Santa Anita and the CHRB have finally confirmed the death of Mantra in the 9th race Sunday – officially, snapped ankle. He was five, and this was his 24th time under the whip. For Santa Anita, that’s 7 dead horses on the year; for all Cal tracks, 18.
Reform is a ruse; safe racing is a lie. Horseracing kills, always has, always will.
Very clever editing of the replay. 9 left the starting gate and 8 crossed the finish line.
How can you say that reform is not effective? Three months into the year in 2019 Santa Anita had A LOT more fatalities. These deaths are awful, but it’s nowhere as close to as horrific as it was two years ago.
Any death is one death too many!
So, Steve, since you are obviously a racing supporter, do, pray tell, give us your acceptable loss ratio? How many dead horses, that is, are to be countenanced for $2 bets and frivolous entertainment? And please don’t insult our intelligence with an answer of “zero,” for you and I both know that that is an impossibility. So again, what is your magic number?
I don’t call myself a racing supporter, I don’t gamble, I’m not happy with how racing is now but I think that if fatalities continue to be reduced racing will be in a better spot. Like Mary Lauder said, one death is too many, but more can be done to reduce them overall. I think completely eliminating fatalities caused by pre-existing injuries (which something like 90% are caused by) a start, it is attainable. This year racing fatality rate is about 0.1% – way too high. The training fatality rate is about 0.001%. This way, I’d like to see fatalities decreased tenfold- so definitely under 0.01% for racing. The new tomography scanners have helped, and more/better 3d imaging can catch pre-existing injuries. One death is too many, but Santa Anita has had no fatalities at previous meets do it can be done. It comes as a result of improvements.
Steve M.: The injuries to horses come as a result of training for racing and racing. Horseracing is an inherently abusive activity. There are many people who do NOT want their taxes going to fund animal abuse. We don’t want any jurisdiction to “approve” of the abuse and deliberately caused injuries to horses!
Steve the well-being of racehorses are never the priority – the gambling profits are.
Killing racehorses and gambling are mutually exclusive.
That will never change because in order to fill races and increase their wagering profits they REQUIRE daily abusive business practices to accomplish this which will always result in racehorses dying.
Another thing, don’t just focus on the racehorses dropping dead in the dirt at Santa Anita, but how about the thousands bleeding out on slaughterhouse floors every year because the multibillion dollar horse racing business doesn’t want to implement mandatory financial percentage contributions?
This is a killing business whereby the racehorses are nothing more than disposable gambling chips to be crippled, doped, whipped, maimed and killed.
If, through some miracle, they make it out alive and SOUND then there are little to no grassy paddocks waiting for them, there are little soft landings and virtually no homes to be found for them.
Horse racing is going to be gone in the near future so I suggest you find another cause to defend one in which doesn’t involved massive pain, suffering and dying of non-consenting, voiceless living beings.
Steve M., “racing will be in a better spot”? RACING? – spoken like a true apologist. If one death of a sentient being is too many – that sentient being, a horse bred for and used in a high-risk activity for the mere purpose of gambling entertainment – then one death is too many regardless of the “spot” RACING is in. It’s the horses, the living, breathing, feeling but disposable “tools of the trade”, we are concerned for…not racing’s “spot”.
And FYI, the “new tomography scanners” (last I read 11 months ago, it’s one, not scannerS)? – this regarding SA’s new PET scanner from The American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation; “The PET Scan that TSG invested in is incapable of being used as a pre-race screening device. PET Scans detect areas of bone where new bone is being produced. Many bone pathologies that predispose horses to catastrophic breakdown do not have this metabolic activity as a feature. [And] fractures are not visualized using PET scan.”
The racing industry isn’t interested in detecting horses at an increased risk for breakdown (and not allowing them to race) – they wouldn’t have enough horses to fill races if they did.
You may not have the balls to openly call yourself a racing supporter, but you obviously are, since you think that tossing out a bunch of fancy percentages and some idiotic “hope for the future” rhetoric is enough to excuse the systematic exploitation and abuse of thousands of sentient beings a year.
And the question remains: how many dead horses do YOU think is an acceptable number? The racing industry has shown it has no cap on the number of horses it will sacrifice for profit and entertainment. And nobody can seriously be THAT ignorant to think that zero is a number that can ever be obtained, even if the racing industry cared enough to try.
I suppose you also believe that Thoroughbreds love to run, whips don’t hurt, and racehorse owners and trainers love those horses like their children.
