The chart note for the 7th at Fairmount yesterday: “Euro Suprise contested the pace between horses on the backstretch, sustained a severe hind leg injury into the second turn, fell, was humanely euthanized and taken off the track via the equine ambulance.” Yes, again, the dead horse was taken off the track by ambulance. The writer added: “There was a stewards’ inquiry into Euro Suprise’s fall but no action was taken after their review.” In other words, results stand; owners and bettors collect your winnings.
Euro was seven, and this was his 35th time under the whip. The complicit: breeder Bryan Hawk, owner Jodie Durham, trainer Mike Durham, jockey Cory Orm, and all those who support this vile industry in any way – betting, attending, watching, working in.
Also, earlier in the Fairmount day, this for 3-year-old Till: “collapsed after the race, was revived and transported off the track via equine ambulance.” What more can I say?
Thinking this chartwriter really pissed off HISA officials with these admissions; Lisa & Co. work so, so hard to project the illusion of effective Horse Safety Reforms at their HISA-certified death tracks. In fact, they’ve set up their “public” (haha!) fatalities-accounting system in such a way that we can’t even tell whether HISA includes — or even acknowledges — poor Euro Surprise’s death-by-racing.
(With all this new HISA “Integrity,” how would we ever know?)
What does the equine ambulance look like at Fairmount? Again, it could be a utility trailer with high sides to transport dead horses off the track. The high sides would keep the horse’s body from rolling off onto the ground because the “ambulance” or “utility trailer” is only wide enough for the dead horse to be hauled off on his or her back with legs and hooves in the air.
The one I saw over 40 years ago was too narrow for a horse to lie flat on his or her side. That was at Centennial race track in Colorado in 1980. Little did I know at that time that killing horses for Pari-mutuel gambling and purse money was so commonplace.