A pro-racing website reports that about a month ago it received a call from trainer Chip Woolley, who at the time was stabled at Turf Paradise. Apparently, Woolley’s 10-year-old mare had been scratched by a HISA-sanctioned Arizona vet on March 20. Woolley, the website says, was upset because, he claims, the horse was sound and in fact had won her most recent race on Feb 26. Then this happened, according to the website:
“But Dr. Lowe did not pass the mare and ordered her scratched, which automatically placed her on the Vet’s List. So Chip Woolley sarcastically asked [the vet], ‘What am I supposed to do with her, cut her head off?’ To that, Dr. Lowe responded by telling Chip the name of a guy who would buy the mare, telling Chip matter-of-factly that the guy ships a load a week across the border.
“That’s right. This lady state vet, approved by HIWU [the HISA ‘welfare unit’], scratched Chip’s mare, and then furnished him with the name of a person who buys horses and then transports them by van to kill pens in Mexico for slaughter. When Chip phoned Dr. Lowe the next morning about her statement, the call went to her voicemail. Dr. Lowe responded to Chip by texting him the guy’s name and phone number.”
The above exchange was subsequently reported to HISA and an “investigation” has supposedly begun. But as of this writing, Lowe is still working at Turf. All of this, including the text messages, has been confirmed to me by an independent source. I was also able to identify the horse in question (the website had not): Piper Rose. And while Woolley is “outraged” by the vet’s suggestion, let’s remember that poor Piper is 10 years old and that race she “won” in Feb was her 79th. So, Mr. Woolley, you are no innocent party here.
Giant Bright Eyes reported ran April 30 race 4 at Turf. He veered to the side and not apparent what caused the sudden off the beaten track. It’s been reported he’s deceased. Same vet in attendance that day maybe?
The sad part is – this is obviously not the first time she’s suggested this. So how many horses’ demise has she expedited in the horrific slaughterhouses of Mexico??
And if I remember correctly- years ago I read that the connections of Mine That Bird, of which Woolley was the trainer when he won the Kentucky derby, weren’t against slaughter. In fact, they were trying to reopen slaughterhouses in America.
Woolley was also found to have illegal meds and syringes in his barn and was given a slap on the wrist in the pre-HISA days. So, how sound was that mare, really?
She was suffering from something that made her unfit to race and her connections didn’t care!!!
Chip Woolley shows with his actions, his attitude and his words that he has no regard for the welfare or well-being of the mare or any horse!
He was angry that a veterinarian could, would and did prevent him from subjecting the mare to more harm by forcing her to run in a race that she logically would not have been competitive in. It’s just as Joe always says, INFIRM horses…
To be a veterinarian in the horse racing industry AND STAY IN THE HORSE RACING INDUSTRY, you would have to have a disconnect with the value of a horse as a sentient being. Horses are considered a commodity and categorized as livestock; therefore their value as a sentient being is beside the point. The point is making money with them.
So, while it might not seem quite appropriate or exactly ethical for a veterinarian to recommend a specific killbuyer for a racehorse that she scratched, she did answer his idiotic question of “What am I supposed to do with her? Cut her head off?” because he clearly doesn’t care about the mare. It’s clear that he only cares about the money involved and his ego.
I would say that Chip Woolley is ANTI-HISA the same way as many people in this industry would like to NOT have the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT involved in horse racing. They just want the government gravy train of subsidies and other ways that government bankrolls this egregious cruelty to horses. They don’t want to answer for their egregious and morally depraved abuse of horses for racing and wagering.
From our investigation into unwanted horses and racehorses, many tracks and evidently some trainers and vets have arrangements with transport contractors to sell horses at auction or drive them across the border to slaughter. This is no secret. The contractor, who misrepresented his “rescue organization” in the local paper and who we busted in Ohio, was one such contractor.
There are a lot of scam artists out there pretending to be rescues. Some of them are more obvious than others. I’m glad you could bust one of them.
As much as I love to make fun of (the ridiculously-named) HISA, I can’t say I blame them for this one. After all, Doc Lowe was just doing her very best to help facilitate TURNOVER — which, as we all know, is the name of the game in horse racing. So if she can keep her fellow racing creeps cycling more and more victims through Turf Pairo’Deaths’ never-ending meatgrinder, it’s a big win for HISA.
(She will need a crash course in subtlety, though; HISA officials HATE transparency, public accountability, and anything resembling accuracy in reporting. I think they’ll help her come around.)
I respectfully don’t understand what you are getting at, Kelly. HISA purports to want to “enhance equine welfare” while simultaneously employing a vet that suggests that a horse go to slaughter. How can you not blame HISA, particularly in light of its unwillingness to address the issue?