Last week on U.S. flat tracks (racing only):
Upham “vanned off” at Fair Grounds
On the Clock “vanned off” at Mahoning
Le Preciosa Luna “bled, vanned off” at Turf
Jazzy Einstein “vanned off” at Turf
Kodiak King “vanned off” at Turf
Vegas Weekend “vanned off” at Aqueduct
Papa Jr “vanned off” at Delta
White Mist “vanned off” at Fair Grounds
Equivalence “bled” at Santa Anita
American Dollar “vanned off” at Tampa Bay
Filthy “vanned off” at Turf
Creative Courage “vanned off” at Turfway
La Crete “vanned off” at Fair Grounds
Big Dreaming “vanned off” at Turfway
King of Hollywood “vanned off” at Aqueduct
Mandorla “vanned off” at Gulfstream
Jagger “vanned off” at Gulfstream
Mr. Edgar “vanned off” at Gulfstream
While not all the “vanned” end up dead, most do, as borne out by our year-end FOIA reports. But even if death is not the ultimate result, the above are victims nonetheless, suffering painful injuries – in the case of the bleeders, pulmonary hemorrhage – so that some men may gamble, others chase pots of gold. (For any new confirmed deaths during the week, please see our running annual list.)
Horses suffer every day for willfully selfish and sadistic people. Horseracing is abuse and torture of horses. It must be punishable by law!!!
The Three-Van-Day at Gulfstream yesterday gave us the tiniest peek into the inner-workings of the (super vigilant, always impartial, highly-journalistic, both-sides-of-the-story-seeking) RACING PRESS and how they operate. Turns out, we CAN harangue and harass them into doing their jobs and following-up on injured horses’ various, um, “situations.”
Case in point: Mike Welsch, South Florida “Correspondent” for the DRF, actually tweeted (something resembling) an update on those three vanned horses. Couldn’t have been more vague, of course — a bleeder and two soft-tissue injuries, per the Gulfstream Transparency Team — but, hey. It’s a start. Unheard of, really.
So a big, hearty First Amendment cheer for the racing press(!). All three vanned victims might already be dead — or, worse, headed to race in Puerto Rico — but SOMETHING has been officially noted about them to the public. This is progress, racing style.