There are two types of people in the racing world: the ones who know they’re exploiting horses for personal gain and really don’t care; and the ones who are oblivious to who they are and what they do. Falling squarely into the latter category is the owner of Wild On Ice, who, you probably remember, died at Churchill last Thursday, the first of four kills at the Kentucky Derby track within the past week.
In a BloodHorse article Monday, Frank Sumpter said this about Wild’s death: “It is a sad day, and my heart is really broken for (trainer) Joel Marr and his family. I cried along with him this morning….” Bad enough, but it got even more abhorrent:
“My wife and I are Christians and we know that God’s got something bigger planned. I hate to lose this horse because I love him so much and he’s given us so much enjoyment. He also has given me this platform to talk about the Lord and to breed to a nice horse in Kentucky, raising up my breeding. If it wasn’t for him, I couldn’t do it.”
Wow.
“The wise man regarded the life of his beast.” The Bible says. I’m sorry, but a true Christian would not subject one of God’s creatures to the abuse and torture of the racetrack – and no one who spends anytime in the shedrows can be ignorant of what actually goes on. If you want to talk about your faith, don’t stand on a horse’s dead body to do it.
Excellent, Rebecca.
Rebecca, THANK YOU! – SO well said and your final words are unrivaled!
He should be able to know that what he’s doing is wrong. I speculate that he is compartmentalizing his participation in this cruelty to horses or possibly he lives in a totally delusional world and is incapable of seeing his own part in this egregious cruelty to horses.
I really don’t believe that God would think it is a good thing to exploit horses in such a brutal and greedy way. Let us read the Holy Bible for inspiration and guidance and not contaminate His Word with the likes of this unholy quest for some type of self-fulfillment in the abusive exploitation of horses from a person who is attempting to justify his part in causing harm and death to a beautiful horse that didn’t ask to be abused and brutalized by money-mongers.
The love of money is the root of all evil. Let’s talk about that message from the Lord, Mr. Sumpter.
This kind of “Christianity” makes my stomach turn. So, not only does God not care that this guy exploited and killed an innocent creature, he’s going to actually reward Sumpter with even bigger and better things? Seriously? Not my God.
To participate in this brutalizing, maiming and killing of horses as gambling objects and saying that it is part of “God’s bigger plan” can’t get more twisted, in my opinion. This horse-brutalizer plans to keep on doing this while passing this abomination off as God’s plan. I don’t see how a person could be more perverted than that.
That’s right, Teresa…nor mine.
I wish these pathetic, two-faced hypocritical ‘owners’ would stop saying how much they loved their horses and how much they’ll miss them, when in reality, they are more sorry for the money these innocent, defenseless horses earn for them and their five minutes of glory on the racecourse. Oh and don’t forget how they’ll still get the ‘insurance’ payout and the ‘carcass’ money…..that alone is enough to make a decent person throw up!!
For a (supposed) Christian, Frank Sumpter doesn’t know his bible very well. Matthew 10:29 “But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.” These are all God’s creatures. Cruelty will be punished.
Jeanette, yes…and Sumpter’s “Christianity” is what makes people run the other way as far and as fast as possible.
With “christians?” like sumpter, we surely don’t need to worry about the devil! What a mockery he makes of Christianity!