Let’s give Santa Anita the old razzle dazzle them!!!
If horse racing killed, as you say, then every horse would be dead. It is the trainer and their workout and racing schedule. The racetracks have to force periodic leg scans. And people like Eric Guillot have to stop believing that they know how to diagnose any leg problem.
What are you smoking?!!!!
I think she visited Bob Baffert’s barn and smoked some of the jimson weed apparently in the feed that makes his racehorse’s win by lengths almost every time he runs!
Then she kisses the horses while she’s high and transfers the microscopic spores into their mouths so that when they test positive she can defend BB’s doping positives as “environmental contamination.”
After that, she rolls a big fat jimson weed joint and runs it through the scanner claiming that it’s the racehorse’s legs and, lo and behold, they pass the scan, go out on the track, and their ankle snaps-off.
While they take a nose dive into the dirt dying she blames Eric Guillot for stealing some of her jimson weed and smoking it himself so that he can’t diagnose a leg problem.
I suppose he shared the joint with the equine vet who passes a horse to race because he can’t tell either.
Then, of course, it’s time to do it all over again and more racehorses die.
Need I say more?
Love it, Gina! I laughed out loud cuz that was perfect!
Ummm…they all do end up dead whether racing, training, or slaughter when they’re not profitable. Race horses are born to die young.
Right, Alan. Isn’t it common logic to say that a horse must be rescued from racing in order not to be killed by racing? That includes horses being dumped because of disabling injuries.
Alan, you’re the first person I thought of when I read her comment. As you’ve responded to her before, she writes some really stupid things. They are getting more stupid. And when you respond to her to challenge her, you hear nothing in return. I think she’s just on here to troll and fire people up with her asinine comments. They aren’t even worth responding to.
Marie, I agree that her comments are a waste of time. It might be her way of getting attention, or she didn’t take her medication. She goes back and forth. Whether she is clinically delusional or not is not for me to say. For anyone that has lost their ability to reason logically, there is no possible chance of their understanding a logical explanation.
Since she defended Jorge Navarro, she has proven herself to be seriously unreliable as a defender of horses. But she has proven that she doesn’t care about the everyday abuse that horses are subjected to because of horseracing. Blame it on the trainers, except for ONE OF THE WORST DOPING TRAINERS THAT WAS INDICTED BY THE FBI.
If it weren’t for horseracing and the BETTING, the trainers wouldn’t be forcing horses to run at way too young of an age and way beyond their limits. Of course, you know that and I know that, but there are certain people who either don’t know that or could not care less.
That first statement goes along with the “logic” that we need to have racing to give racehorses a purpose. No where on this site has it been said that EVERY horse dies – but thousands of them do every year, either from direct catastrophic injuries on the track or from the myriad of questionable and downright abusive treatments back at the barn. And I know you racing supporters like to bury your heads in your asses over this, but thousands more die in the most atrocious ways possible in slaughterhouses for no other reason than not being profitable enough for their connections.
Horse racing abuses, exploits, and kills thousands of non-consenting, sentient beings every year for profit and entertainment, not for any morally or ethically justifiable reason. Any one who advocates for or supports horse racing is a supporter of animal cruelty. End of story.
Abuse, brutality, cruelty and death are inherently built-in to the horseracing and gambling scene. Even though not every racehorse is literally killed on the racetrack, their lives are riddled with mental, emotional, and physical pain and suffering. Psychopathic individuals have no remorse or compassion for the horses. People that are placing bets on horses are not concerned about the horses that are being abused, neglected and dumped into the slaughter pipeline.
Poor Mantra. They might CLAIM his was only the seventh racing/training death at the SADT this year, but the CHRB’s Equine Fatalities List is about as close to a full accounting of all the killing as…well, as how much their degenerate customers will admit to losing at the track.
I figure if they admit to one death, they really had four — they were just able to hustle the other three injured animals off-site, in order to skip over that unpleasant public reporting part. And, if a horseplayer says he lost $25 that day, well, it was probably more like a hundred.
Everyone that bets on a horse is helping to kill them why can’t they see that!
If the Kill Lists are not enough for you, if the permanent crippling then dumping at kill pens aren’t enough or even dying on the slaughterhouse floor still eludes your rationality and compassion how about this?
The latest CHRB meeting TABLED the requests for increases in jockey fines for beating racehorses!!
