Much is being made of California’s lower kill numbers. One of the things that the state, led by The Stronach Group, is supposedly doing is more surgical repairs. But history says that the equine post-surgery survival rate is very low (think Barbaro). Problem is, the injured who end up being euthanized, with or without surgery, off-site will not, as a rule, show up in public records. The lost dead. With that as backdrop, I present the horses “vanned off” Cal tracks since 1/1/20 who have not been heard from since. It falls to the “transparent” CHRB to tell us where these horses are. (Note: These are just raceday. How many of the training “vanned” are missing?)
Clubhouse Soda, 1/16/20, Golden Gate
Captivating Cartel, 1/24/20, Los Alamitos
Warrens Lil Margie, 2/23/20, Golden Gate (not reported as vanned, but “bled”)
Tizalwaves, 6/5/20, Santa Anita
Spectator’s Dream, 6/7/20, Santa Anita
Nice Blaze, 7/3/20, Pleasanton
Hendavid, 7/25/20, Pleasanton
Girther, 8/8/20, Del Mar
No Name Fred, 8/9/20, Del Mar (not reported as vanned, but “bled”)
Kr Casper, 8/16/20, Los Alamitos
Verifiable, 9/5/20, Los Alamitos
Rick’s Dream, 9/7/20, Del Mar
Rule He Will, 9/19/20, Los Alamitos
El Aracada, 11/13/20, Los Alamitos
Magnolia’s Hope, 11/27/20, Del Mar
Velvet Queen, 11/27/20, Del Mar
Twirling the Gold, 11/27/20, Los Alamitos
Taco Twosday, 11/29/20, Los Alamitos
Princess Noor, 12/5/20, Los Alamitos
Josephin Bono, 12/6/20, Los Alamitos
Colour of Money, 12/11/20, Los Alamitos
Florentine Diamond, 1/16/21, Santa Anita
Gowdy, 1/23/21, Los Alamitos
Warm It Up, 2/26/21, Los Alamitos
Whatdidido, 3/27/21, Santa Anita
Tuxedo Flats, 5/1/21, Los Alamitos
Omph, 5/9/21, Golden Gate
Big Dog Daddy, 5/14/21, Santa Anita
Fashin Icon, 5/22/21, Los Alamitos
Eel Point, 5/28/21, Santa Anita
Street Dancing, 5/31/21, Golden Gate
Lips Like Sugar, 6/19/21, Santa Anita
Contagion, 7/18/21, Del Mar
Listen Linda, 7/18/21, Los Alamitos
Perrys Everlasting, 7/24/21, Los Alamitos
PRESTONS LADY AA, 8/13/21, Golden Gate (not reported as vanned, but “bled”)
Esagerare, 8/19/21, Del Mar
Queen Helene, 8/27/21, Golden Gate
C’Mon Jenna, 9/10/21, Golden Gate
Investment Account, 9/10/21, Los Alamitos
Bathory, 9/11/21, Golden Gate
Great Power, 10/3/21, Los Alamitos
Rocket Song, 10/10/21, Santa Anita
Wild Cat Canyon, 10/16/21, Los Alamitos
Frost Warning, 10/17/21, Fresno
Favorite First Down, 10/23/21, Los Alamitos
Dual Reality, 10/31/21, Santa Anita
Prudent, 11/4/21, Del Mar
Da Kine, 11/13/21, Del Mar
Deputy Bernardini, 11/26/21, Del Mar
I suspect that many of these horses were shipped directly to a slaughterhouse outside of the USA. There are those pro-racing thugs in California and several other states who are also pro-slaughter thugs and support the anti-animal rights group known as “Protect The Harvest” which is an American 501(c)(4) non-profit “advocacy” organization. Humane treatment of horses would not be one of the areas of advocacy.
Yes, I would also like to know the whereabouts of these horses.
?? Hello? California?
This list needs to be posted in California newspapers like the L.A. Times.
People who don’t visit the HRW site need to know what’s going on.
This is yet another deliberate effort by Stronach’s companies, including his daughter, to cover-up what’s going on in some capacity and it stinks!
Gina, I agree with the idea of publishing the LIST OF RACEHORSES MISSING IN ACTION and ABUSED and KILLED by RACING and WAGERING in newspapers!!! Not everyone reads the newspaper, but not everybody reads HORSERACING WRONGS either. So you know more people will find out about the UNACCEPTABLE blight on society that HORSERACING is as a result of more ways that the information is shared.
Thank you for again reminding us of the pure absurdity of California’s Dead Racehorse “Transparency” attempts.
I scoff at their lower-kill claims. While they’re congratulating themselves on all this supposed safety, the CHRB fails to factor in the huge declines in the number of race dates, races, and horses themselves. Worse, they flat-out refuse to entertain a single doubt about the veracity of these claims. They simply will not respond to public questions about it. Ever.
(Can’t believe I once thought the ludicrously-named HISA might actually change this Policy of Evasion for them. Nope. HISA seems to be every bit as secretive about the national thoroughbred death count as the CHRB is about their own: Deny, Downplay, Deflect.)
When a horse has surgery on a leg, two things have to happen for survival: 1) the surgery has to be successful, and more challenging, 2) avoiding laminitis after the surgery. The latter is a weight shifting problem. After the surgery, the horse will naturally try to put more weight on a non-surgically repaired leg(s). When a horse puts too much weight on one or more legs it interferes with the normal blood flow to the foot and can lead to laminitis. When a horse develops laminitis, it is over.
Barbaro was an incredibly talented and valuable animal. After winning the 2006 Kentucky Derby, many thought he was destined to win the triple crown. Unfortunately, he shattered his right hind leg in the Preakness. It would be a difficult surgery and if successful, he had to avoid getting laminitis The chances of a successful surgery were slim and if successful, the avoidance of laminitis was less than slim. He had wealthy owner and since Barbaro’s breeding value was in the tens of millions, they were willing to take the risk.
While his right hind leg eventually healed, the surgery proved futile. The courageous Barbaro hung on for about 8 months and was euthanized after he developed laminitis in both front hooves.
The cost of this had to be extremely expensive. I cannot imagine any other or owner or trainer taking this risk for anything other than a very minor surgery.
Mr. Stronach, the problem is not surgical repairs, it is avoiding the surgery. And the only way to avoid the surgery is to ban horse racing.
Thank you, Richard. I believe that another problem is keeping wounds of any kind free from infection which can lead to sepsis or septicemia. For horses who are confined to a small area and the build-up of urine and feces is an everyday problem, keeping any cuts, especially on the lower limbs of the horse, with or without stitches, clean enough to avoid any kind of infection would be a serious challenge depending on the type of person that is “caring” for the horse and other factors.