Through a FOIA request to the California Horse Racing Board, I have obtained the following details on 2020 kills (previous ones here). (The names were redacted but, paradoxically, the dead had already been identified on the Board’s public database.)
Golden Birthday, Jan 1, Santa Anita R – “[multiple] comminuted fractures; [multiple] severe ruptures”
Double Touch, Feb 8, Santa Anita T – “sudden death: presumptive exercise-associated fatal pulmonary hemorrhage”
Miss Romania, Feb 12, Santa Anita T – “comminuted, complete, displaced fracture; muscles severely torn; massive hemorrhage”
Unveiled, Feb 20, Santa Anita T – “comminuted, complete, displaced fracture; massive hemorrhage”; also: in same leg, “horse had tendon trauma April 2019, then sesamoid fracture May 2019; returned to training 12/2/19”
Keck, Feb 29, Golden Gate T – “catastrophic shoulder fracture…humanely euthanized on track”; also: “severe, chronic gastric ulceration”
Chosen Vessel, Feb 29, Santa Anita R – “[multiple] fractures, [multiple] ruptures, [bone] broken through skin”
Chickititas Favorite, Mar 8, Los Alamitos R – “[multiple] fractures; severe, complete ligament rupture”
Smiling Ali, Apr 2, Santa Anita T – “sudden death: extensive hemorrhages in the lung”; also: “stomach: chronic ulcers, multiple” (two years old)
Jabber Now, May 24, Los Alamitos R (euthanized May 26) – “[multiple] fractures, complete rupture of ligaments”; also: “severe gastric ulceration”
Malibu Morning, May 29, Los Alamitos R – “open, comminuted, complete, displaced fracture”; also: “severe gastric ulceration” (three years old)
Grimm Resolve, Jun 2, Los Alamitos S – “found dead in stall” (two years old)
Jive Talkin, Jun 6, Golden Gate T – “[multiple] fractures, [multiple] ruptures”; also: “there was blood in the peritoneal and thoracic cavities, focal hemorrhage and tearing of the diaphragm, hemorrhage in the eyes; gastric ulceration diffuse and severe”
Lightsaber, Jun 7, Santa Anita T – “hit the rail: complete tibia fracture, massive hemorrhage, muscles severely torn” (two years old, being prepped for first race)
Leggolas, Jun 18, Los Alamitos T – “horse was jogging back, became unstable, collapsed, and died” (two years old)
Big Red Valentine, Jun 18, Santa Anita S – “ran loose, collided with barn: traumatic, highly comminuted fracture of spine; complete transection of spinal cord; open fracture of cannon; MCIII snapped into two halves; transverse rupture of suspensory ligament; highly comminuted fracture of rostral bones of upper jaw”
Strictly Biz, Jun 20, Santa Anita R – “multiple comminuted, displaced fractures; [multiple] complete ruptures”
Equilibrio, Jun 26, Los Alamitos R – “complete fracture of the neck of the scapula, severe hemorrhage associated with rupture[d] muscles” (two years old, first race)
Mr Dejavu, Jun 27, San Luis Rey T – “rider heard loud pop and jumped off: complete, displaced, comminuted fracture; rupture[d] biceps; massive hemorrhage”
Peek It Up, Aug 22, Los Alamitos R – “fractured [back], multiple fragments within spinal canal, complete transection of the spinal cord, massive hemorrhage”
Streets, Aug 30, Golden Gate T (euthanized Aug 31) – “comminuted, displaced fracture; [multiple] ruptures”
Cool Hunter, Oct 1, Golden Gate R – “multiple fractures, [multiple] ruptures”; also: “multiple chronic gastric ulcers throughout the stomach”
Ministers of Money, Oct 9, Golden Gate R – “multiple fractures, complete rupture of flexor tendon and [multiple] ligaments”
Look At My Hooves, Nov 1, Golden Gate R – “comminuted, complete, displaced fracture; complete rupture of flexor tendon and [multiple] ligaments”
Duchamp, Nov 13, Golden Gate T – “open, highly comminuted, complete, displaced fracture P1; complete rupture sesamoidean ligaments”
yet-to-be-named 2-year-old, Nov 18, Santa Anita S – “stomach rupture”
Thru Lady, Dec 16, Los Alamitos S – “flipped over, fell against back wall, and died – [possible] seizure or acute heart failure” (four years old)
Penelope Rose, Dec 16, Santa Anita T – “comminuted, complete, displaced fracture; muscles severely torn; massive hemorrhage”
Cedars of Lebanon, Dec 31, Golden Gate S – “horse began showing signs of anaphylaxis…expired shortly thereafter”
How do so many of these horses have necks and spines that seem to just snap during these training sessions and races? And the number of them that run helter skelter into walls and other large inanimate objects is beyond suspicious. There is way more to this abuse than I think we know about .
This is evidence of extreme abuse and neglect of horses. Where is the Sheriff’s deputies with the court order to have the people responsible arrested and all living horses in their possession removed from their possession and kept in a place conducive to the health and well-being of the horses?????
Appalling! Must be stopped.
Absolute proof that the CHRB’s Super-Transparent, Highly Inclusive Equine Fatalities List (it’s for the public, remember?) doesn’t even begin to reflect the actual horse death data they claim to reveal.
They dare to pretend to tabulate Racing, Training, and Other Deaths in a public forum for anyone to see. But a glance at both lists — this one, with extensive, detailed and graphic notes (that had to be wrenched from them) vs. the CHRB’s mysterious, cursory half-assed “accounting” of A FRACTION of Cali racehorses killed — and it couldn’t be more obvious:
The California Horse Racing Board REGULATES shit. All they do with this (forced) so-called transparency is help hide more of the kills than they reveal. (*But this is only reason number 97 or so why they’re soon gonna be dissolved and disbanded along with the rest of their corrupt, cruel game in California.)
The voters will finally be given a voice over the animal abusers. They know it, and we know it. Bye-bye, blood sport:)
I pledge to be a voice for these defenseless racehorses until this business is shut down.
Let’s start with California, and go from there.
All taxpayer/casino profits going now to horse racing in other states must END and it must be diverted into our communities.
Yet another Kill List that should be more than enough to shut this public abattoir down.
Bye-bye you killing business because that’s all you are.
The word “sport” no matter how many preemptive adjectives is not a word that I would ever use in the same sentence as horse racing.