them from boarding the slaughterhouse bound truck.
I never hear horse racing apologists talk about that.
Yeah. The only BS here is from you.
Yea, I bet they were all devastated…..devastated because just another source of earning them blood money had been KILLED, tragically KILLED, just so the ‘devastated’ people couldn’t run the innocent horse any more, couldn’t drug the horse any more and certainly couldn’t bet on the horse any more. Yea, devastated right to the bank….don’t worry I offer NO sympathy to the jockey and I certainly will NOT shed any tears for him or the other people involved.
The jockey who caused the interference was given a 6 weeks’ suspension by the stewards yesterday.
He saw fit to plead “not guilty”.
At the hearing he produced many stills from the replay of the race in an attempt to support his not guilty plea. Nevertheless, the stewards found him guilty of “careless” riding. Many social media comments voice disgust at the pathetic penalty – some say because he was the high profile jockey who rode Australia’s world famous mare, Winx, he received favourable treatment.
An innocent very young horse dies, the rider suffers serious injuries (he came close to losing his life) and the stewards regard a 6 weeks’ break as the appropriate punishment. The current winter racing season here is ending and the whole industry is gearing up for the celebrated spring season e.g. the Melbourne Cup carnival. So this 6 weeks’ suspension fits in perfectly and ensures that this high profile jockey is free to ride come spring.
Under the rules, the stewards had the option of giving a 3 months’ suspension and longer if they felt it was a serious matter.
Just another horse dead. Next horse.
Devastated because the horse died, or what?? Do you know these people?
You know very well every time the gates burst open there is no way to know what will happen,,,
It is a game of Russian roulette and you and all in racing know many, many horses are whipped unmercifully, and killed.
Can you explain how all the owners, trainers and “strappers” can stand such devastation and deliberately set themselves up for such devastation over and over year after year…?
Sounds masochistic, especially when they say they “love” their horses and treat them like “family members”!!!
PS These people have the freedom of choice, they don’t have to subject themselves to the risk of such “devastation”. I do not feel sorry for them but I sure feel sorry for the horse – no choice for Hot ‘N’ Hazy!!
“CARLESS” sounds so much better than “DANGEROUS”, right!! However, that jockey but the horse and himself, as well as others, in danger and the ugly outcome is there for all to see…
Thank you Carolyn, for the follow up. The conclusion and consequences are all too familiar. I’m sure you are not surprised….
Not surprised at all, Rose.
I’ve just found out that another horse in the race suffered injury when his rider took desperate action to avoid the fallen horse, Hot ‘N’ Hazy.
Now that horse has undergone surgery for a fracture they say, no details provided but likely a limb fracture.
This race was for TWO (2) year olds.
Horseracing is so wrong on so many levels and racing 2-year-old is fundamentally wrong. If these people cared about their horses, they would let them grow into adult horses and stop putting them in harm’s way as you know, Carolyn and Rose.
#Endhorseracing
End the hideous killing of racehorses!!!
The video has apparently been taken down… like all the rest exposing the dark side of racing. I can’t believe no one even mentioned one what the horses injuries were?!?
Nothing new is it?
These are the people who instantly claim “I love animals” but wouldn’t watch video coverage of a cow or pig or sheep being slaughtered. “Oh I just can’t watch” or “Well it doesn’t mean we have to actually watch it?”
Those who claim to respect animals, (you don’t need to be an animal lover as such) then go to horse and dog racing and prefer to deny that it’s a dangerous and cruel sport.
“Oh I was watching the races at Kempton Park yesterday and no horses were injured”!
Try watching 7 days a week in a betting shop. You’ll soon see the truth there. Or the biggest piece of fiction ever, – “Well they don’t have to run do they?”
This is institutionalised cruelty. Even in WWII they took horses to the front, these ‘officers’ who wanted desperately to maintain the image of ‘gentleman’ astride a horse. Thousands went – how many came back?
Actually the comments by Andrea and Kelly are quite revealing. Yes, if more (any!) jockeys were killed the call would be made to ban the “sport” or the jockeys themselves would leave and turn to an honest living.