According to Equibase, Naughty Swagger “fell after the wire” of the 6th at Turf yesterday “and was vanned off.” That is true – but the “van” was hauling a dead body. Through a trusted source (and the unwitting track announcer), I have confirmed that the 6-year-old mare dropped dead – cardiovascular, they’re guessing.
While watching, please note the beating Naughty, who was leading down the stretch, absorbed at the hands of jockey Keivan Serrano. Also – and as usual – the “Winner’s Circle” celebration carried on, with this one punctuated by a “Congratulations!” splashed on the screen. I have little words left.
Track announcer (who I’m sure thought his mic was off): “Oh what the hell happened? That horse is dead. … That horse is dead dead. Sweet Jesus. Did the horse just fall over? Hey, do not show any replay, a horse is dead.”
“Do not show any replay” speaks volumes.
It does. And if I’m correct; standard procedure at all US tracks. Erase video/ digital evidence.
A horse at full speed (40 MPH) has a heart rate of 4 beats PER SECOND. It is extremely stressful. The heart is struggling to pump at that rate and must supply fresh blood to the horses muscles as it tears down the field. No other athlete is pushed to this extreme. No wonder horses literally drop dead. Racing is an abomination.
It just goes to show you even the announcers are shocked at times of the horses deaths in this ‘crooked, crummy, gamboling game’ as was told to us by an English born & trained jockey in 1986.This announcer sounded as if he was an Englishman & was shocked by the sudden death of the poor horse. As was told to us by Martin Saunders all those many years ago,’ I have seen more wrecks here in the NW in a year here than I would see in a lifetime in England.’ He was here because he could ride more races here & earn many times more $ than he could in his home country. This gamboling industry is just about the $$ at all levels & in all aspects from the breeding farms to the tracks & veterinary clinics despite what the participants may say.
Yet that announcer, the trainers, the jockeys, and the people in the stands won’t abandon this horror show. It’s “just horseracing” and time for another round of nauseating rhetoric about track safety being paramount and how the planets just weren’t aligned properly that day.
Keivan Serrano is a monster, and has been witnessed beating horses in the head with whips.
He was also thrown out of mountaineer for testing positive for pot. (Says a lot when you’re banned from one of the shittiest racetracks in the country).
Turf Paradise should have been closed for a lack of veterinarians on duty let alone the atrocity that is horseracing itself. Evidently they don’t have adequate electronically inclined staff on duty (to turn off the mic) either.
The horses continue to need a voice and a miracle. Shut this horror show down!