The following horses perished at NY tracks in 2023. Please note, however, that there were many horses who were injured at state tracks and who have not been heard from since (see this, for example). So, the true toll is almost certainly higher than the 95 listed below.
Firing Carol, Jan 7, Aqueduct R – “injured, vanned off, euthanized”
Bloodstockshalltab, Jan 12, Batavia R – “horse took a bad step”
Garth Road, Jan 27, Aqueduct R – “injured, vanned off, euthanized”
Woodmere Skyroller, Jan 27, Yonkers S – “died in stall 18” (five years old)
Slow Down Summer, Jan 28, Aqueduct R – “vanned off in distress, euthanized”
Hurrikane Mon Ami, Feb 4, Yonkers S – “died in stable area” (was raced two days prior)
Lord Brownie, Feb 17, Belmont S – “progressive worsening of laminitis, euthanized”
She’s a Black Belt, Feb 18, Aqueduct R – “injured foreleg, vanned off, euthanized”
Jelly Nougat, Feb 20, Aqueduct R – “suffered an injury…euthanized on the track”
Amman, Feb 26, Aqueduct R – “sustained injury to RF, euthanized”
Funwhileitlasted, Mar 9, Belmont S – “euthanized in stall”
Bank On Shea, Mar 16, Belmont S – “euthanized due to illness”
Cut the Check, Mar 28, Belmont S – “euthanized for lung disease” (three years old)
Hexotique, Mar 28, Belmont S – “euthanized due to fracture” (not yet raced)
Wudda U Think Now, Apr, Belmont S – “colic, founder”
Hesa Charmer, Apr 3, Tioga T – “expired while training”
Maajaackkobe, Apr 7, Yonkers R – “broke his leg during the 5th race”
Practical Julia, Apr 8, Aqueduct R – “injured, vanned off, [euthanized]”
Montana’sbigsunset, Apr 8, Finger Lakes T – “sudden death” (four years old)
Gaslight, Apr 10, Belmont S – “euthanized due to cellulitis” (four years old)
Thousand Island, Apr 12, Belmont S – “euthanized after examination” (unraced)
Blue Paynt, Apr 12, Belmont T – “fracture, transported to barn, euthanized”
Perceived, Apr 28, Aqueduct R – “injured after finish, euthanized on track”
American Boy N, Apr 29, Monticello S – “discovered with comminuted fracture in stall”
Nightmare Moon, May 4, Belmont S – “pleuropneumonia” (two years old)
Reed Kan, May 13, Belmont R – “injured, vanned off, euthanized”
Bustin Lulu, May 23, Belmont S (was raced just three days prior)
Impazible Donna, May 26, Belmont R (euth Jun 2) – “injured, vanned off, pneumonia”
Kaon, May 26, Saratoga S – “euthanized [undisclosed reason]” (was trained May 6)
Troubling Moon, May 27, Belmont T – “suffered sudden cardiac death event”
Battle Station, May 28, Belmont T – “injured, euthanized”
Mach West, May 28, Tioga R – “collapsed and deemed expired”
Chaysenbryn, Jun 1, Belmont R – “suffered an injury…euthanized on track”
Excursionniste, Jun 10, Belmont R – “suffered injury…euthanized on the track”
Ami’s Curlin, Jun 10, Saratoga S – “laminitis, all four feet” (two years old)
Mashnee Girl, Jun 11, Belmont R – “fell…euthanized on the track”
Gagliano, Jun 17, Belmont T (euth Jun 23) – “suffered injury Jun 17; refractured Jun 23”
Outkast Blue Chip, Jun 17, Buffalo R – “stopped, collapsed, [and died]”
Stencil, Jun 21, Belmont S – “laminitis both hind feet” (was last raced Jun 5)
yet-to-be-named 3-year-old, Jun 25, Belmont T – “injured breezing…euthanized”
Dudes Naughty Girl, Jun 27, Monticello S – “3-year-old mare found deceased in stall”
Mikibytheseaside, Jul 1, Saratoga Harness R – “collision at 3/4 pole”
Cold Hard Cash, Jul 3, Belmont R – “collapsed – fatal cardiac event”
Seize the City, Jul 7, Belmont R – “suffered injury to left foreleg…euthanized”
Pave My Way, Jul 11, Finger Lakes R – “appeared in distress, vanned off, euthanized”
Frigid Lady, Jul 15, Saratoga T – “broke RF leg”
Winter Son, Jul 20, Saratoga T – “sustained injury while breezing, euthanized”
Blame It On Mary, Jul 23, Saratoga R – “injured, vanned off, euthanized”
Caffeine Addiction, Jul 24, Vernon T – “sustained injury, humanely euthanized”
Big Brad Soldier, Jul 25, Finger Lakes R – “fractured cannon, euthanized on track”
Lawful, Aug 2, Saratoga T – “suffered injury, euthanized”
Sopran Basilea, Aug 3, Saratoga R – “suffered injury on gallop-out, euthanized on course”
Maple Leaf Mel, Aug 5, Saratoga R – “catastrophic injury, fell, euthanized on track”
Closed Caption, Aug 6, Saratoga T – “pulled up, vanned off, euthanized”
Ever Summer, Aug 6, Saratoga R – “fell…euthanized on course”
Racing Queen, Aug 7, Finger Lakes S – “colic, euthanized” (was raced Jul 31)
Warrior Nation, Aug 7, Finger Lakes R – “horse broke down, euthanized on the track”
Wisecraken, Aug 16, Saratoga R – “suffered injury, vanned off, euthanized”
Art Collector, Aug 17, Saratoga S – “laminitis, all four feet”
Uragano, Aug 18, Belmont S – “developed laminitis Jul 27, euthanized Aug 18”
Going Going Gone, Aug 23, Finger Lakes R – “in distress, vanned off, euthanized”
Burning Bright, Aug 23, Saratoga R – “suffered fatal cardiac event, hit rail, fell”
La Aguililla, Aug 25, Saratoga R – “injured, vanned off, euthanized”
Sbd Corazon, Aug 26, Batavia R – “shattered pastern, not repairable, euthanized”
