Squeaky Cheeky, an “injured past the wire” in the 5th at Santa Anita yesterday, has been confirmed dead by the track: “Fracture[d] ankle…triaged on the turf course by track veterinarians…unrecoverable injury.” Santa Anita, that bastion of racing “reform,” now counts five dead horses through the first two months of the year and six since the start of the meet in late December. (note: Bowies Hero, injured on Jan 2 but not euthanized till Jan 18, does not appear as an official kill on either the track’s website or the CHRB database – further evidence of industry deception.) Squeaky was three, and this was his very first time under the whip.
Also: I can confirm that Wicksters Dream is indeed dead after “collapsing” in the 9th at Gulfstream Wednesday. He, too, was just three years old.
This is horseracing.
Sickening self serving greedy business this is. I just can not fathom what is wrong with people these days.
Abartig. Wie wäre es, wenn man dieses Rennern umkehrt und die Menschen derart antreibt?
Absolutely breaks my heart. Allin the name of the almighty dollar. It is so exhausting to keep up the fight on so many levels. RIP beautiful horses,
As HRW is one of the few groups that demand the shut down of this killing business because we know that REFORMS DON’T WORK, HAVE NEVER WORKED AND WILL NEVER WORK.
Hello PETA – where in the hell are you?
You do amazing work on behalf of animals – no doubt about that, BUT how in the hell can you know about Kill List after Kill List even after you declared to support Ms. Belinda Stronach CEO of The Stronach Group who owns Santa Anita, Golden Gate and San Luis Rey Downs in California and are still sitting on the fence speaking out of 2 sides of your mouth?
It’s long overdue for PETA and the HSUS to take a stand against this killing business that involves widespread massive pain, suffering and inhumane treatment of racehorses!
The sooner ALL of us TEAM UP and work together the sooner we can shut this public abattoir down in California for sure and the other states are sure to follow.
I agree
That’s interesting about Bowies Hero. Stakes horse, big-name trainer, so someone (everyone) in racing doesn’t want the public to know how the Santa Anita Death Track is still truckin’ right along, killing off as many horses as ever. The CHRB has to keep most of the kills off of their official Equine Fatalities List, so news outlets can’t report them as readily. They’re hoping the public will just forget what a full-time, horse-killing horror show their whole racket really is.
News flash, CHRB Dinosaurs: Nobody believes the SADT became safer for horses; they’re just better able to shuffle around their dead (and dying) in order to keep the animal-loving public in the dark.
Kelly, you can be rest assured that the newly appointed equine Director of the CHRB, Dr Jeff Blea with protect the racehorse killers.
I could hear Dr. Allred and Belinda Stronach breath a heavy sigh of relief all the way up here in Canada when they drummed up their connections to get him in there upon retirement of Dr. Arthur.
He will make Dr. Arthur look like child’s play most likely.
His private practice was notorious to those of us who wanted to clean-up horse racing and some of his clients are the very “Trainers” who have a long history of killing racehorses.
He was APPOINTED not ELECTED which is the problem right there.
He’s on public payroll now and California residents should vote in who they want not the horse racing industry putting in a person who will defend every death, NEVER enact Bill 469 and little to nothing will change.
Just the way they want it.
The only hope to shut this killing business down in California is a referendum and we know that it will cost about 5 million to get this on the ballot, but it’s doable.
Thanks, Gina. It’s beyond doable; at this point, it’s a foregone conclusion. Racing’s going down in the Golden State. Tick-tock, Doc:)
And, as for Dr. Blea, I look forward to his candid answers when he’s asked about the Board’s obscene on-site-only Kill List policy. Dr. Arthur stated in last month’s meeting that Blea was “honest” and a “straight talker.” So how’s a freaking honest track vet going to address THAT little statistical indiscretion?
“Um, we can’t tell you, the public, about most of our many racing, training, and other deaths when our high-integrity horse-killing owners and trainers wisely choose to remove fatally-injured animals from track grounds. What do you mean, it causes California racehorses to suffer even more, and for longer? These guys’ stellar reputations are at stake, here. They don’t wanna be hounded by reporters every damned day!”
You know, straight talk.
Those stupid ******s don’t know what the word “honest” means.
How’s this for honest???
“This horse is sound, but he has arthritis in both knees.”
No, any horse with an unsoundness is not sound. The general public needs to know that the moral compass of any horseracing participant is broken. They are liars, cheaters and horse-killing sociopaths.
I hope everyone will vote for HORSERACING WRONGS on MyGivingCircle below…
Extremely disturbing people… no empathy whatsoever…
Let us put an end to all this killing of horses by ending horseracing.