Friday, 5-year-old Ghostly Who “won” the 4th race at Keeneland. The following is how he looked immediately after that race. While the cause of the bleeding remains unclear, what is certain is that this poor animal suffered, even if only for a brief time, while being forced – via a whip – to “race” for a share of $20,000. (First place was worth $12,000 – as it turned out, the last payday for trainer Robertino Diodoro and owner Mike Sisk, as Ghostly was sold for $8,000 right before the race.)
The replay – in vivid detail – can be found here (hit Oct 9, race 4).
I believe it was Bonnie who spied the bleeding right after the race. She said because he was gray it was more noticeable.
This poor, poor beautiful boy!! His former owner fattened his wallet some more with blood $$ and his new one will continue the abuse. It’s beyond sickening!
This abuse needs to be stopefdThese Horses shouldn’t pay with their lives for some one to put money in their pocket an then turn around to the same thing to another horse
The horse is wearing a severe figure eight noseband and a bit I’m not even familiar with.
Good observations, Karen. I will call the stewards at Keenland and ask a few questions. Of course I don’t expect any “answers”. I will probably be told the choice of noseband and bit is left to the trainer! But at least they will know regular people are watching.
P.S. Thank you, Bonnie, for noticing the bleeding.
Cameraman’s gonna be in big trouble for revealing the true effects of the medieval torture devices used on this poor animal. Did you see the deep indentations left by the misuse of that thing? They had it strapped so tightly that it would have completely negated the stupid nasal strip, and then some. I mean, holy hell, Diodoro. Do you want the horse to be able to breathe, or don’t you?
And I second the praise for Bonnie. Somebody has to try to keep an eye on all these horse-abusing monsters, and the racing commissioners sure won’t — least of all in Kentucky. They figure the public won’t know about the hourly atrocities in their sick game, because, you know, pandemic. So no need for any correction from so-called regulators.
Maybe just maybe that was the cameraman’s intent because they normally do not give close extended shots. While I am at it, for those who have never been to Kentucky, there are horses everywhere.
The tourism monies for KHP and facilities is immense. All for a horse. They should rever in the landscape of pastures full of horses and start respecting their dignity and well-being
The camera operator did his or her job by focusing on the winner of the race. It just so happens that the winner in this race had a bloody mouth. I am sure the camera operator would not have focused on the bleeding mouth of GHOSTLY WHO if he had finished many lengths behind rather than winning.
As we know, the claiming game is by far the largest component of this gambling business. We also know it is ignored by the pro racing groups and the racing press. In addition, it is the how the top tier of this business dumps the horses if their performance is not as expected and for the horses when they are beginning to decline.
Many others start their “careers” in the claiming ranks.
We don’t know why Ghostly Who was bleeding from the mouth and it will be ignored by racing, after all he is just a low level claimer, claimed once again to become a member of one more of his many, many “loving families”!!!!
He has had 31 starts in 2 yrs and 3 months, and as he starts to decline, the frequency of his starts go up.
He has barely reached maturity but his body is already in decline. He is doomed and ignored by racing.
Thank you, Rose. In some cases, such as horse shows, there are rules about a lot of different things that can be used on horses. I’m sure you know this, but I’m making a point of it here. There can be rules against the use of certain types of bits, shoes, calks, etc. I have a hunch that someone is breaking the tack rules on GHOSTLY WHO. I would be interested to know if anyone will admit to such violations. I’d also be surprised if anyone in horse racing, especially at Keeneland, does admit to any rule violations.
Thank you, Patrick, for digging up more of the facts about GHOSTLY WHO, a horse Bonnie and Peggy commented about on a different post. While this horse may have bled from his mouth for a relatively “short” time, I disagree that his suffering was “brief” or that his suffering started and stopped with the actual bleeding. That horse is SUFFERING as we speak, even if the bleeding has stopped. We don’t know if he might still be bleeding or not. It’s the fact that he suffered some type of injury to cause the bleeding and we don’t know if it will heal for sure or how long it will take to heal. His suffering is not limited to the bleeding or the injury that caused the bleeding! His suffering is inherently ongoing from birth to death as long as he is owned by people engaged in horse racing.
Im so sick of this abuse. God please reach down and stop this madness.