Through a FOIA request to the New Jersey Racing Commission, I have confirmed the following kills at that state’s tracks last year (this is part 2; part 1 here).
(All Thoroughbred kills came with this notation: “Carcass removed from Rakeyard Pit by M & S Pet Removal.”)
Sip’n Dip, Jul 8, Monmouth R – “[multiple] complete, displaced, and severely comminuted fractures; extensive tearing or rupture of [multiple] ligaments”
Playalinda, Jul 16, Monmouth R – “[multiple] open, severely comminuted fractures – both hind limbs; large, gaping laceration extending from fetlock to diaphysis, exposure of bone fragments; ruptured and torn ligaments/tendons; environmental debris – dirt, grass – contaminated the fracture site” (again, that’s two shattered legs)
Anna’s Candy, Jul 17, Monmouth S – “horse flipped, impact led to death: comminuted, displaced skull fractures with brainstem compression”
Fox Valley Adele, Jul 22, Meadowlands R – “sudden death: rupture of pulmonary artery with severe hemorrhage” (two years old)
Hi Millie, Jul 26, Monmouth S – “recumbent on arrival, couldn’t stand, euthanized – a definitive cause for the diarrhea and rapid decline in this horse was not apparent”
Financial System, Jul 30, Monmouth T – “complete, comminuted fracture of P1; osteochondral disease [all four limbs]”
Bionic Bottle, Aug 1, Monmouth R – “fractured fetlock”
I Make the Rules, Aug 8, Monmouth R – “[multiple] complete, displaced, comminuted fractures; palmar osteochondral disease [both forelimbs]”
Road to Meath, Aug 19, Monmouth S – “sudden death at rest: severe, acute subcutis hemorrhage in head, eye, subgingival, laryngeal folds, tracheal wall”
Stratofortress, Aug 22, Monmouth R – “acute injury to LF fetlock – [multiple] fractures; osteoarthritis, all limbs, multiple joints; severe, chronic stomach ulceration” (just four years old – osteoarthritis in all four limbs, chronic stomach ulcers)
Classic Escape, Sep 4, Monmouth T – “[in gate]: severe, extensive injury to the base of the tail and immediately adjacent area – perineum and anus – characterized by physical separation (tearing) of the subcutis from the underlying fascia and musculature; connective tissue and skeletal muscle were severely stretched, separated, frayed, and torn [with] formation of a large cavity between the tissues [that] was filled with a large amount of blood, edema fluid and necrotic tissue debris”
Sue B Dooo, Sep 21, Monmouth S – “LF fracture, RF P3 rotated 7 degrees” (fracture in one leg, rotation in another – just two years old)
Bellamy Dolce, Sep 21, Monmouth T – “[multiple] fractures and ligament tears, with hemorrhage and severe fraying; severe osteochondral disease [all four limbs]” (just four years old)
Hey Hey Dancer, Sep 23, Monmouth T – “fracture with protrusion of bone fragments, extensive soft-tissue hemorrhage, ruptured and torn ligaments; contamination of the site with foreign particulates – i.e., dirt and other organic debris” (two years old)
Icy Intent, Oct 15, Monmouth T – “open [through skin] fracture, multiple ligament tears/ruptures, extensive soft-tissue and intra-articular hemorrhage” (two years old)
Swiftwish, Oct 17, Monmouth T – “fracture, dropped ankle; osteochondral disease [three of four limbs]” (just three years old)
Kershaw, Oct 28, Monmouth T – “trauma, sudden death: comminuted vertebral fracture with displaced fragments severely compressing and crushing the spinal cord”
P L Idaho, Dec 10, Freehold R – “sudden death: severe bilateral pulmonary [that’s both lungs] hemorrhage; copious amounts of blood drained from the nostrils and mouth, soiling the muzzle, chin, and face”
Racehorses are not considered to be “Pets” by the racing industry people, but the bodies of the racehorses killed by racing in New Jersey were allegedly removed by M & S Pet Removal. Is this a sanitized name for a rendering service?
If necropsies were performed on the killed racehorses, they would not be removed by a rendering service, would they? How does this make logical sense? It seems that there are some gaps in the information available here.
I’m surprised (well, maybe not) the NJRC considered what happened to Classic Escape a training injury – didn’t his horrific injury happen in his last race on August 29?
Yeah, it’s pretty sick how fatality information has a way of being altered when industry “regulators” are forced to document their kills to the public. Racing deaths have a subtle way of being labeled as Training deaths, which in turn get categorized as Stall/Other deaths — many of which aren’t admitted publicly at all, ever.
Can’t believe I was so naive not so long ago that I thought the establishment of an accurate, neutral, nationwide accounting system for fatal racehorse injuries was forthcoming from the absurdly-named HISA. Ha, hardly. Instead, it seems the new, federal “agency” (trade group) is guarding its Kill Count more closely than ANY one, individual racing state’s lying-little-fiefdoms of corrupt racing commissioners could ever hope to.
Way to embrace that TRANSPARENCY, HISA officials;)
I was wondering about the “necrotic tissue debris”
That tells me the horse was not euthanized right away as he should have been after
such a horrific injury.
Exactly, Rose. Everything seems to be pointing to he was injured racing 8-29 but not euthanized until days later.
Joy, is anyone outside of the industry able to investigate what was going on with this horse and his connections for that time period from August 29th to September 4th? That is six days that the horse would not be able to have had a bowel movement, if he was injured that badly on the 29th of August as opposed to the 4th of September. What kind of a life did he have from August 29th to September 4th?
The chart leads one to believe that CLASSIC ESCAPE finished the race on August 29th. It says he was fractious and hit the gate, got off poorly and was outrun. It says that he was 7 (seventh) in order of finish. It shows in the chart that he was 7 at the 1/4 pole, 7 at the half, 7 in the stretch and 7 at the finish.
I can’t say if he actually crossed the finish line on his own power or if the chart is purposely misleading. I don’t download the videos but it appears that the video is available.
The one thing that is definitely a fact is that this industry is callous and continues to ABUSE, brutalize and kill horses that would definitely prefer to be out grazing on pasture and rolling in the dirt if they had a choice. It seems like it would be obvious to people of average intelligence, armed with some basic knowledge and the information here, that horses exploited for racing and wagering handle don’t have a choice.
What horrific suffering classic escape underwent. He basically disemboweled himself. It reminds of the disgusting death of Zippit Yankee. I don’t know how these people can keep supporting these death shows after seeing that!
Reported 9/20/19 on HRW. The horrible death of Zippit Yankee