“Under Tack” events are speed trials for horses who are so young they don’t even have names yet; the trials allow prospective buyers to assess the new “talent” prior to bidding. Thursday, at a Fasig-Tipton event in Maryland, one of those baby bodies – a girl, and probably still a one-year-old – fatally broke. Said (in the Thoroughbred Daily News) FT President Boyd Browning: “It’s obviously something that is very sad and something everyone hates to see. It’s devastating when something like that happens.” “Sad” and “devastating” – but they’ll be right back at it Sunday (FT canceled the rest of Thursday’s trials because of rain; the kill had nothing to do with it).
The TDN article, the bulk of which focused on delays and how fast the other babies ran, also had this line: “As the filly was being attended to, the clouds moved in again and soon the rain was pelting the track.” Dying, in a driving rain. That poor girl. Incidentally, a one-year-old was killed at one of these shows just last April – our post, with video.
Despicable treatment to defenseless babies. This should be outlawed, banned. These death runs are cruel.
Wanda in our opinion all these speed trials should be banned! These are living sentient beings. Not race cars!! Race motorized horses such as cars, trucks, motorcycles etc. It is well proven that speed trials involving horses have a higher rates of breakdowns & deaths.
Mike Repole spoke out against these under tack shows, also called suicide races, even though he has not been willing to admit, confess, or speak out against the cruelty he and Todd Pletcher put young, immature and underdeveloped 2-year-old colts through to be qualified for the 3-year-old races, especially the Kentucky Derby, et cetera.
He doesn’t show that he cares that he doesn’t set the best example when it comes to treating horses like anything other than chattel.
The insanity of killing fillies and colts at approximately 18 months of age to less than 24 months old by doing the most heinously sadistic things to them doesn’t make a whole lot of sense money-wise. Evidently, they are so rich that they can exploit the yearling after they have run her to her death on purpose by using her as a tax write off. Otherwise, what sense would it make when it’s obvious that all of these greedy horse-killing monsters are all in it for the almighty dollar???
They certainly show by their actions as well as their “playbook of lies” that they don’t prioritize the young and vulnerable colts and fillies as sentient beings at all.