The CHRB has disclosed yet another kill at Los Alamitos: Secret Tonight in the 5th Saturday. The 3-year-old is the 32nd victim at Los Al this year and first since the track emerged from “probation” late last month with the promise of “new safety protocols.”
At the risk of being tediously repetitive, here we go again: From breeding for speed (big torsos, spindly legs); to working pubescent bodies (the typical horse doesn’t fully mature until six; the typical racehorse begins training at 18 months); to the incessant grinding of those bodies (if they’re not racing, they’re not earning); to forcing them to “race” at an unnatural rate (breakneck), in an unnatural way (always counter-clockwise), through unnatural means (perched, whip-wielding humans); to the commodification (the average racehorse is bought and sold several times over the course of his so-called career, making his long-term well-being of no concern to his current people) – horseracing guarantees a certain level of killing. Guarantees. Which makes all their talk of “cleaner, safer racing” simple, unadulterated bunk.
Did anyone expect anything else? I don’t think so. Same line of *public relations* and same horrible outcome. So nothing changes for the horses. They are still used and abused and killed at Los Alamitos and every other race track or training track.
What safety protocols?! Horses are still suffering and dying!
It’s heartbreaking to see that this continues & NOTHING get’s done about it!!!!!!!!!!!!
I wish the Humane Society could end this crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The HSUS is not against horseracing, Ashley. No help is coming from them.
Strange. Wasn’t the death I was expecting to see from Saturday’s card at Los Al Horse Hell and COVID Emporium. The chart makes no mention of any apparent “problem” with Secret Tonight. But it does offer some indication that a different horse, 3-year-old QH filly Getit Now, may or may not have survived race 7.
The fact that she finished some 20 lengths back, and “lost (her) action” doesn’t bode well for her welfare. Does anyone know? I’d ask Los Al officials, but…just kidding. They’re the WORST. (And in horse racing, that’s really saying something.)
Kelly, I am not familiar with the euphemism of “lost (her) action” but it sounds dreadful. Thank you for keeping us posted.
Wanda, unfortunately I have witnessed it, it’s kinda like the horse is still trying,because they’re being whipped and you can visually see something is really totally wrong. That’s the best way I can describe it, for what it’s worth. It’s HORRIBLE,and you know it when you see it.
Kelly, in the video I saw posted (by an advocate) of that race (with Getit Now) – and maybe you’ve now seen it, as well – it looks to me like the filly broke a hind leg. But if she did in fact die, she was, in the eyes of at least some racing-employed, lucky to have died doing something she loved. SICK.
Ugh. Los Al just gets worse and worse, don’t they? They probably didn’t want to have to concede another kill after Secret Tonight’s, so they’re scurrying around like cockroaches and forcing poor Getit Now to suffer even longer.
Two horses vanned off in ONE race tonight at colonial downs. It was a two mile hurdle race. In this ungodly humidity. Nancy, those asshole hurdle races. I HATE these animal KILLERS. This bullshit must end. You evil evil people. Go fuck yourselves. Your damn right I’m angry. I literally cannot take how evil these scumbags are. I dare you assholes to defend this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Actually- THREE VANNED OFF. I’m sure they are probably DEAD. This is not entertainment- It is state sanctioned ANIMAL ABUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UNNECESSARY-DEATH
Saw that, Bonnie. Flat racing is bad enough; leave it to horse racing creeps to super-size their animal abuse with that jump racing horror show. Hell, why don’t they just hold horse TRIPPING events like they do south of the border, call it a “sport,” then take bets on the carnage? It amounts to the exact same thing.
Plus, then they won’t have to waste their breath with all their “Horse Safety First” lies.
Barbaric and no conscience
Kelly, the humidity was SO heavy yesterday on the eastern coast, you literally couldn’t breathe, yet those idiots are FORCING those innocent souls to not only run TWO miles, but ALSO jump over high hurdles !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could not HATE these animal abusers more.
I agree that the three horses who vanned off are dead. It is too sad. I love animals too much to see this happen.
Hope they all rot in hell!
Inevitable wasn’t it?
It was just a matter of time and with Los Al the space in time would be minimum as SECRET TONIGHT proved.
So after THOUSANDS of racehorses have died at Los Al over the years and only due to public pressure the CHRB had to do something.
It’s called “public wallpaper,” to placate the public and to show that they are doing something.
However, it became abundantly clear during their Emergency meeting they were going to find a way to continue the killing show and how best to do that?
