Here is the chart note for 3-year-old Hip Hop Hooray in the 1st at Parx yesterday: “raced just behind the pacesetters then collapsed and died after the finish.” The comment next to all the relevant betting information was even more stark: “fell dead after finish.” Imagine if you had seen that in one of yesterday’s baseball box scores. A sport? Vile.
Also sacrificed yesterday: Gardees World at Golden Gate Fields, cause not disclosed. Gardees was five and had been put to the whip 32 times; her most recent timed workout was Aug 26. This is kill #10 on the year for Golden Gate. Can’t close soon enough.
Well, in this day and age people that bet on horses should know that they’re being cheated because of the fact that trainers are doping the horses with painkillers and performance enhancing drugs and forcing the horses to perform with God knows what injuries — internal injuries.
What do people who place bets on racehorses think? Do they wake up and say to themselves, “I can’t wait to be made a fool out of today by placing bets on horses that have most likely been doped up by crooked trainers and approved of by a bunch of crooked racing commissioners!”…?
Not to mention the illegal use of shock wave therapy we saw used by a trainer we used to gallop horses for in the am! His machine was kept in a large oversized suit case which the security guards NEVER inspected or had opened when he drove in the tacks backside gates in the am! Also the vets all used joint injections on carpal joints regularly despite there supposedly not being able to be used within 30 days of a race or a workout. Those same trainers/ owners now race horses on Oregon`s bull ring circuit & those same vets now practice in the “Performance ” horse industry. Mostly roping & reining aspects. Almost all equine sports are cruel uses of the poor horses. We have seen the cruel methods up close & personal.
Fred / Joan, if you have not already done so, I hope you report this guy, whatever his name is, and the pertinent information regarding his abuse of horses. I hope you report him to the Horseracing Integrity Welfare Unit of HISA, because he should be on the lists of trainers with suspensions and other penalties for their specific violations.
Even though most of the penalties listed in the racing industry press article are for trainers with doping violations and are being suspended for only seven days, a penalty of seven days is better than zero days.
Allegedly, HISA/ HIWU is also cracking down on trainers who use electric cattle prods on Thoroughbred racehorses to supposedly “desensitize” the horse to pain.
I have not been shocked with an electric cattle prod but I have been shocked by accidentally touching an electric wire fence when it turned out the electricity was turned on. It was worse than horrible!!!! I can’t even explain how bad it was.
For anyone to deliberately shock a helpless victim with any kind of electrical device is torture!
“What do people who place bets on racehorses think?”
I’ll tell you.
As a former bettor, and someone who knew many other bettors at the races from $2 “weekend warriors’ to $2,000+ and up pick-6 and pick-5 syndicates, I can tell you this:
Almost all of them [myself included] always knew that the game wasn’t 100% “straight’, but, with a little detective work, the Racing Form, the past performances of the horses, clockers and timer’s info, workouts, and, occasionally some “inside information” – [usually bad, but once in awhile, rock-solid] – we would attempt to build a case for a particular horse or race where we felt we could effectively “out-smart” the cheaters.
Almost like a chess game.
For some, occasionally it worked. Myself, I won more than often than most.
But that all changed last year.
For most bettors, though, animal safety and horse deaths didn’t really enter into it, mostly because people who attend the races are blissfully unaware of the tragedies that occur at some track, somewhere, every single day. Quite frankly, a breakdown, in most bettors’ eyes, is an anomaly, a rare event. And, to make matters worse, in terms of animal abuse, most people who attend the races DO NOT KNOW that a horse who was “vanned off” will, invariably, end up dead.
Thankfully, with a lot of credit due to the efforts of this site, more and more people are waking up to the horrors of this dying sport, as evidenced by the all-sources wagering handle, which is down about 10%, at the two boutique summer meets, Del Mar and Saratoga.
With that info, you can be sure that the writing’s on the wall.
