While the following harness rulings do not directly involve horse abuse, I thought they’d provide some insights into the quality of people working in the horseracing industry (and, thus, around the horses).
First, this from Michigan (regarding an incident in June):
“Mr. Justin Irvine is fined $1,000 [later changed to $2,000] and given a 30-day driving suspension…for violation of a rule [on] offensive and profane language. Mr. Irvine did turn his head to the right and yell an offensive statement to Ms. Staci Malady, causing her to run to the draw gate and pull him off the race bike. Mr. Irvine also made an offensive hand gesture at Ms. Malady’s driver coming down the stretch.”
“Ms. Staci Malady is fined $2,000 [later changed to $3,000] and suspended until Dec 31…for violation of rules [on] fighting and disturbing the peace. Ms. Malady did yell profanity at Mr. Justin Irvine and ran to the draw gate to pull him backwards off the race bike.”
“Ms. Peyton Malady is fined $500…for violation of rules [on] offensive and profane language and disturbing the peace by verbally encouraging Ms. Staci Malady.”
Harrington, Oct 8:
“DHRC licensee Toni Thomas…is now under a 30-day suspension for failing a human drug test [at the track]. Ms. Thomas tested positive for oxycodone and methamphetamines.”
Harrington, Oct 23:
“DHRC licensee Ivan Smith Sr…is under a 10-day full suspension for failing the breathalyzer test [at the track].”
Nice, huh?
Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems the fines are higher for profanity than for excessive whipping of a horse. But the behavior of these people sure does explode the myth that this is a sport of the elite.
We hardly know where to begin. We have seen fist fights between jockeys & owners/ trainers after the running of a race whose results they disagreed on. The 1 race we`re thinking of was the last one on that days card. The stewards & security just let them all fight it out until they tired & quit! We have been at the track in am when it was announced over the speakers on the backside” Tomorrow test day, everyone be clean” .We have seen riders so drunk that they repeatedly fell of the horse they were to race ride many times before the race! Once they actually were racing the rider was actually a decent rider with good timing. At the bush league bull rings of Oregon you see the really old veteran riders who are jaded along with the novice unknowing young riders as we once were. So glad to see this business declining.
The illegal use of legal drugs is much more common than I realized prior to living in a certain apartment complex which had two other informal names. For several years, this certain apartment complex was referred to as “crack flats” and after a certain incident happened on September 17, 2008 (a person was shot multiple times but lived), it was called “felony flats”.
Part of the thing is…is that too many people live too close together in the same complex. So some of those people are drug addicts of both legal drugs (used in violation of the law) and illegal drugs and dealers. (One person I knew said the apartment that he lived in had been used to manufacture/cook methamphetamines before he lived there.)
It’s not exactly like everybody knows everybody but kind of.
It is logical that it would be basically the same concept in horse racing, especially at a certain race track, that “everybody knows everybody” and that many of them would definitely NOT BE the best examples of humanity.
It seems logical that when jockeys, for example, get injured, like a broken ankle or something, whatever, that they’d become addicted to those prescription painkillers such as Hydrocodone and very possibly use them in an illegal manner.
Tracks are cesspools. If they drug tested and breathalyzed everyone throughout the day, there would hardly be anyone left to work. I knew a jockey years ago who admitted he would use while riding because it took his fear away.