In the 4th at Penn last night, Kiss My Note “suffered a catastrophic injury to his left front on the final turn.” He was six; ’twas his 35th time under the whip.
A bit later, in the 3rd at Charles Town, Best Shot “showed no response to riders [sic] urging, sustained a fatal injury mid-stretch when he was struck once more, and euthanized on the track.” Translation: The jockey – Christian Hiraldo – whipped this poor animal both before and after he “sustained a fatal injury.” Hiraldo should be charged with animal abuse; instead, because Best Shot crossed the wire, and because Charles Town is flush with corporate-welfare cash from the attached casino and is therefore able to pay first-last, both he and trainer/owner Timothy Grams got paid ($125). How vile is that? Best Shot was four, and this was his 23rd time under the whip.
How vile! Beat a crippled suffering horse for $125. Any amount would be disgusting, but this just shows how putrid these people are.
It is absolutely VILE TO THE CORE to whip a horse for “purse” money, GAMBLING BETS, WAGERING HANDLE and “a living” and TO THE POINT OF A FATAL INJURY TO THE HORSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you kidding me?! You call this CRUEL EXPLOITATION of HORSES a living?????
I see the uber-credible chartwriter at fabulous, glamorous, “Hollywood” Casino in Charles Town, WV has decided to walk back his/her notations in the footnotes of this horse-killing event. Too much transparency in implicating the Dead Horse Beater, Mr./Ms. Fiction Writer? So ya waved your magic wand and edited it away?
Oh well, nobody saved a screen shot of what you initially published about Mr. Hiraldo’s brutality, or anything!
So he has nothing to worry about;)
Unreal how these racing-employed folks need to have their work followed-up on, isn’t Kelly? They’re liars – even by omission.
Got a new, fun one for you, Joy. Today’s race 5 at Super-Safe Stronach-owned Gulfstream Park: The favorite, “PASSION PLUS lied forwardly placed along the inside around the first, turn, but weakened at the half mile pole, was eased thereafter, and got vanned off.”
And what does the DRF’s South Florida “Correspondent,” Mike Welsch, tweet about her commanding finish? I kid you not: “Favored Passion Plus was eased.” That’s it.
Oh well! She was old, and it was probably her time anyway. Right, Mr. Welsch?
Jokes…jokes and jokesters all around, Kelly.
Speaking of jokes, Joy…
Not to pull a Christian Hiraldo (and beat a dead horse) or anything, but it looks like they just killed one off at Los Alamitos, race 7. Two-year-old QH colt named Gowdy, INJURED, VANNED OFF.
Good thing Doc Allred now gets to keep his license to kill for the whole year. But bad for the CHRB Old Timers, who now appear (even more than before, anyway) to be heartless, corrupt, feeble-minded, grizzled-old-dinosaur, horse-killing enablers.
This country is headed for some really hard times (possible depression),that money propping up this unnecessary torture, will be gone.
Oh yeah, just remember EVERYONE…contact your congressman/senator, and tell them NO relief money for ‘racinos’.
From what I understand, the amount of corporate-welfare money that Penn National Race Course gets from the casino has been reduced because of COVID-19 restrictions. Because of this, Todd Mostoller, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, said that they needed to have at least $1.4 Million in wagering handle per night to at least break even. I was hoping that people would stop pouring their money into the wagering handle, but evidently Penn National must be getting more than the break-even amount in bets on horses as gambling chips. I frankly don’t know what amount of money they are getting through the casino.
Horse racing hasn’t been financially sustainable for years.
The only thing keeping most tracks going is an obscene amount of taxpayers money (Woodbine Racetrack 100 million per year PLUS 50 million per year for breeders), casino money and/or a plethora of tax deferments that most small businesses must pay.
Now they’re struggling due to the precipitous decline in casino income directly due to Covid-19.
So what do they do?
They go back to the public coffers and taxpayer water troughs like they always do.
For example, Woodbine Racetrack and all racetracks in Ontario are demanding that the Ontario government now PAY FOR THEIR daily costs of keeping their racehorses yet again when they already got about $100 per day per horse back in the spring when the virus first hit – no kidding!
That handout and this one amounts to millions so they can play and have fun with their horse hobby and it’s totally OUTRAGEOUS!
This is like paying for people’s private golf memberships and all their related costs via taxpayers money.
It never ends – they just keep going back to the public water troughs and our politicians keep filling it up for them.
Furthermore, the “horsemen groups” gets billions per year via the Interstate Horse Wagering Act and where is all that money going?
The HBPA or horsemen groups have never had a neutral financial audit conducted by any governmental organization while they are being given an additional millions in casino profits.
This business is rotten to the core – it stinks and it’s so sad that the racehorses pay the price every day.
This is why I think writing or calling political officials is a total waste of time. Letters undoubtedly get the trash bucket filled. We all know the general public is unaware of these horror stories
There is one politician, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, that wants to de-fund horseracing and spend the money on education. He probably would be encouraged to receive letters, phone calls, and emails from people who support his position on horseracing! Just saying…
I just tried to share this Horseracing Wrongs post on Facebook. It would not share or post to Facebook at this time due to “an error” but I don’t know what the error is, or if it will work later.
Shared to Facebook just now. It worked.
Wanda.
Yes Gov.Wolf did want to use the subsidies for better purposes (the big cities sure could benefit). However nothing has been said on this subject lately. Bonnie and I went back and forth about how great it would be and wonderful for the Governor to get it done
For the most part though not many of them step up to the starting gate and take the lead
Thank you, Nancy.
