The Stronach Group is one of U.S. Racing’s major powers, with five Thoroughbred tracks under its umbrella, including marquee venues Santa Anita, Gulfstream, and Pimlico. This week (which is not yet done) has been, to put it generously, a public relations nightmare. Thursday, horses were killed in consecutive races at Stronach-owned Laurel. And yesterday, two were killed in the same Gulfstream race. This, to the company that fancies itself the industry leader in safety.
With the current crisis playing out in Maryland – racing canceled indefinitely – Stronach is engaged in a media battle with the horsemen, with each blaming the other for Thursday’s disaster and aftermath. The horsemen say the track isn’t safe. Stronach, after “a comprehensive battery of tests,” says its experts have advised “that there are no issues…it is safe to race and train.” The truth, of course, is that death is an inevitable part of horseracing. And although Stronach keeps hyping its “safety record,” it took the remarkable step of acknowledging this fact in a statement last night: “[W]e all know that catastrophic injuries will not be eliminated completely….”
Exactly. And now that that – again, that a certain number of horses will always die (for $2 bets, remember) no matter what new “protocols” are implemented – has been established, isn’t it time for a bit of soul-searching, America? End this madness.
Not that I’m gloating, or anything — okay, well, maybe gloating just a little bit — but this latest public relations crisis couldn’t have come to a nicer group of horse-killing parasites. The (beyond-creepy) Stronachs, along with all their shame-based corporate mutations, will never give up on their true life’s work: HIDING DEAD HORSES…
Too bad for them, we’re not giving up on ours, either;)
It’s beyond disgusting that an industry – not a “sport” – that openly admits to being unable to eliminate catastrophic injuries to sentient beings is still allowed to operate in today’s society. The true addiction of racing is the suffering and abuse these parasites inflict on a daily basis in the name of the almighty dollar.
I hope Karma gets revenge on the assholes involved in racing, and may each one of them die an excruciatingly horrific painful end. There is NO excuse for all the murders they have done to these horses.
Jesus, this country is EXHAUSTING me: between constant mass murder shootings,made up wars against Mickey Mouse, book banning,wannabe dictators….I could go on. Frankly, I’m to the point I DESPISE it all, it’s creepy as hell. And amidst this made up war against Mickey, the killing of horses, (who are only here, because they were forcibly bred for greed of humans),their painful sick and twisted torture and murders continues every damn day…for people of good ole USA. I don’t know about you, but this insanity of unnecessary violence is EXHAUSTING. Really, what is causing this no consciousness violence? I hate you “horse people”, like Patrick asks… how many more never can be UNSEEN deaths will it take? If you so called horsey people TRULY loved horses…you wouldn’t cruelly force horses to do this extremely dangerous activity.
The infighting of the people involved in this egregiously barbaric industry will hopefully serve to bring it down sooner. That seems to be the case in the Canadian Province of Ontario, although, of course, it is not over yet. Regardless of how much money comes from the government to support this heinous cruelty to horses, there appears to be some bully/bullies, in both the United States and Canada, involved that is overcome with greed and has no qualms about more or less stealing from others.
Belinda Stronach was said to hate horses and so it seems that it would be of no consequence to her about how many horses have to die while she lives in a higher income bracket than so many people working for a living.
I’m thankful for everyone who stands up and speaks out FOR THE HORSES. Keep up the great work! Thank you!
So well said, and I will be posting this as well as others I feel will bring the right effect to those race tracker types. And I love it…sharks eating sharks. Please sharks, throw out as much dirt as you can about the other while continuing to prove the point – horse racing kills.