Through a FOIA request to the Minnesota Racing Commission, I have confirmed that five horses died at Canterbury last year, four racing, one in stall. As always, the response came with this: “Veterinary records of a client that are maintained by a state agency…are private data…contents must be kept private and not released to third parties unless authorized by the client or required by law.” Minnesota remains the only state in the country that refuses to identify its dead.
The above said, we do know two of the racing kills (confirmed through other sources):
Ike, Jun 11 – “took an awkward step, vanned off, [euthanized]”
Malintent, Jun 23 – “suffered apparent catastrophic injury while falling to the track”
The other two likely come from these, none of whom have been heard from since:
Double Dare You, May 26 – “stopped badly, vanned off”
Blazen Bluff, Jun 1 – “pulled up, vanned off”
Leather and Lace, Jul 2 – “took awkward step, vanned off”
The stall victim will, sadly, be forever anonymous.
Names of horses and causes of death withheld for “privacy reasons”? Do they expect to be propped up by public funds/ government subsidies and government-directed benefits including tax write-offs and say that it’s none of your business about the killing of horses in their “care” and custody?
What happened to the transparency the racing industry is always bragging about?
Oh, yeah, it’s a lie, just like their safety protocols and their claims to love their disposable chattel like their family.
Seems that the new (and newly-unconstitutional) FEDERAL racing regulator, the obscenely-titled HISA, is modeling its “Safety” program entirely on Minnesota’s (lack of) transparency…
Then again, animal-abusing Minnesotans can still take a tiny bit of pride in their so-called integrity; they kinda, sorta pretend to admit their death NUMBERS, if nothing else. Whereas, HISA’s keeping ALL thoroughbred deaths nationwide locked-up and hidden away from public view.
Wonder why?
Leather and Lace has a death certificate on file with the Jockey Club.