The 8th at Aqueduct yesterday, in the words of the chartwriter: “Jemography was hustled from the gate, pressed the pace on the outside…sustained a catastrophic injury just inside the 5/16 pole…then was euthanized on the track.” Several other horses, he/she writes, had to maneuver around the “spill” and avoid hitting their “fallen/injured foe.” Vile stuff. Jemography was eight, and this was his 56th time under the whip. In the three races that most immediately preceded this one – all under the yoke of Rudy Rodriguez – Jemo finished a combined 56.5 lengths back. Still, because Aqueduct is being propped up by unearned income (subsidies), Rodriguez (and his co-owners) walked away with $1,695.
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RIP.
Immigrants without status is one thing but ending birthright citizenship is another. We’re in for a very rocky two years at the least!
These horses are breaking down because of 2 reasons: pain from injuries incurred when they were mere babies being schooled as 2 year-olds, and illegal medications being administered to healthy horses. No horse of any age should be whipped during work-outs…scientific studies prove this reality. I refer to evidence collected by worldhorsewelfare.org/what-we-do/sport-and-leisure-horses/review-of-the-use-of-the-whip-racing. Most interesting was the Japanese study which reported 38% of serious accidents i.e. serious fractures and dislocations were associated with prior use of the whip. In other words, the horses was running normally until they were flogged.
A catalog of horse racing crimes has to be prepared from the time mares and stallions are abused in the breeding sheds (Northern Dancer was denied a retirement that was long overdue. Buckpasser died prematurely from a heart attack caused by too many mares to be served. Nurse Mares and the ruthless killing of their foals, etc. has to added to the legal complaints against horse racing. Also to be included the dangers horses are exposed to not only by neurectomies, drugs, but also how they are shipped on vans that do not carry essential equipment for emergencies i.e. defibrillators and fire extinguishers.
The legal system has to be confronted with the evidence that the vilest persons on earth are the men and women who are so contemptible that they willingly lame and kill horses for profit, and that those people live by a code that is against the principles of civilized and educated nations. No nation should tolerate those who live by the ancient maxim: Si possis, recti; si non, quocumque modo rem: “If you can get money honestly; do, but, however, get the money.”
No state or nation should permit the sin of horse racing nor should tolerance for the corrupt and the evil-doers who prosper by the pain and suffering of horses to remain in freedom. Such warped morals where anything goes as long as it is profitable is lawlessness in action and most dangerous to any democracy.
Moreover, those who do felony crimes against horses on such a despicable scale need financial penalties along with incarceration for malignantly maiming and killing horses for the express purpose of profit. It is an ugly and horrible world that will not give horses justice! Horse racing is the national sin of any country and not to be overlooked is the exploitation and immorality of undocumented workers being deprived of the entitlements of human rights. Cruelty and destruction of innocent lives both equine and human must be stopped! The murder of horses and the deplorable treatment of immigrants without status is a disgrace that must be defeated in the courts so that these crimes will become history and never again be sanctioned by humankind.
Subsidized horseracing might be extinct in twenty years from now; 2024 to 2044.
Sure did, Nancy. And the outrider just casually cantered up to him at the finish line, even though he broke down in the turn. It was disgusting. I would say the public got to see him front and center because he was right by that outside rail, but I’m sure the whopping 5 people, if that, standing there in the audience could have cared less.
And Joy, you’re so right. Racing is circling the drain. And NYRA is allowing it to happen faster by allowing and protecting these habitual, scummy horse killers like Rudy Rodriguez and the Engelharts to keep plying their trade at their dumpy tracks! Right on NYRA!
Beautifully said Elizabeth! Thank you.
NYRA deleted the race,however after my snooping found the replay. After losing the rider, he continued running on a mangled left front leg. Sad.
56 races! Let`s hope this “Crooked . Crummy, Gamboling game ” continues to circle the drain ever faster with the circling speed of a hurricane! We have ridden & galloped many of these poor veteran war horse types of race horses.Some of whom were raced with only 1 eye! The horse had been involved with a trailer accident while he was being hauled. The horses name was Dobi Pay by Dobi Denar. A truly experienced & forgiving horse when being galloped by us novice riders in the am. He raced MANY times with one eye & at the crummy 1/2 mile bull ring tracks that Oregon is known for. Agree 100% with you posters above.
Excellent, accurate and truthful words, Elizabeth! THANK YOU!
Racing supporters on X are going ballistic over Jemography’s death, exclaiming Rodriguez is one who runs crippled horses and should never have continued running the horse (that all goes without saying). Yet those same fans don’t hold the individuals who used Jemography in the past, making money from his body’s labors, then unloading him when he wasn’t “earning” to their expectations and demands, accountable.
Then there are the fans who cry “he did enough! – he more than earned a retirement!”…when asked “what IS enough, what earnings DO determine deserved retirement, you never get an answer…just the frequent “Fuck off” or the occasional block.
Idiots, all. Enjoy your horse-killing entertainment while it lasts, folks – the circling the drain continues.
Horses are magnificent, intelligent creatures, yet their treatment in the racing industry reduces them to mere tools for profit. I once heard someone argue that if we didn’t breed horses for riding and racing, they’d go extinct—confined to zoos as relics of a bygone era. This was supposed to sound like a grim fate, worse than their current lives. But is extinction truly worse than the reality so many racing horses endure?
Most of these animals spend 23 hours a day confined to stalls, unable to engage in natural behaviors like grazing, running freely, or socializing with other horses. They are forced to race on tracks under grueling conditions, their bodies pushed to breaking points far beyond what is natural. Bits tear at their sensitive mouths and whips drive them forward, ignoring pain or exhaustion. Injuries and death are frequent as documented by HW, and those who can’t perform are often discarded like broken machinery.
Is this the “purpose” that justifies their existence? If horses need us to give them a future, then surely we can imagine a better one—one that celebrates their grace, intelligence, and spirit without exploitation.