Years and years, even after I worked there, of people demanding larger fines for beating racehorses or for using an electrical buzzer on them and STILL NO CHANGES.
If I have to explain the indifference and the bold statement as to how clear these racehorse abusers and enablers of the abuse are than you have a piece of your brain missing.
Beat them, whip them, beat the on the shoulders, on the belly and even slap them in the face and that’s just fine by this business because they prioritize the gambling profits over the well-being of the racehorses.
Racehorse apologist and former “Trainer” racehorse killer and dumper Jenine Sahadi, and Racehorse killer Doug O’Neill voiced opposition to the proposed rule, which they thought was unfairly harsh on riders and was designed to address public misconceptions about the use and construction of the modern whip.”
Any excuse to continue beating racehorses and they made sure this got TABLED again, buried deep in their dope filled syringes plunging in and out of their voiceless victims to mask their injuries and keep them flipping a buck.
Shame on you Ms. Sahadi and we will make sure people know how you like to abuse and enable the massive suffering and abuse of racehorses you low life piece of parasitic scum who gets her pay check from horse racing because your too stupid to go out and get a job that doesn’t prey on voiceless racehorses.
This isn’t the end of this because it just all needs to shut down and all you people need to stop defending this abhorrent killing business.
Well while YOU – Ms. Jenine Sahadi was busy defending jockeys beating the living crap out of racehorses and then making sure that they didn’t increase the fines for jockeys (current fines are slap on the wrist and pretty much condone the beatings) so that racehorses can continue to get beaten your prior multiple stake horse whom you claimed to “love” and that he was a “family member” remember that?
Remember how you praised THE DEPUTY who made over $800,000 back around 2000 which would be about 3 million by today’s standards?
Well while you were busy blabbing off your mouth and using your energy to DEFEND blatant racehorse cruelty your prior stake horse champion THE DEPUTY was in a KILL PEN – yes, he was sent to a kill pen fighting for his life while you were busy defending cruelty.
Members of OUR network got in touch with Donna Keen who got in touch with the previous owner who, although extremely RARE stepped up to the plate and immediately sent money to get him out of the kill pen.
One of your famous quotes: “Thank God, The Deputy has class because there are a lot of people here who don’t,”
Ain’t that the truth and that would include you Ms. Sahadi and isn’t it so shameful that you continue to support and defend this killing business who had no problem sending your champion to a kill pen – shame on you.
Exactly, Gina – when The Deputy was identified and advertised by the killpen, it got around social media like wildfire. The racing folks were tripping over each other trying to bail him. The “funny” thing is, Keen, for years, crucified those who purchased horses from killbuyers – only when the horse headed to slaughter was a big money earner and/or well-known would she get herself involved. Her industry’s “cheap” horses – the unknowns – are ignored by her AND the others in racing.
They were forced to bail The Deputy, to pay the pittance in exchange for his life…his standing in a killpen was all over the internet and they were being watched. And an added bonus? – it makes them look like they care to those who don’t want to see the truth – that he was forgotten. NONE of those who took the money his body earned were following up on him, checking in on him, and asking on a very regular basis to go pick him up when his final exploiter was finished using him. Had they been, he wouldn’t have been in that killpen.
Joy, on the Paulick Report, ” they were made to look like the heroines in this horse’s plight.” It was nauseating actually. And I wondered how he got there in the first place and the other ones in the same place who did not make it out.
Nancy, that is an extremely valid question to wonder: “How did the horses in the killpens get there? What are the stories that the horses can’t tell anyone?”
Any person, especially the not well-informed, who follows racing should think twice before they assume an owner is a hero or heroine for paying some money to get a horse out of the killpen. It appears obvious in this case that certain people were just looking to save face, so to speak. That would include “Mr. Feelgood” to write a public relations spin story to dupe the public that has not discovered the truth or are in denial of the truth.
Great, logical points on this story. Thank you Wanda for your thoughts on this topic.
His Trainer, Ms. Jenine Sahadi, couldn’t possibly follow-up or even care to Joy when she’s too busy defending a jockey beating the living crap out of tired and/or sore racehorses.
Donna Keen and the rest of the pro-horse racing bunch only care when it looks bad on them, so true, because the cheap claimers would only have a chance with non-industry members of the public who rescue and pay for them.
Not one of them followed-up with this horse and one can only imagine how many more “champions” of his calibre go unchecked and end up boarding the slaughter-bound trucks in anonymity.
