At Churchill Jun 20, Kinetic Control, said the chart, “suffered an injury and was transported off the track in an ambulance.” Usually a fatal combination of words, and indeed I have had three separate sources tell me Kinetic was euthanized. But curiously, there was nothing at all on this – not even a note on the ambulance – in the Steward’s Report for that day. So, official confirmation will have to wait till our FOIA.
This week, I received the following from an eyewitness:
“I attended a horse race at Churchill Downs for the first time on June 20th. I was invited by my family since they knew I loved horses and wanted to do something together. Into the homestretch of the sixth race, Kinetic Control, a three-year-old colt, stumbled and pulled up. It was immediately obvious to me that something catastrophic happened. He kept trying to run even though his front leg was very obviously broken in two. The lower half of his cannon bone and everything below it was swinging around like a helicopter – yet he continued to try to run, landing on the open fracture that couldn’t support his weight anymore. He finally came to a stop when he crashed into the rail right beyond the finish line.
“I refused to stop watching even though the people I was with wanted to usher me away. As soon as I saw his leg, I knew there was no coming back from that. The track team quickly got barriers erected and the transport van out, and got him off the track. Then it was like nothing ever happened. Everyone else pretty much went back to betting and cheering the horses as they ran, completely ignoring the fact that one horse would never run again. That is what bothered me the most about those around me – it seemed like nobody cared. Nothing was ever posted. No one acknowledged his loss. Say his name, Kinetic Control.”
Kayla (the writer asked that I only use her first name)
We’re working on it, Shirley – track by track.
Horses are being ravaged. They feel pain and have feelings like us. They are more human than the attendees who care about the next race than the outcome of the very abused horse..makes me sick. We don.t hear of any plan to right the grievous wrong.
“…the banality of cruelty…,” quoting here the results from a search on Google, “refers to the ordinary and often unremarkable nature of cruel actions taken by individuals who choose to inflict harm despite being aware of the suffering they cause. This concept highlights how such cruelty can stem from apathy or a deliberate decision to ignore the humanity of others, rather than from overt malice.” Perhaps this definition applies to horse racing. I was made aware of this quote from Hannah Arendt by Lawrence O’Donnell’s “The Last Word” on MSNBC, from his broadcast of July 1, 2025, in which he sorrowfully notes that this date is the official end of USAID. I know, by seeing what is going on, that the people who perpetrate the crime of horseracing are of the same type who are inflicting cruelty upon the poorest humans now not just outside the U.S. but in it too. Greed and apathy, there are just too many examples any more. Kinetic Control doesn’t rest in peace, he just doesn’t exist anymore, period.
We have had horses break down under us as we were galloping in am in 1986. Later in 2004 we saw a horse that we galloped in the am break both front legs in the 2nd race of the final day of the season in 2004. Will never forget! After experiencing these events & seeing many others we quit all track participation that fall. We`re so glad to see Portland Meadows now developed as an Amazon distribution center. A much higher use of the properties location near I-5.
I too witnessed a racing fatality in person. Like you, I refused to look away. I made myself look at it as intensely as possible. It rocked my world and forever altered many, many of my life choices from that moment on. To me, there are two main horrors. The first is that of the innocent horses, which Patrick has so meticulously documented at this site. But the second horror for me was just what you touched on, that fans and employees at the track are laughing and back to business as soon as the body is removed. How, callous, how far gone do people have to be to see that and carry on unaffected, albeit disappointed that the start of the next race will have to be delayed while they haul away the corpse?
Thank you for sharing your experience. I am glad you did not shy away from the reality of the event, however painful it was. Your reaction is a proper reaction of someone with great love in their heart. And although the others around you that day are not aware of it, the greatest horror of all is an existence devoid of that love.
It is curious that the racing stewards didn’t mention that KINETIC CONTROL was euthanized.
Could it be that his connections have some sort of relationship with the stewards to keep it hush hush when one of their horses suffers a fatal breakdown?
His owner is listed as Albaugh Family Stables LLC. His trainer is listed as Dale L. Romans. His jockey in this inhumane race was Corey J. Lanerie.
Thank you to Kayla for sharing her experience even though it turned out to be a real life nightmare that you can’t wake up from.
This cruelty must end.
Yes Nancy, as soon as I saw it, I told Patrick I hope to God they put him down on the track. It was sickening that he was made to hop across the wire with that jerk on his back.
It happened again to a Steve Assmussen horse a few days later. The horse broke down before the wire and was made to hop across it also.
Race 6…Marie and I reported it here. He made it over the finish unbelievably. So I would guess someone made cash anyway. There were probably spectators standing there at the finish witnessing this display of pure evil. Sickening.
As a public “entertainment” venue, it seems like racetracks ought to be required to provide a warning statement to attendees, such as: “Warning: racehorses have been whipped, suffered catastrophic injuries, and euthanized on this track. Viewers Discretion Advised.