The repugnance of “love them like children,” yet again…
Fish Trappe Road was one of those prized, blue-skies-ahead racing creations. Bred by Rhapsody Faarm and Jon Davis in Feb 2013, he sold for $140,000 at the Saratoga Fasig-Tipton sale as a “yearling.” The buyer was St. Elias. The following year he was sold again, in Florida, this time for $95,000 to Martin Racing. Then, the slog began. But again, with great hopes, as evidenced by the early tracks he frequented.
Fish, under Martin, was debuted in a $50K race at famed Churchill Downs in Jun 2015. His trainer that day was the multi-million-dollar-earning W. Bret Calhoun. Then it was off to another of the industry’s crown-jewels, Saratoga. Over the next two years, racing at the best tracks in Kentucky, New York, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, Fish was, by the only metrics that matter to “horsemen,” successful – running in several stakes races and “earning” hundreds of thousands along the way.
Not counting the two flips prior to even being raced, Fish was first put up “For Sale” by Martin/Calhoun in a $40K “claiming” at Churchill in Nov 2017. No takers. But next time out, later that same month, Fish was claimed (bought) for $25,000. Now it was on to a new barn and a new exploiter, owner/trainer Patrick Dupuy.
By this point, Fish was starting to slip – the paydays getting smaller as he was being entered in more and more claiming races. And so it was that after eight races with Dupuy, Fish was sold again – this time for $10,000. New owner/trainer team: Kurtis Coady/Chelsey Moysey. This pair only had him for one start – claimed, as the slide continued, for $5,000. Still, Fish won that race and over five grand, making this, between the win and the sale, a $10K day for Coady/Moysey.
At this juncture, it was strictly cheap racinos in Ohio and West Virginia. His new owner/trainer, Robert Cline, had him for eight races, then sold again, for just $4,000. Four races for Oscar Barrera III, then a private sale to Julio Sandiford. Fish made his last appearance in the States on Nov 4, 2020, at Mountaineer. When he resurfaced, it was at the hellhole that is Camarero Racetrack in Puerto Rico.
Here is the breakdown for Fish’s American owners:
Martin: 21 races, $596,478
Dupuy: 8 races, $25,711
Coady: 1 race, $5160
Cline: 8 races, $7172
Barrera: 4 races, $6450
Sandiford: 3 races, $11,068
total earnings in the States: $652,039
From Dec 25, 2020, through this past Jan 27, Fish, who will soon be nine, has been raced 18 times at Camarero – for no fewer than four owner/trainer combinations. In his two most recent races (both “claiming,” of course), Fish has finished a combined 36+ lengths back. It shouldn’t be that difficult to see where this is heading. For too many to count, Camarero is the endgame – a track that averages almost one dead horse per day. Meanwhile, the above continue along merrily. Vile is too kind.
How can these greedy bastards even look at themselves in a mirror? Fish Trappe Road deserved to be put out to pasture and retired to a peaceful farm. Vile isn’t strong enough a word.
I’d like to know how these people sleep at night knowing that they have lined their pockets through the suffering and abuse of animals. Sickening. And heartbreaking – I followed Fish Trappe Road when he was racing in better company and to find out he wound up at a deathtrap like Camarero just makes me sick. This is the only time I ever wish I had money – to rescue a poor suffering beast before his death.
His birthday is the 20th.
The horses that “survive” the rigors and abuse of this sick game continue to spiral down until they land in pure hell. That is their “reward” while one after another the “deplorables” line their pockets with dirty money…
In this merciless business of obscene exploitation the lucky horses are those that are euthanized and thus escape HELL.
I only wish I could help this unfortunate…we know the “horse-loving” racing crowd won’t lift a finger.
Hell goes on for the tough…
P.S. I guessed Fish Trappe Road was by Trappe Shot, a horse that sold for $850,000 as a 2yr. old
And Fish Trappe Road sold for $140,000 as a yearling and for $$95,000 as a 2yr. old plus has “earned” $679, 407 in his ongoing exploitation. This is just just a microcosm of the money involved in this contemptible greedy business.
This pure hell for horses must go down. I wish a living hell for the ‘people’ involved in this. May a plague come down on their house.
If I remember correctly, it took over $10,000 to help save SEQUANA from the race track in Puerto Rico.
Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare was going to run out of money at some point. I don’t remember exactly when now. I haven’t heard anything more about that. Are they still able to save any horses? On their website, it appears that they are still accepting donations.
People who are not in horse racing in any capacity often ask “how do they sleep at night??
They sleep very well because in order to stay in this business you have to be an all out parasite.
A parasite has no emotions or remorse for their victims because their only goal is to use them as hosts for their own gain until they have no more left to give.
The claiming ranks is a “host nest,” so to speak, designed to facilitate and provide hosts/victims for any parasite who gains access to their victim.
Sadly, FISH TRAPPE ROAD is running for his life and that’s after he’s made $679,407
The parasites will exploit him for every last cent until he gets claimed again or drops dead in the dirt.
There is NEVER enough money that these racehorses can make to secure them a soft landing that they ALL deserve, but especially the ones like Fish Trappe Road who has earned his retirement only to have it snatched away from him by the never ending pool of parasites in horse racing.
A THREAD OF BLUE. A 6 y.o gelding winner of $1,043,583 and that’s still not enough to give him a soft landing as he just got claimed yesterday by Mark Casse and owner Gary Barber for some more rounds of abuse.
Like Fish Trappe Road he generated $150,000/$430,000/$57,000 at the sales auction houses by the time he was 2 and, just for the record, the sales auctions get 5% for any racehorse that sells over $10,000 and $500 for any racehorse going through the sales ring for under that whether they sell or not.
So the sales companies made $31,850 for a Thread of Blue and $11,750 on Fish Trappe Road.
The sales auction houses are making billions every year and remain steadfast in refusing to implement a mandatory 1% on sales for racehorse aftercare qualifying them as full out parasites just like the rest of them.
People make money off of these racehorses every step of the way, but every single one of them are nowhere to be found when they are running for their lives or standing at a kill auction steps away from the slaughter truck.
They have no 1-800 number for anybody to call, they have no designated holding pens to get them out of harms way, they don’t provide transportation away from the kill auctions – they do little to nothing for them because they are now onto their next victims.
The unwanted racehorse mess is left up to people like you despite the fact that we have nowhere near the financial resources that horse racing has all generated off the bones, backs, hearts and minds of racehorses.
It should be clear to anybody that horse racing is disingenuous in their remarks “we love them like family,” and they bestow an all out betrayal on racehorses every single damn day.