The stewards at Turfway report the following for Dec 27:
“The claim [sale] of Man of Mischief was voided when horse was placed on Vet’s List.”
“Pray for the Bear required the assistance of the horse ambulance. It was later reported that the horse had returned lame.” (The race chart, by the way, said nothing of this.)
“Wits and Wagers suffered physical distress.”
“Dia Estelar returned lame.”
Then there are these recent whipping rulings in harness world:
Dover, Dec 18: “With aggravating circumstances Ceba Horsey exceeded the 3-whip maximum while driving Duffy’s Opinion.” “With aggravating circumstances.” The “punishment”: 30-day suspension.
Dover, Jan 2: “Driver George Napolitano is fined $200 for using his whip in the Winner’s Circle after the finish of race 5.” Yes, he whipped his horse in the Winner’s Circle.
Miami, Jan 7: “While driving Fox Valley Carlin, David Ward did whip the horse excessively.” Then this: “Mr. Ward is driving on a probationary license.” Welcome aboard!
And finally, this from Charles Town last night:
“Going to Ombra, while getting saddled, reared and flipped in his stall. [Later], while waiting to load, [he] became rank and flipped over once again.” “Scratch” him? Not on your life. With taxpayer-subsidized Charles Town paying first-last, Going, despite flipping twice, was raced; he finished last (20+ lengths back), and his exploiters took home $140. He is, by the way, just two years old, and this was his second ever race.
Going wasn’t the only terrified young horse at CT last night, however:
3-year-old Castle of Cork “was very reluctant to load.”
3-year-old Maddie Ten “was very hard to load.”
2-year-old Pistol Penny “was very fractious in the gate.”
2-year-old Marsala “was very bad inside the gate.”
This is horseracing.
These horses deserved better.
Marie, it is an example of the total lack of empathy for the horses in horseracing by “fans” of this ABUSIVE industry. It shows what heartless heathens support this form of Animal Cruelty. To me, it’s beyond sad; it’s an outrage that anyone would be so cold and callous that they would joke about the absolute ABUSE of horses.
The forcing of young and underdeveloped colts and fillies starting at the age of 18-months to be locked up in stalls 23 hours a day is ABUSE of horses. Forcing them to be galloped on a racetrack for part of the approximately one hour that they are not locked up in a stall is ABUSE of horses. Forcing them to perform as racehorses is ABUSE of horses.
You can’t have horseracing and Pari-mutuel gambling without having ABUSE of horses.
This hideous cruelty needs to be terminated from all subsidies. It would be awesome if these ABUSERS of horses were locked up 23 hours a day and let out of their small cells for an hour to do manual labor that causes them physical pain because that’s what they do to horses.
This is so disgusting and pathetic of CT. Someone on the Thoroughbred Champions forum facetiously (I hope) said: “Charles Town has a 3 flipping policy”. Haha so funny. How sad that pro racing folks can laugh off this heartbreaking spectacle.
Wanda, Rebecca, Fred & Joan,
There are 51,045 animal organizations in the U.S. according to the ask site. These statistics are for the United States only. These animal organizations employ 150,603 people, earn more than $16 billion in revenue each year, and have assets of $35 billion. So why are criminals not subject to legal and public humiliation for their vicious crimes?
Despite the generous donations and public repugnance toward horse racing the death count continues to soar? Why?
The list of criminal felonies that horses are constantly exposed to is immeasurably immoral. The protection laws are in the Statutes and Codes of Law in each state, but are not being enforced? To obtain a copy of Animal Cruelty Laws State by State, visit http://www.StrayPetAdvocacy.org 2003.
It is my opinion that equines need not suffer if the desire is real to stop criminal abuse of race horses. It is the obligation of the citizenry where racing is being conducted to oppose and defeat brutality by forming a coalition of power. No community in the U.S. should remain impassive when horses are being willfully murdered by trainers who flaunt and defy protective laws with impunity. If organizations do not improve in the area of saving victims then close your wallets. Organizations without funds will have to gain victories or lose their jobs.
Also, politicians must emphatically be informed that their apathy toward animals being abused and killed by trainers will no longer be tolerated. Horse racing is being controlled by drug dealers. race fixers, corrupt vets, jockeys, etc.
Trainers who murder horses with drugs and are active in race fixing must be subjected to legal humiliation and appropriate incarceration along with pertinent financial penalties applied against their bank accounts and other holdings. Let the year 2025 be the year when Justice must prevail. Let your resolution be that if no one else fights for the horses you will because the sin of horse racing is Cosmic Treason against God and His creation.
Where is your conscience hiding Mr. Paulick…we all have a final destination either hell or heaven, smarten up.
If you ever needed any proof that people in the racing industry are NOT horsemen and have NO intelligence or empathy when training horses then look at how many babies are flipping, bolting, and rearing. These horses are not prepared mentally or emotionally for racing to begin with, and then being aggressively forced to participate only heightens their flight or fight response.
And as for “becoming rank” while waiting to load, Going to Ombra was nothing of the kind. He was a terrified, by now hurting baby who was being pushed beyond his mental, emotional, and physical limits and was trying to communicate the only way he could. But God forbid you racing parasites take any responsibility for the horse’s behavior, right? Instead, label him as uncooperative and combative, then force him to race anyway just to pocket a couple hundred bucks. Revolting.
Here in Oregon which is the king of bush league racing, even our state does not allow a horse to be raced anytime they flip over or break through the gates! All these subsidies need to be eliminated! Those poor young horses being traumatized & terrified at such young ages.
These pseudo-horsemen should not be allowed to have horses. These displays of Animal Cruelty are examples of moral depravity. This is a horrible waste of government subsidies as well.