On May 10, Anarchist was “pulled up injured and transported off the course via ambulance” at Aqueduct. Usually, an injured/ambulance combo in the charts results in dead. Well, it took over a month, but that’s exactly what the 6-year-old is. A social-media post Wednesday from owner Ilium Stables:
“After two surgeries, and the advice of the veterinary team at the Ruffian Clinic, Anarchist was humanely euthanized this afternoon in NY. We are devastated and we want to assure everyone that has wished Anarchist well that we did everything possible to save his life.”
An obscenity if ever there was one. First, you – along with trainer Doug O’Neill, who was also “completely devastated” and who called Anarchist a “a warrior on and off the track” – are wholly responsible for his death. Second, you made this poor boy suffer through two surgeries (the initial injury, by the way, entailed multiple fractures) – and for over a month. In short, you are bastards – as are those passing along prayers and condolences.
A final note: As this kill happened far outside the standard 72-hour window, it will not show up in any of the “official” industry death stats – not on The Jockey Club’s “Equine Injury Database,” and most certainly not in/on HISA’s whatever they’re calling it. But Anarchist will be remembered and recorded here. We are so sorry.
RIP. Anarchist!
*… they should all be in prison for the multiple offenses they have committed. That would include Rudy Rodriguez and a bunch of those NOT Hall of Fame trainers who have killed multiple horses.
Jdoe, maybe you are half-joking, but I don’t see any humor in the fact that Doug O’Neill is still actively exploiting horses and causing them harm and death.
Not only that but he is not the only racing industry participant who has “built a reputation” for himself as a trainer who commits multiple doping violations which puts horses’ lives at a much higher risk of catastrophic and fatal injuries.
It’s an outrageous miscarriage of justice that Doug O’Neill and all of the rest of the repeat offenders who have committed violations of the laws regarding Animal Welfare & Animal Cruelty have not been penalized in a way that puts a complete halt to their criminal activities. All of the trainers who are responsible for the fatal injuries and literal death to multiple horses should receive a summons to appear in court for abusing and killing horses both in the past and the present time. Actually, they should all be in prison for the multiple off
The last time I checked, Bob Baffert is responsible for the death of 75 horses. I won’t be sending him a Christmas card either.
I remember when Santa Anita, Del Mar, Hollywood Park etc. were packed with racing fans and had full cards 5 days a week.
The brand has been destroyed.
Y’all should be sending the Drug O’Neils of the world Christmas cards for helping to ruin the sport and prevent hundreds of thousands of horses from being born into racing. :)
I can’t imagine all the suffering this poor horse went through. And it took the vets to tell them it was time to euthanize? Makes me wonder how well they know horses, and this one in particular. Drug O’Neill had released a statement in the beginning that his prognosis was good. It was in all the racing sites (including the one Jdoe attached here.) but of course, there are no articles regarding that fact that Anarchist didn’t make it after suffering this much at the hands of his keepers!
Jdoe, thanks for the link to the article with the photo of ANARCHIST running in a graded stakes race in front of the nearly empty stands.
I can’t express the full scope of my disgust and disapproval of these “people” forcing horses to run with their tongues hanging or flapping outside of their mouths as if the other fundamental wrongs of horse racing are not bad enough. There are so many levels of mistreatment of horses in this inhumane industry.
RIP, Anarchist.
Very well said Wanda. Agree 100%.
According to people totally okay with pushing the envelope on medicating horses for raceday.
-The prognosis is for a long and happy life.
– Health and safety is first and foremost for racehorse owners.
– Jockey did a masterful job
convincing the horse to stop after he broke his leg.
– Heres a career highlight picture, winning a prestigious graded stakes race in front of nearly empty stands.
Such a delusional business.
https://www.horseracingnation.com/news/After_Saturday_injury_in_N_Y_Anarchist_has_surgery_and_is_retired_123
Thank you, Patrick, for documenting the life and egregiously cruel mistreatment ending in death of a Thoroughbred horse doomed to suffer at the hands of arrogant, selfish, pretentious people who call themselves horsemen; and who would otherwise be swept under the rug and forgotten.
At this point, it’s a no-brainer that this horse will be treated like a nothing and a nobody by the industry insiders who attempted to profit off of the pain and suffering that they caused to the horse.
They can be real proud of their morally depraved selves because they made a horse suffer horrendously in extreme pain in their attempt to “save face”.
They used ANARCHIST as a lab rat by putting him through surgeries that only prolonged his suffering. They used the word “reassure” in their disgusting attempt to save face. They prolonged the horse’s misery and suffering to supposedly appease their fans. They deliberately prolonged the pain the horse had to endure. Now they can write the horse — the horse they deliberately played Russian Roulette with — off as a loss on their taxes.
These people are sadistic to cause the horse harm and injuries in the first place and even more sadistic to prolong the pain and suffering of the horse. It’s a no-brainer that racing horses causes injuries specific to racing. It’s not a secret and it’s not a mystery. If you want to be taken for a fool, go ahead and believe the lies of liars. The people of horseracing are quite adept at telling falsehoods to cover their own asses.
The veterinarians made their money off of the doomed horse by being a party and a part to prolonging the misery and suffering of a horse injured by racing.
This industry can only be made up of people who want to profit from the SUFFERING of horses. This racing industry is Animal Cruelty.
The fans of horseracing only prolong this egregious cruelty to horses by being the gullible morons they are to say that this is “love” of horses.
If they truly loved the horses, they wouldn’t be cheering on the relentless whipping of horses by the jockeys for one thing. There are so many things wrong with exploiting horses for “winning” bets and purse money.
These people should be charged with Animal Cruelty!