By now, it should be clear that all horseracing is animal cruelty; every racehorse is abused, from day one. But occasionally, I like to highlight cases of excessive abuse: horses who are continually bringing up the rear, finishing far back, but whose people keep thrusting them out there so they can cash in on slots-infused purses paying first-last; and old (by racing standards, that is) horses who should have been liberated years ago. Today, I present four of the latter. (It goes without saying that all of the following have been made to endure the additional stress – remember, almost all racehorses suffer from ulcers – of being bought and sold multiple times.)
Joy of Baptistry is 11 years old. May 24 at Mountaineer, he was put to the whip for the 77th time. Of note: This past Sep 3 at Thistledown, he was a “DNF, bled” – an indication, of course, of pulmonary hemorrhage. Current exploiters: owner Loren Heupenbecker, trainer Richard Rettele.
Itsallaboutyou is 10 years old. May 28 at Prairie Meadows, he was put to the whip for the 86th time. Of note: Race 86 came a mere 12 days after race 85. In fact, Itsallabout was raced three times in 28 days. In the FOIA documents, I quite often see adolescent horses who died with chronic conditions like osteoarthritis. And those are adolescents. Imagine the condition of this poor animal’s body – and they’re racing him three times in four weeks. Abhorrent. Incidentally, in that race on May 16, he was sold. New and current exploiters: owner End Zone Athletics, trainer Karl Broberg.
Doubledeesonthetee is 11 years old. After being raced for the 88th time in Oct 2019, he disappeared from the charts – only to resurface last month. On May 22, Doubledees was brought back at Lethbridge (Canada). Yes, that’s right, after an over 18-month layoff, he was brought back to be raced for the 99th time. Of note: In this most recent race, Doubledees was “on the market” at the cheapest price I’ve yet seen: $2,000. The miscreant responsible for forcing him back into racing and for putting him up for sale at that bottom-of-the-barrel price: Lyle Magnuson.
And worst of all:
Maximus the Great is 10 years old. Monday at Energy Downs, he was put to the whip for the 86th time. Bad enough, but now consider this: That race was his fifth in the month of May. That’s right, he was raced on May 9, May 15, May 22, May 23 – yes, you read that correctly: Maximus was raced on back-to-back days – and May 31. How horrific is that? The pair responsible: owner Stan Brewer Jr., trainer Gilbert Ecoffey.
This is horseracing.
Richard Rettele is a grizzled little old man, who, up until a few years ago, was still an active QH jockey. These horses aren’t pets to him nor does he love them.
This sickens me to read this. How awful these horses must feel.There is a special place for these people in the afterlife.
Reblogged this on Armory of the Revolution.
Yes, and it’s a vile “sport”!
This egregious ABUSE of racehorses is criminal activity that needs to be recognized as such!!!
#HorseracingisAnimalCruelty
WHY CAN’T THE POEPLE SEE WHEN THE BET ON A HORSE THREIR KILLING IT!!!!!!
What about the racing industry that allows the treatment of horses like chattel? Or the tracks that don’t set limits on the number of times a horse can be raced in a certain time period? Or the vets who clear these obviously worn and exhausted animals to race? This entire system is geared toward nothing else but the systematic torture and abuse of horses. Where are those apologists defending this? I want to hear more about how these horses are loved like children, treated like royalty, and love to race.
I take it all these horses are geldings. They’re suffering is utterly horrible. To these owners, trainers, etc., the horses are nothing but machines from which to profit to the very last literal drop of blood.