A colt named Pink Kamehameha died in a race in Japan Sunday. Apparently, he crashed through the rails and collapsed after suffering “acute heart failure.” “Acute heart failure,” that is, for a pubescent animal. Is this why his death was deemed newsworthy by the racing press? Please. Young racehorses keel over and die all the time. No, this, as usual with morally-bankrupt outlets like the Paulick Report and BloodHorse, is about the stature of the deceased: Pink was a million-dollar “earner,” and had just recently “won” the mega-rich Saudi Derby. Accordingly, we’re treated to passages like this from Paulick: “Tragic news from Japan where Saudi Derby winner Pink Kamehameha has died…. In a sickening incident on the back straight….”
“Tragic” and “sickening” only when it happens to the stars, huh, Ray? Equally repugnant, of course, are the condolences that inevitably pour in. Kate Hunter, a Japan-based racing rep, tweeted this:
“Devastated.”
“We had an amazing two months together.”
“He gave it his all every time.”
“Thank you for the memories.”
“I’ll never forget you, Pink.”
“RIP.”
Repugnant, indeed.
Reblogged this on Armory of the Revolution.
Yeah, a disgusting double-standard. Just like this “sport”!
Oh give us a break!! Your fake statements mean NOTHING!! Actually, they are insulting to say the least. This broad will never forget him?? Of course she will. She already has. He is DEAD killed by her and this disgusting industry. He earns no more for her.. he is forgotten. Next!! We, however will NOT forget Pink or any of the other horses who are abused, maimed and killed. DAILY!
Next horse…
I am heartbroken…heart failure yeah right. Off to the sushi table (sorry to be offensive) EVERYDAY HERE THERE OR EVERYWHERE some kind of accident, disease, etc.
You’re not offending anyone. They eat their own athletes. And we dispose of ours to be eaten by them. That’s how racing works out for its upstanding humans.
But you gotta admit this Kate Hunter person is getting really good at Americanizing their reactions for them overseas. The whole, feigned shock (and awe), oh-the-humanity, this-never-ever-happens-except-all-the-time, pretend outrage is probably not a concept that Japanese racing fans, as horse-eaters, would likely embrace. Probably more like, “He gave it his all, and then he was dinner.”
Also, “heart failure” is not a definitive diagnosis – all hearts fail when death
occurs…!
We will never know what happened to this horse.
Sashimi, compliments of US and Canada.
Foaled in 2018, now deceased, PINK KAMEHAMEHA lived and died as a gambling chip. If he would have lived a little longer, he would have been exploited at stud. If he would have lived long enough, he would have been sent to the slaughterhouse in Japan. It’s all sad and sickening, because it is horseracing!
If you were honest, you would have posted “thank you for the money” rather than memories, since I’m sure he was out of your mind before his body even got cold. I’m sure some apologist will be whining about how broken up you are, that you really loved this horse, but no one who truly does love their animal would ever think about exploiting them or deliberately putting them in harms way. And I’m sure the jockey beating him down the track had nothing to do with him “giving it his all every time”.
I wonder if Pink would agree that his near constant confinement, needles in his neck, chains over his nose, and being whipped every time someone sat on his back were “an amazing two months together”.
Japan and other global racing jurisdictions boast about their “drug-free” racing distancing themselves from American racing.
I don’t believe a word they say because, after all, they are horse racing apologists.
I think that Japan and the others just hide their abuse and are not as open about it as American racing.
PINK KAMEHAMEHA was probably injected with dope throughout her short life to mask pre-existing conditions and/or to enhance performance.
The daily abusive business practices in the USA are the same in Japan as they are in Australia and deaths like PINK KAMEHAMEHA prove that racehorses die wherever the track is.
Those other countries, despite their claims, are one in the same when it comes to horse racing.
There is a company that sells “illegal milkshake race injection” for horses and camels online. I believe that this doping concoction is about as basic to horse racing anywhere in the world as water and food, as being confined in stalls 23 hours a day, as being forced to gallop FAST carrying a hundred pounds or so, as starting horses out at 18 months of age, as all of the basic ways that racehorses are abused and brutalized everyday. Horses cannot be forced to gallop FAST carrying weight and whipped to go faster and faster without suffering lameness issues which require pain-killing drugs. That is just the basics; basic abuses. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Horses are forced to do the unnatural and breakdowns occur. It’s what is inherent to horseracing.