The 7th at Aqueduct yesterday, in the cold, terse telling of the chartwriter: “Spun and Won settled on the outside, suffered a catastrophic injury late on the backstretch, was pulled up, then euthanized on the track.” The Gaming Commission added: “Equine ambulance transported the horse off the track.” But of course, for how else to get a thousand-pound lifeless mass off the playing surface so the game could continue? Vile.
Equally vile is this:
Yes, the seven-year-old Spun was sold by his treat-them-like-family “connections” immediately before the race, but, alas, that sale was voided because the property in question was dead.
This is horseracing.
I agree with Joe, i.e., in that Mr. Lukas will not only have to ~*m.e.e.t.*~ his Maker, but he (Mr. Lukas)
…………………… will also have to ~*a.n.s.w.e.r. TO*~ his Maker, as well.
Thanks, Joe. It took several tries but I finally got a reasonably logical answer online to the question of why a man who gambles on racehorses would call D. Wayne Lukas a butcher. One thing is it says D. Wayne Lukas had a high attrition rate. He demanded a lot from the horses, he had an assembly line type of training method, he didn’t let up on horses and many of his horses were raced with lameness issues. He was very demanding on the horses.
What is even more sickening on top of the sadistic nature of that is the industry says that he “revolutionized” the industry as if that is something they consider desirable.
So, long story short, he put horses through the ‘meat grinder’ and many more horses were lamed, made unsound, and didn’t become champions than the number of horses that he did manage to turn into champion racehorses.
Some people may have placed bets on horses trained by Lukas that were unsound which would have been a losing bet for gamblers. Some people might have actually had issues with the cruelty and lack of ethics of Lukas running unsound horses.
Joe, We at one time groomed some of the horses that one of Lucas`s primary riders Steven`s rode at Portland Meadows where Gary Stevens started at 1 mile tracks. Gary was always impatient with us grooms & the horses. Could never stand either 1 as horseman. If 1 can still find the expose written in the mid 1980`s by we think by Sports Illustrated. That article is most enlightening about why Lucas left California for Oklahoma at the time. The move was all about the $$. Not the horses.
Thank you, Joe.
Disgusting! RIP Spun and Won.
Yes, sad, as always. Dead.
And speaking of dead:
Long-time thoroughbred and former quarter horse trainer D. Wayne Lukas died on June 28 at 89 years old. While it has never been my personal policy to speak ill of the dead, I thought I would pass along a comment that was spoken to me at the New York Turf Club in the 1990s, when I was still actively wagering on horse racing. (*Note: I quit. No more for me!)
Many of the big bettors used to regularly converge at the ‘club’ on race days to discuss possible bets, contenders in the races, overlays, (that’s an entry who’s odds may be high, but still has a good shot to win the race) and such.
Before one of the big races of the day (I can’t remember which one) I asked one of my former cronies, “whaddya think of Lukas horse here?”
The answer was cold, terse, and telling.
“Lukas? “Can’t stand him. “He’s a butcher.”
Even thirty-some odd years ago.
If true, Mr. Lukas won’t be butchering any more horses now. Now, he has to contend with meeting his maker.
-Joe