But don’t think for one minute that all bettors are stupid, ignorant morons who just “can’t wait to be made of fool of”, because even the most casual racegoer is even somewhat aware of fractional speeds, workout times, race conditions, turf and dirt, sprint and route specialists, breeding and many other factors that all go into the ‘science’ of handicapping a race. I did it, and I did it successfully for many years. And all that time, I knew there was cheating, doping, and fixing going on; but it was not to the extent that exists today, because today, the most unsound horses can be entered into a race, finish last and still pick up a paycheck. Add the over-breeding, more expensive and untraceable drugs, crooked track vets, and propped up money from politicians, all of which contributes to rendering efficient handicapping nearly impossible.
Most of these magnificent animals who are turned out in their Sunday best in the post parade are difficult to spot if they are not fit to race, further adding to the problem of effectively picking winners.
But I firmly believe that more and more bettors will turn their wagering interest and bankrolls to other opportunities, like casinos and sports betting, as the racing industry slowly destroys itself from within. With betting available now on just about everything you can think of throughout the USA, and right from your smart phone, horse race betting will slowly but surely go the way of dial-up phones and 8-track tape players.
-Joe
Thank you Joe, and, REAL sports are so FRIGGIN awesome. Football, Baseball, Hockey, etc. No one on God’s green earth, needs the corrupt evil of abusing non consenting animals as gambling chips.
Exactly, Bonnie. And all of the players in real sports are in the game because they really want to be there. They know all the risks and they choose to play. Unlike the poor horses….There is something particularly sleazy about people who make their livings off of the enforced labor of others who get nothing but abuse. Horse racing has much in common with slavery, prostitution, and child labor.
Is there any chance you can get video of this race of Hip Hip Hooray?
The replay doesn’t show anything other than the horse was slowing down a bit at the end.
Racing not down because people are loosing interests, Its because of Biden inflation and the cost of energy , gasoline etc. Racing is still just as popular as ever, but more people also play them on line now.
Robert,
This is not factually correct, as the all-sources betting handle is down on horse racing, but bettors will still bet – so, instead they’ve moved their interests to sports betting [which is growing exponentially, unlike horse racing] casino gambling, and on-line betting. Interestingly, although horse race betting is available online through most apps on your ‘smart-phone’ this has not helped it’s overall numbers.
Years ago, Atlantic City had a race book in every single casino in town – now only one is left – at the Borgata, and last time I was there, it was deserted.
Consequently, their new ‘sports book’ which opened right next to it in the casino – was packed!
Not sure about Las Vegas.
Both Saratoga and Del Mar, probably the top two meets of the year are down an average of 10% – each – that’s not attendance, that’s the overall betting handle – none of which bodes well for the sport. Santa Anita Park is “hoping” that the closure of Golden Gate Fields will allow them to return to a four-day racing week.
Huh? When I lived in southern California, 5- and 6- day weeks were the norm! Three days of live racing? Sure doesn’t sound like a growing enterprise to me!
Also, in times of economic duress, many people turn to gambling as an outlet for their frustration, none of which is evident by any increase on horse race betting. Rather the reverse is true – betting on horse racing is down!
One can also make a case that more and more race tracks are shutting down, and few, if any new ones are being built – and if this were a ‘growing’ enterprise, new tracks would be popping up all over the country! Some “biggies” that have bit the dust: Hollywood Park, Golden Gate Fields, Bay Meadows, Calder Race Course, Arlington Park, Hialeah Park , and soon, Aqueduct – to name but a few – are all gone.
Lastly, horse racing desperately needs ‘racino’ money, or politicians’ donations [like NY governor Kathy Hochul’s idiotic $455 million dollar ‘loan’ to NYRA] just to survive.
But before I make a final say on the subject let’s see what the Breeder’s Cup races bring – a decline in overall handle there would only prove the direction horse racing is heading
As always, your thoughts are welcome.
-Joe
People lost interest in watching jockeys whip racehorses over thirty years ago. Wagering handle declined so much that subsidizing the racing industry became a reality long before the orange haired monster became president let alone Biden.
Horseracing saw its heyday in the 19th and 20th centuries. This is the 21st century, Robert. Horseracing in Pennsylvania has been subsidized with $3.5 Billion since 2004 (long before Bidenomics). This doesn’t include all of the other states that have subsidized horse racing.