Wanda. Always great to go back and forth with thoughts with you!☺☺
This is the SECOND TIME that you’ve been caught in a LIE about how the jockey finished the race on a injured horse ! With the BEST SHOT injury you FALSELY claimed that the jockey , Hiraldo, beat the horse ” before and after ” the injury and he should be ” charged with animal abuse ” . Check the race AGAIN ! It’s obvious that as soon as the jockey realized that the horse was injured ( limping ) he pulled him up slowly and finished last. He was already CLOSE to the finish line when the injury occured. The jockey did not whip or force the horse after the injury. If you want to be taken SERIOUSLY then learn to tell the truth and don’t make the situation worse then it already is.
The chart was edited to delete the damning line: “sustained a fatal injury mid-stretch when he was struck once more.” It now simply reads: “showed no response to riders’ urging, went wrong in the final sixteenth was taken up, eased to the wire….” A scrubbing, perhaps? Sounds like it to me.
Comments portion, too; “injured fatally” magically became “went wrong” overnight — when they read your piece, I’m sure — because poor Best Shot has no one to blame but himself for his own death, right?
And the obligatory “vanned off”? Maybe our friend, J Williams, here, can tell us why the chartwriter decided to publicly document the removal of his corpse. Not holding out for any answers, though. Because the racing carnage wizards always work in mysterious ways.
Isn’t that the truth, Kelly? Yea, Williams doesn’t need to be worried about the jockey retaining his employment – whipping horses is their job and they seem to really love it.
Now the chart writer? – I bet he/she THINKS before blurting out the truth the next time.
I sent a couple tweets out to Charles Town Races last night, politely asking them why they altered their charts. Shockingly, they haven’t replied;)
J- shouldn’t you be upset the horse died instead of grasping at straws? Maybe watch the replay? You’ll notice what the chart writer ORIGINALLY posted, versus what they now changed it to. I saw the original chart, and the race, with my own eyes. I also saw this poor broken horse hop across the finish line with a broken leg. Jockey wasn’t doing much to slow the horse down, either.
Oh Marie…surely you know better than that! – upset over DEAD horses? The only thing the racing-employed and apologists get upset about is when this industry is exposed for what it is. Cruel, antiquated, unnecessary…and permeated with abusers, cheaters and liars who spend a great deal of time checking Horseracing Wrongs for the slivers of truth they let slip now and again.
You need not be concerned the dead horse’s jockey will be charged with animal abuse, J Williams – hitting animals with whips is not only expected in this industry, it can be cause for a fine if the jockey DOESN’T whip his/her horse.
As far as I know, Luis Rodriguez Castro kept his job even though he “continued to gallop out a sixteenth past the wire” AFTER the horse he was riding – Hit It Once More – was injured back in December. And as we know from Patrick’s reporting, Hit It Once More was euthanized for his racing-induced injury just as Best Shot was.
Whipping tired and hurting horses to finish the damn race and get that check – and killing them in the process…not terribly unusual for horseracing, now is it?
J Williams – an obvious apologist.
Nevertheless you show your true colors when all you do is focus on the beatings of a racehorse instead of the racehorse itself.
In fact, it’ not only Hiraldo that is an animal abuser, but your entire industry is based on the exploitation of a voiceless and defenseless living being.
You should be outraged by the fact that thousands of racehorses are suffering on tracks all over this country because your industry refuses to release and expose the vet/treatment records that don’t follow the horse as they change hands repeatedly in your dumping grounds called the “claiming ranks.”
Consequently, there are racehorses suffering immensely in their stalls right now and are being forced to run with serious, chronic pre-existing conditions such as fractures.
This is one of the main reasons why racehorses need to be beaten to go forward.
Quite simply, they are sore, very sore/tired, and they know that taking just one more step will kill them or severely maim them, but their right to protect themselves are taken away by jockeys beating the crap out of them, by gamblers who view them as just an object to bring in their bets. and by a system that will always be in place, that no reforms will ever change and you support this?
Go stick your head in a pile of manure where it belongs.
J Williams, I take Patrick Battuello seriously, even if you don’t. I frankly cannot waste my time worrying about what you believe or what you don’t believe. You really had to nitpick and show us your gullibility! As long as there are people who DEFEND THE WHIPPING OF HORSES FOR ANY REASON AND AT ANY TIME, Patrick Battuello and all of the people who support the reporting of the heinous and abusive atrocities in the horseracing industry will remain a necessary VOICE FOR THE HORSES!!!!!!!!! It is NEVER OKAY TO WHIP HORSES BRUTALLY AS THE RACING INDUSTRY IS GUILTY OF on a daily basis, whether the whipping (and shocking with electrical devices) is captured on film or not.
It is great that you come to the defense of racing, J Williams!!!
But the reality is racing does not need your help!. These people lie and cover up with impunity. They are very good at it. The lack of basic integrity is written all over this business and the evidence is in the horses it drugs, maims, kills, dumps and cruelly slaughters day in and day out.
Trying to defend the indefensible is an exercise in futility.
Looks like horseracing-supporter “Not Cloudy All Day” (on Twitter) caught the original, unaltered notes on the abuse Best Shot endured in his final moments of life, as well…I’m sure he/she wouldn’t mind me providing his/her tweet copied and pasted right here…
“The WHIP again:
‘BEST SHOT chased the pace inside and raced at the rail through the turn, showed no response to riders urging, sustained a fatal injury mid-stretch when he was struck once more, and euthanized on the track.’”
Thank you for sharing, Joy!!! A dead horse is a dead horse and this horse, BEST SHOT, could still be alive if the people who abused him knew what it meant to actually love their horses.