Blame It On Mary is dead after breaking down in the 3rd race at Saratoga this afternoon. She was five years old, and this was her 23rd time under the whip.
As an aside: As is his (disgusting) wont, the Saratoga chartwriter included this in his notes: “Blame It On Mary…was injured…and was immediately placed to a firm protective hold and expertly pulled up….” As if the complicit jockey – Luis Saez – somehow deserves accolades. Imagine that. Also complicit: breeder/owner J and M Racing, trainer Edward Barker. This is the 4th (confirmed) kill at stately Saratoga so far.
The chartwriter makes such deceitful remarks as if they are such wonderful and expert “horsemen” when they are brutalizing a horse to life-threatening/ life-ending injuries because they love their paychecks. Who cares if they kill a horse here and there??? It’s part of the game. One day enough people will see through this deception and it won’t be so easy to get away with the criminal abuse and brutality against horses.
Why the disposable commodity mentality?
Can’t these posts be brought to the wider masses? How can we take this to a wider audience (to people who care)?
“Placed in a protective hold and expertly pulled up” – translation: the little asshole who had moments before been beating the horse down the track hung on for dear life to keep from being tossed onto his face into the dirt.
Em’s comments are spot-on.
As a former horseplayer and race goer for over 30 years, I was completely unaware of the magnitude of horse deaths until I began reading his site. And bear in mind, I was at the races almost every single day, read all the reports, pored over the DRF each race day, and unearthed every single bit of information I could find to help my handicapping, and increase my odds of winning.
I learned a lot about horses. But I learned very little about how horse racing is actually conducted.
Yet, like most race-goers, and, I suspect, the general public at large, when I did see a breakdown, and the injured horse was “vanned off”, I, like, most folks, simply assumed [erroneously, of course] that the horse in jeopardy would be cared for medically, and, if not brought back to the races, subsequently retired to live out their life at a farm, or sent to stud. I further, [again, erroneously] assumed that very few “vanned off” horses would actually soon be dead.
Again. Wrong.
Mr. Battuello writes, in many of his posts “While not all “vanned off” end up dead, most do, as borne out by our subsequent reporting.” His reporting is always through and accurate.
Getting this information and these facts to the general public is paramount to speed up the end of this so-called ‘sport’. Most casual race-goers are honest, decent people that have absolutely no idea of the true nature of horse racing, the relentless deaths of these animals, the cheating and lying that goes on behind the scenes, for if so, I believe most would of them bolt pretty quickly.
To answer Em’s question, “Why the disposable commodity mentality?”, the answer is simple.
Money. And more money. Trainers, owners and jockeys put on a very good face and claim to love these beautiful creatures, and you know what, they probably do – but just so long as they’re making money for them.
-Joe
If you really want to know what people think in regards to horses, cattle, sheep, goats and hogs, go to a livestock auction and you’ll find out how much and in what way they love their animals.
Watch how the horses are treated that sell for killer price.
money🤮 IS root of all EVIL
Several ignorant remarks here. First the horse was not being beaten as jockeys are restricted from using the whip which is in reality a crop more than 6 times during a race. The horses had just started racing and using thr crop is generally reserved for the stretch run to the finish.
This mare was the favorite to win the race and was doing what she was bred to do which is race. She had tremendous value as a broodmare which was far greater than any money she would win.
Saratoga where this occurred has perhaps the premier equine treatment facility funded by the racing indujwstry.
Jeremny, do you know what ignorant means? Did you miss the fact that this mare was killed?
Jeremny – if, in fact, you are a real person and not a ‘bot’, before calling anyone ‘ignorant’, you oughta re-read your comments before you post, or, at the very least, make use of ‘spell-check.’
While many of your comments are factually true, such as “jockeys are restricted from using the whip which is in reality a crop more than 6 times during a race”. and “using the crop is generally reserved for the stretch run to the finish” and. “this mare was the favorite to win the race” and “she had tremendous value as a broodmare which was far greater than any money she would win” along with, “Saratoga where this occurred has perhaps the premier equine treatment facility funded by the racing industry”
– you are totally missing the point.
BTW, in the interests of being as completely annoying as possible, I corrected all your spelling errors in my post when I quoted you.
Your spelling is atrocious, and I won’t even BEGIN to examine your appalling attempts at basic sentence structure.
But back to the facts – while your defense is, at best, extremely weak, you completely ignore the fact that horses are dying every single day of diseases and causes usually reserved for the aged, simply because these poor creatures are terribly abused and overworked.
Mr. Battuello’s reporting is 100% factually accurate and is not based on anything but official FOIA reports. Read them sometime. Then, count up the number of DAILY deaths that don’t occur anywhere, in any sport or activity in the United States, with the possible exception of greyhound racing, which is now banned in 46 out of 48 states.
But then again, are you even a real person? If you are, and you have even the slightest semblance of a open mind, you might see what I saw – an abject horror show which swore me off the sport I enjoyed and wagered on for over 30 years.
I look forward to your reply, but I won’t hold my breath.
-Joe
The racing industry, or in Jeremny’s use of “creative” spelling, indujwstry, is funded by government subsidies and government-directed benefits including tax write-offs and tax exemptions to horseracing. Obviously, the great, wonderful, outstanding and “premier equine treatment facility” at Saratoga could not bring this injured and dead mare back to life. How’s that for “premier”?
All government subsidies to horseracing must be stopped.
“Tremendous VALUE as a broodmare” and if winners are not produced the “tremendous value” sinks like a rock and the early morning truck will have another stop on the rounds!
“Bred to race” and they love to run… the tired and overused mantra of this sleazy business!!