After all, we can’t be at all kill pens all the time since they are so overwhelmed with the unwanted racehorse mess that horse racing doesn’t want to prevent, but prefers to leave it for everybody else to clean it up.
So glad that OUR network found and knew about him in Texas and yes it did catch on like wildfire.
The public should know by now that horse racing is only there when they benefit from the outcome, but are never there to PREVENT these horrible incidents from happening.
It’s no secret that horse racing is a reactive not proactive group.
When I was an industry insider working hard on behalf of racehorses to change things for the better I don’t think I’ve ever met such vicious, heartless people in my entire life.
There was always an excuse to not help racehorses and they always found a way to uphold abusive, cruel and inhumane business practices perpetrated on their voiceless victims.
Nobody, I mean nobody, wanted to listen let alone make meaningful changes for the betterment of the horses.
They are living in another century, another world masked in delusions and they think that they can continue riding on their laurels and traditional coat tails – well they’ve got another thing coming.
Exactly, Gina – Sahadi doesn’t give a rat’s a** about the horses she’s made her living off of – use ‘em and move ‘em out is clearly her MO. Puxa Saco was another example of a horse she trained that ultimately ended up in a killpen. Such devotion to their “children”, right?
Thanks for the f/u on the TD situation – other advocates are keeping me abreast of it, as well…all of us are chuckling at how furiously the racing-employed work to make sure the finger of guilt is not pointed where it should be. At them.
https://horseracingwrongs.org/2020/07/19/racing-done-with-her-former-star-lands-in-kill-pen/
Follow-up to THE DEPUTY a multiple graded elite stakes horse (by industry standards but they all count) who made over $800,000 back in 2000 and who didn’t do well in the Kentucky Derby due to pre-existing injuries found in kill pen.
So a network of people have started backtracking his life to find out exactly who brought him to the kill pen and why.
So we know that he was sold at stud to Margaux Farm near Midway, Ky.
Margaux purchased a half-interest in Irish-bred The Deputy from Team Valor (Barry Irwin, president) and Gary Barber.
He stood at stud there for $7500 and produced hundreds of thousands of dollars in stud fees.
So what happened and you would think that an industry, who claims to care, would want to know, but we’ve come to find out that there appears to be some sort of cover-up going on – surprised? – not a chance because this is horse racing and nobody wants to pay for a horse that they are not financially benefiting from even after that horse has made them an enormous amount of money.
Margaux Farm – the buck stops there so far and they are claiming “dumb” they are claiming that a million dollar racehorse who was standing at stud at their farm for years suddenly disappeared and they forgot what happened!
Only from the horse racing business right?
Here’s my take on it for all it’s worth.
They DUMPED him – plain and simple because who in the hell is going to buy a horse who hasn’t been ridden in years, is a washed-up stud not bringing in any more money and would now cost all but about $300 per month to throw him into one of their lush paddocks for a well-deserved retirement?
We think that Gary Barber hatched a plan to get rid of him and that doesn’t surprise me because Barber has been involved with many racehorses dying under suspicious circumstances.
Make no mistake about it, these apologists are only mad because they got caught not mad that THE DEPUTY would have been bleeding out on the slaughterhouse floor right now with nobody knowing about it.
Well the deafening silence from the horse racing business is echoing across the lush green paddocks in KY.
SILENCE so complete that a shroud of falling snow can overtake.
Isn’t it unbelievable how this super rich business, made off the bones and backs of racehorses, suddenly go SILENT – nowhere to be found?
Not one has demanded that they get to the bottom as to how a multi-million dollar racehorse and stallion ends up in a kill pen in Texas?
The trail leads right back to Margaux Farm where he stood for years and they have gone SILENT as to how they dumped him because they did there’s just no way around this.
A journalist friend of mine contacted Ms. Natalie Voss at The Blood-Horse and, according to a social media posting, asked her why she isn’t covering this story since she’s so illustrious when it comes to any horse story that makes horse racing look like heroes?
SILENCE – voice mails all gone unanswered.
Of course the mouthpiece Ms. Jenine Sahadi who uses her voice to defend blatant racehorse cruelty, yet, goes SILENT when it comes to her former champion racehorse and stallion THE DEPUTY found in a kill pen.
Did she get a bad case of laryngitis? – just wondering.
SILENCE true to industry form.
Donations any of you apologists to SEQUANA?
If you don’t like SEQUANA how about all the others beckoning for your assistance?
SILENCE.