Well just submit a Safety Plan so we can keep you going right?
So a Safety Plan that’s pretty much a carbon copy of Santa Anita’s Safety Plan (and we know how their safety plan only led to more racehorses dying) – Los Al probably just photocopied that plan, submitted it and PRESTO on they go!
What are some common threads, over the years, that ensure this killing show and cover-ups go on?
Dr. Rick Arthur DVM – that’s who.
As long as Dr. Arthur is head of the CHRB little to nothing has changed or will.
He’s been at the head of the CHRB for YEARS and needs to be immediately replaced by a NEUTRAL equine vet (Neutral = NO NONE NEVER owned or treated a racehorse).
Furthermore, the publicly funded CHRB should have public and/or animal advocacy members on the board – not a bunch of horse racing apologists.
I suppose it sounds like I’m alluding to “reform,” but I’m not.
I want this killing show shut down and if the CHRB were neutral they would have invoked BILL 469 a long time ago shutting down the killing shows put on by Belinda Stronach and her Daddy’s company The Stronach Group and Doc Allred the killing King that owns Los Al.
SECRET TONIGHT – the names are so ironic aren’t they?
It’s no secret that horse racing is nothing but a brutal public torture show that mains and kills racehorses on a regular basis and no reforms will change that.
Another thing.
On August 16, 2020 the Jockey Roundtable will take place as it always does every year.
Their main topics of discussion?
You guessed it – Medication Rules,Testing, Safety protocols plus Integrity to boot just to cover their pathetic parasitic asses and to appear exonerated to the public yet again.
You can rewind this meeting back to 20 years ago and it’s exactly the same thing.
It’s a bunch of racehorse vets, vets who own racehorses, vets who buy and flip horses at the sales, vets who smudge x-rays at the sales etc. etc. – a bunch of apologists showing up for a nice dinner at a 5-star hotel to discuss “reforms” and how to make things better.
This year it’s virtual for obvious reasons, but it’s all the same.
Nothing has changed because racehorses carry this vile, corrupt business on their backs, legs, and bodies while being maimed and killed.
Gina, you stated that a veterinarian should be NEUTRAL to serve on the CHRB and defined NEUTRAL as never having owned a racehorse or treated a racehorse. I don’t think that could work in the real world and you know it as well. To the best of my knowledge, I believe that there have been veterinarians that have never owned or treated racehorses hired to approve horses to race that have slab fractures and will break down catastrophically in the race that this “dog and cat” vet is paid by the racetrack manager, commission, or whoever to approve horses not honestly fit to race. They care about their profits obviously. They “need” horses to fill their race card. The more horses that are in a race provide more “opportunities” for gambling addicts to place bets on, which means “big money in wagering handle” as you know. What you really mean, as I see it, is that if the people in horseracing, whether they are veterinarians or not, were just honest there would be far fewer horses injured, maimed, crippled, dying, euthanized, sent to slaughter, abused, tortured, and all of that. It is a fantasy to think that the corrupt business of horseracing and wagering could ever be honest.
Reforming a vice is not a reality!
#Endhorseracing
Will they be wearing a mask??
Nancy, they will probably be doing their “meeting” on ZOOM. If not Zoom, it will be by Skype or something like that. Most talk shows on television are doing their programs without leaving home. (Rachel Ray’s house burned, but I think part of it was saved.)
No Wanda.
I stand by my comment.
With particular reference to Rick Arthur DVM who has owned and treated racehorses and could possibly still own racehorses plus sits on the CHRB.
What’s obvious to me is that a vet who has financial ties to racehorses will always defend this industry and/or be biased in their approach to it which we’ve seen over the years.
This biased decision making can only mean more dead racehorses and it has because anybody on the board with direct ties to horse racing won’t invoke Bill 469 which we’ve seen.
The same goes for racehorse owners sitting on the CHRB – same thing.
Of course the only and best solution is to shut this killing show down.
Article in the LA Times gives a little bit more info about what happened to Secret Tonight…https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2020-08-11/horse-dies-at-los-alamitos-first-time-since-track-taken-off-probation#:~:text=Secret%20Tonight%2C%20a%203%2Dyear,unseated%20his%20rider%2C%20David%20Morones.
Thank you for sharing this article, Diane. One thing I learned from the article is that Los Alamitos has racing every weekend for 51 weeks out of the year. No wonder they kill so many horses, I think. They give themselves more opportunities to cause a horse to breakdown and collect the money from wagering. It’s ugly.