A statement from the Breeders’ Cup: “Breeders’ Cup is saddened to report the loss of Practical Move after what is suspected to be a cardiac event while returning from his gallop this morning at Santa Anita Park.”
A “suspected cardiac event” – at the tender age of three. This one, of course, has already garnered a lot of media attention, for you see Practical (below) was a “superstar” – Santa Anita Derby winner, almost $1M “earnings.” Meanwhile, ignored, shamefully, are the thousands of more pedestrian horses who flood our lists.
What other “sport” than horse racing has 3 year old athletes dying of a “cardiac event”?
Shut this vile industry down!
It’s possible that if this willful and deliberate abuse of a 3-year-old Thoroughbred for racing and wagering would have not resulted in a cardiac arrest but rather had been some other type of injury/injuries, they could have hauled him off the racetrack and tried to keep it hidden using the 72-hour loophole rule that allows for these criminals to get away with the killing of an innocent horse.
Of course, they still get away with it, but at least this incident is out in the open now.
Thank you to everyone who keeps an eye out on this criminal abuse and killing of innocent horses. Not enough can be said for activists putting the spotlight on the darkest “hour” of horse racing and subsequent horse killing.
I personally live too far away from any racetrack to actively protest holding signs, but if I could travel to Santa Anita Park, I’d be out there holding up at least one of those signs.
Hats off to those of you who are there protesting the abuse and the killing of innocent horses! May the pre-programmed and pre-meditated shit show of the Breeders’ Cup races in 2023 be the event that turns more people off to this morally depraved “entertainment” they call a sport.
From the Thoroughbred Daily News: “The screens arrived eventually but not soon enough to remind those present of the occasionally desperate nature of the sport we love and how such a scene threatens its very future.” Occasionally? Really? Thank you, Patrick, for your tireless and meticulous reports and statistics on behalf of the horses. May their deaths and Patrick’s efforts not be in vain.
Thank you for sharing that particular line from the article. It’s the line that is so revealing about the mindset of the people who are capable of “looking the other way” on a daily basis day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year for decades.
They know what can happen, because it does happen more often than they are willing to admit. They know they cause harm and death to the horses in their “beloved sport” that they choose.
When we were still participants in racing at the backside of our now gone ,redeveloped track, most grooms recorded the Breeders Cup races so they could watch them later. One year was so brutal in breakdowns & injuries during the races the grooms did not keep that year. We think it was in the mid- 1990`s.
The Spookiest of Halloween Horrors: Racing Kills Practical Move.
Hate to give this young racehorse’s death any more attention than the literally THOUSANDS of others each and every year in the U.S…
Still, could anything more disastrous have happened — timing-wise, venue-wise and publicity-wise — for everyone who’s still involved in this sick game? I mean: Top horse, prepping for biggest Bleeders’ Cup race, dies at the Santa Anita Death Track, under the “watchful” eyes of racing and veterinary officials from the laughably-titled HISA and the high-credibility CHRB and the not-creepy-at-all Stronach Group. Can any of these folks possibly do any WORSE?
Um, actually, scratch that; we all know they can. And they will.
Happy Halloween, everybody.
What a dank, dark hole that horse was forced to spend 23 hours a day in – and his expression says it all.
And I definitely wouldn’t call 9889 dead horses “occasional”. The only reason they’re “saddened” to report this death is because it just adds more s*** to the mountain of false propaganda they’ve got their heads buried in.
Kelly and Rebecca, I know you are horse owners. I am not but this horse looks too thin or something from an untrained eye. Do you agree?
Nancy, I don’t think he looks any thinner than many racehorses, but what I question is his soundness issues.
He looks like he has some swelling in his right front fetlock. It looks like he’s got a few little lumps and bumps on both front fetlocks/ankles. He’s got some weird looking stuff going on with his fetlocks, in my opinion. I’m questioning why he stands more forward with one leg. Horses can do that anyway but he might be trying to favor one leg by redistributing his weight.
I don’t know what’s going on with him in this picture, but I think he’s on painkillers for sure. He certainly has an expression on his face that indicates that he is not a happy horse. He looks miserable.
Wanda, thank you for your expertise and observation. I appreciate it very much. Just to add, they have the audacity on the entries for what would have been his upcoming race..
A SCRATCH.how pathetic.
Looks like he was pinfired too
It does, Marie – left front. And he does not look comfortable – pointed left front, ear position, eyes. (Can’t help but always notice the stupidity of the hag bag at the level they’re hung – and the Jolly Ball – as if an equine who’s stalled most of his daily existence finds enrichment from a Jolly Ball – can they announce any “louder”how clueless they are about the animal they’re “caring” for? 🙄)
Marie, I took a closer look. Thank you for mentioning that because I believe you’re right.
He’s got more bumps and lumps that I realized, but on his cannon bones. That’s hideous, especially for such a young horse. I wonder if they gave him the “Bob Baffert and blame it on God” treatment; a sudden collapse during or after the morning work out.
Many thoroughbreds are notoriously tough to keep weight on. My old guy cycles seasonally, though not too severely — yet. Then again, he’s not stuffed into a tiny, darkened box all day and night, and gets supplements as required. To answer your question, I think all racing TBs look freakishly thin and, well, breakable(!). But, poor Practical Move did NOT “break” — just keeled over at a rather inconvenient time and place for the racing industry — so his loving connections won’t want to equate his death with their own abuse and neglect. After all, thin or not, he was still earning them money…
Until he wasn’t.
Ms Nicole Arciello interviewed on Scripps News!! Outstanding job 👏
Are the racetracks obligated to find out what caused this cardiac “event” ? Do they have to report it to anyone?
Hopefully, a necropsy will be done at the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine and maybe the findings will be in the Freedom of Information Act
(sorry) … Freedom Of Information Act requests from the CHRB…?
Horseracing Wrongs Director Speaks Out: Nicole Arciello’s Interview on Scripps:
I believe I heard the man say that after hearing this information, he will never look at a horse race the same way. That’s exactly how I feel about it. I can never again be oblivious or willfully blind to any of the inherently abusive practices within the racing industry, because horses are dying every day from the abuse inherent to horse racing.