Nobel, Aug 26, Saratoga R – “suffered catastrophic injury…euthanized on the course”
New York Thunder, Aug 26, Saratoga R – “catastrophic injury, fell, euthanized on track”
Hoosier Shooter, Aug 26, Vernon S – “found dead” (scratched from race the day before)
Shutters, Aug 29, Saratoga S – “found down, died before vet could arrive”
Daredevil Bull, Aug 30, Finger Lakes R – “broke down, humanely put to rest”
Wayward Ghost, Sep 2, Belmont S – “found dead” (three years old)
Do the Hustle, Sep 11, Finger Lakes R – “vanned off, [euthanized]” (first ever race)
Sounds Spooky, Sep 14, Belmont T – “pulled up, apparent fracture, euthanized”
Undertaker, Sep 16, Batavia R – “foul-gated, broke pastern, euthanized”
Moon Frolic, Sep 17, Aqueduct R – “injured, vanned off, euthanized”
Perfect Senorita, Sep 24, Aqueduct R – “catastrophic injury, euthanized on the course”
Bowl of Cherries, Sep 28, Aqueduct R – “collapsed, pronounced dead” (five years old)
Summer Nitro, Oct 3, Finger Lakes R – “in distress…euthanized on track”
Bank On Belle, Oct 13, Belmont T – “sustained injury while breezing…euthanized”
Holding Au Pair, Oct 15, Aqueduct R (euth Oct 16) – “flipped over [after race]”
Moon Chariot, Oct 16, Finger Lakes R – “fractured P1 necessitating euthanasia”
Who Is Jarett, Oct 17, Finger Lakes T – “horse received fracture, euthanized”
R B’s the Boss, Nov 2, Aqueduct R – “fell heavily, euthanized”
Duke of Hazzard, Nov 3, Belmont T – “horse suffered cardiac event after 1/4-mile breeze”
The Catillac Kid, Nov 6, Finger Lakes R – “pulled up in distress, euthanized on the track”
Blue Eighty Five, Nov 8, Belmont S – “developed cellulitis, euthanized” (two years old)
Stonecoldwarrior, Nov 10, Belmont S – “horse was found in distress, euthanized”
Foreign Influence, Nov 12, Aqueduct R – “fell heavily, euthanized on track”
Clavinet, Nov 14, Belmont T – “broke down on gallop out, euthanized on track”
yet-to-be-named 2-year-old, Nov 21, Finger Lakes T – “received fracture, euthanized”
Cromarty, Nov 30, Belmont T – “broke down, euthanized on the track”
Sports Lover, Dec 2, Saratoga Harness (euth Dec 6) – “euthanized for broken LF leg”
Howzyourcashflow, Dec 3, Aqueduct R – “injured, vanned off, euthanized”
Division Bell, Dec 16, Saratoga Harness R – “apparent heart attack” (seven years old)
Star Sequence, Dec 17, Belmont T – “collapsed, expired on track” (two years old)
Midnight Stroll, Dec 27, Belmont T – “horse collapsed and died after routine gallop”
How does The Jockey Club come up with this mathematical formula to say “per 1,000 starts” when calculating the statistics in their attempt to make horse racing appear “safe” at least in their cold-blooded horse-killing minds?
I estimate that for each and every one horse killed in this inherently abusive and deadly gambling racket that is reported and in the Freedom Of Information Act requests, there are at least three horses that were killed by this egregiously cruel gambling racket that are not reported in the “official” record. There are several ways that horses can be made to disappear and the majority of the public will never know what happened to them or, in many cases, never know these “invisible” horses ever existed. Not everyone follows horseracing so closely that they would ever wonder what happened to a horse that they never heard of in the first place. And then there are those cold-blooded heartless heathenistic bettors who only care about their chances of winning the trifecta or whatever their “thing” in gambling is. These types of gamblers could not care less if a horse is injured by flipping or any such thing that requires the veterinarian on duty to scratch the (injured) horse.
Spectators complained loudly to the Olympic Committee after witnessing a horse whipping incident at the Tokyo Olympics. This resulted in a serious discussion about whether to eliminate equestrian sports from the Olympics altogether. The discussion isn’t over. There will be horses at the Paris summer games this year, but they are under strict scrutiny and a zero tolerance policy for any violations. If there are more complaints from spectators, that’s the end for horses at the Olympics. SO….how come no such outcry from racing spectators? Why is this routine killing tolerated year after year? It can’t just be the money. There are plenty of other places to gamble.
There would be absolute outrage! The steroid scandals of past players in the MLB contributed to a loss of fan base that has really not fully come back along with the players strikes too.
Seeing the entire list really does show what racing is all about. These deaths
are not “accidents.” This is commonplace. This IS horseracing.
So, what do you suppose would the general public’s reaction if, say, on the week before the World Series, MLB announced that NINETY FIVE pro baseball players DIED while playing on the field during the previous year’s regular season?
Every year??
Think about that.
-Joe