Trainer/owner Rusty Smith, utterly ignoring pleas for mercy (mostly from many of you here at HW), forced 14-year-old Eighty Eight back onto the track Sunday at Lethbridge. It was race 157 for Eighty Eight. 157. Although the outcome matters not a whit, I will tell you that this poor animal finished last, just as he did in race 156. But fret not, folks, for Smith would never do anything to place his “beloved family member” in harm’s way. Vile – across the board.
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FOR GODS SAKE LET YOUR LOVE SHOW AND LET HIM RETIRE BEFORE YOU KILL HIM !!!!!!
No matter what these people say, they do NOT love their animals.
Unbelievable and totally unacceptable behaviour! This person should not only be severely punished, but banned from horse racing ever again! All this is caused by the greed of money, meanwhile the poor horse pays the price yet again!
No matter how egregious the situation, not only will they not be banned, they will be rigorously defended.
There is NO human decency in this gambling business.
The continued racing of this poor horse makes absolutely no sense at all! A 12 speed rating? Dead last. We have handled He`s Tops horses at our now defunct ,demolished, local 1 mile oval track. Most of them have spirited but good temperaments. Rusty Smith did not even pay for the riders fee & of course earned absolutely no $. His continued racing of Eighty Eight makes no sense at all! The continued racing of this poor horse is just plain stupid!
The Highest E Speed Figure of 12 for EIGHTY EIGHT is for his performance on September 13, 2020 under TB STATS, his 156th race. For his 157th time being raced, EIGHTY EIGHT earned a Highest E Speed Figure of 52 under MX STATS on September 27, 2020. So he improved 40 points and still came in last.
It evidently is set up for horses enslaved in racing to be constantly “re-used and re-cycled” into racing and used and re-used as gambling chips. Otherwise, why would a person have to be a “licensed trainer” to claim a horse that is being run in a claiming race? Also, why would the current owner and trainer, who has shown no outward interest in letting his horse go outside of racing, have the people of the Rocky Mountain Turf Club speak for him (and his horse) on his behalf?
Thank you so much for pointing out the absolute obvious. No sense whatsoever entering this poor horse into races Rusty Smith very well knows he has no chance of winning or, as it turns out, earn the minimum. Would you mind sharing your email with me? We have been trying to rescue EE but have hit a brick wall, so to speak. If that is acceptable, perhaps you could give Patrick the OK so I can send you a private message. Thanks again.
Fred and Joan, we would like any sage advice you might want to contribute towards getting EIGHTY EIGHT into a true retirement home or sanctuary for horses. We have established that OLD FRIENDS CANADA in British Columbia would take him. Do you know if there is an age limit to racing Thoroughbreds in Alberta?
This is witness to incomprehensible depravity.
if it is time for you to retire ,Im going to come and whip the hell out of you , its just not right
If this guy really cared about his horse, he would retire him.
“No sense at all,” many people put in their comments here.
To normal people who possess compassion?
Absolutely, but to a racehorse abuser like Rusty and an industry who enables him?
Total sense to them.
Don’t you know that a racehorse is their “property,” a chattel that they own and have the right to do anything they want with them even if that includes abusing them and in this case on every level: physical, mental and emotional.
Moreover, there are zippo repercussions and/or legal recourse for this blatant racehorse abuse.
Poor EE – this is heartbreaking and those parasites don’t give a damn about him.
They probably did this on purpose just to snub their noses at all of us who truly care as I predicted.
Gina, I/we expect that they will race EIGHTY EIGHT again on October 11, 2020 at the Rocky Mountain Turf Club. I will be surprised if they don’t race him at least one more time this year. The last day of their race meet for 2020 is Monday, October 12.
Of course these money-grabbing, profiteering POS absolutely love their horses, love them whilst they’re running and winning, love them when they sell them onto other like-minded POS and also love when they KILL them so they can claim the insurance money and the slaughterhouse fee…..I sincerely hope their own family loves them just as much when they get old, sick, injured or just no use any more, they’ll probably stick them in a ‘home’ for retired POS.
What has become of Eigthy Eight? Somebody knows? Could he be rescued????
The management staff at Rocky Mountain Turf Club in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada (who sent emails/letters to Andrea and Christine) didn’t see a problem with racing EIGHTY EIGHT for 157 times. The last time they raced him was on September 27, 2020. (I thought they would race him again on October 11th, but I was wrong on that point.)
So, EIGHTY EIGHT remains in the care of Rusty Smith and/or the good people of the Rocky Mountain Turf Club, (to the best of my knowledge). It’s freezing cold now in Lethbridge. I hope that they are feeding him lots of healthy calories to keep him from getting too thin, and to keep up his body heat. Also, I don’t know if they put horse blankets on their racehorses but I hope they are!!!
Wanda..I checked the racing entries for Lethbridge right before the last (in October )scheduled races . He was not listed as an entry in either of the races. I still can not understand why the owner would not have accepted an offer for him for a wonderful life. As far as warm loving winter ahead hopefully for him
Wanda, thank you for answering… I really don’t get the logic in him (Rusty Smith) still keeping the horse, even it is sure that he won’t win anymore. And if he gets the possibility to sell him, what could be better? I mean it would be crazy to let the horse run again, or does it bring any advantage for him even if he would lose?
Thank you, Nancy! I checked Equibase multiple times to see if they added a race in any one of their three categories: TB, QH, MX.
I can understand how a Thoroughbred can race as a TB. I can understand how a Thoroughbred can be raced in a MIXED race for both Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses, but I have not heard of the explanation for how a Thoroughbred can be legally raced in a Quarter Horse race as a Quarter Horse… Call me stumped/ baffled.
Elke, I don’t know what the advantage is for an owner to keep a horse racing at the age of 14 years. All I can think of at this point is that “he was born and raised around horses” and “that’s all he knows” plus he’s a “club” member as long as he has at least one horse. What else? I don’t know. I’m guessing he doesn’t have enough money to go out and buy more horses to feed and pay the bills of horse ownership on them, whether they win or lose. Maybe he and the RMTC staff pool together and share the wagering handle. I don’t know.