Through a FOIA request to the West Virginia Racing Commission, I have confirmed the following kills at Mountaineer thus far this year. Please note, the report also conveyed that three of the nine dead horses went for pathology – the other six to the landfill.
Hayek, Apr 12, Mountaineer T – “[multiple] fractures”
Cheap Speed, May 2, Mountaineer S – “colic, [found dead]” (had been raced Apr 22)
Canon Trail, Jun 10, Mountaineer T – “sesamoid fracture”
Jokemeister, Jun 16, Mountaineer R – “[multiple] fractures”
Got Muled, Jun 20, Mountaineer T – “shoulder fracture” (two, being prepped for first race)
Indigo Wind, Jul 7, Mountaineer R – “cannon fracture”
Charlottes Way, Jul 16, Mountaineer R – “died – suspect cardiac” (six years old)
Golden Gulley, Aug 4, Mountaineer R – “[multiple] fractures”
Stavros, Aug 5, Mountaineer S – “fractured skull, died”
RIP to all of these beautiful creatures.
Pauline, they have been dumping the dead bodies of racehorses from Mountaineer racetrack in the public landfill in West Virginia for SEVERAL YEARS PRIOR TO the report and pictures of BRIDGET MOLONEY were published. The information is online if you do a search.
“Treated like kings”. How much more depraved can the horseracing industry get than dumping their prized athletes in landfill. They’re sinking.
Shirley, there`s no plan of action other than,” shut up, cover up & fake the #`s! We have seen those poor dead horses laid out in the back stretch area away from view behind chain link fences at Portland Meadows awaiting the rendering plant truck to haul them off to the plant in Tualatin. Not even having the decency of being covered for the couple of days before the truck could come. So glad to see the interest in this “Crooked,Crummy,Gamboling Game” declining with younger people. With our bull ring fair meets here in Oregon I noticed a notable decrease in sponsors of purses this summer.
There’s A LOT F’d up about our country right now…this EVIL unnecessary killing of Beautiful horses chief among them. Not to mention…..prices really gone down😒
Before you Patrick I could not find a voice for abuse and dying whipped horses. And God only knows what happens when majestic horses are out of view. Is there a plan of action from NYRA anywhere like the news.
Is there any way to find out which six horses were taken from Mountaineer racetrack and dumped like garbage in the public landfill?
The public at large ought to have the knowledge of this method of dead racehorse disposal. There should be pictures of the actual horses that were dumped in the landfill published in the newspapers/news media. The pictures should be the actual horses and not stock photos.
This is seriously revolting! How does the public feel about having these so-called horsemen dumping the horses they abused to death, that is literal death, in the public landfill…?
This reminds me of the article about how people in Puerto Rico view the Thoroughbreds that the so-called horsemen use and abuse to literal death in Puerto Rico. The article said horses are 300 pounds underweight. I don’t know if this means a small percentage or a large percentage of the horses in Puerto Rico. It is difficult to imagine that a horse that should weigh 1200 pounds could weigh 900 pounds and still be alive.
This callous view of horses, especially ones used for racing and gambling entertainment and “paychecks” is socially UNACCEPTABLE besides being morally depraved.
The people who own breeding farms are largely responsible for allowing their young, underdeveloped colts and fillies to become a disposable product. If people think this heinous abuse of horses is okay because it’s their job, they are wrong! There are so many ways of earning a living that do not involve being cruel to horses.
Horseracing is Animal Cruelty and the people involved keep providing evidence every day by doing these morally depraved things.
I stand corrected about Stavros being in the Miyadi barn in 2023.
This is so unspeakably vile. It’s also illegal (I would think/hope), but the illegality is second only to the complete absence of normal human empathy found in individuals who can do something like this. They are monsters.
Karen- I don’t see that he was with Steve- but I do remember him being a Madaket horse with Bob Baffert. I thought the name sounded familiar. They had high hopes for him (a $300,000 purchase). He was eventually claimed by Jamie Ness, on his downward spiral. Ness is another well-known trainer with sketchy training habits. Poor horse. He certainly had a rough time in his short life.
Immediately recognized Stavros as a horse who raced once here in So Cal for Steve Miyadi back in 2023. Ironically, the winner of that race, veteran Del Mar Jerry, just won at DMR August 8, his second start at the track. His trainer? Yup, your first guess is correct. Some runners cope with a trainer’s “techniques” and, when they don’t, will get shipped around the country, changing barns innumerable times, many eventually paying ultimate price, like poor Stavros. The list is long and ever-growing…
I remember Jokemeister’s chart saying he “had issues, euthanized on track”. Those,sadly, were quite the issues! Disgusting.
At the ragged edge of the track, where no one lingers, sorrow gathers like a dark shadow. The air is heavy, not with the thunder of hooves but with silence that presses against the heart. Here, fallen horses lie in stillness, their once-bright spirits dimmed, their gallop ended not by a finish line but by unseen hands of fate. They rest not in pastures, not beneath open sky, but in a hidden corner. Later, they will be trucked away, folded into the earth in landfills. It is the saddest place at the track.
Justice for the horses!
Justice for the run!
HRW will speak their names
’til justice is done!
It certainly looks like nothing has changed in West Virginia since Bridget Maloney was found in the landfill dumping ground on Septemer 25,2019. This became an issue and that was that after a hearing. On October 18, 2019 there was a post here at HRW with 60 commenting on the cruel end to a beautiful Bridget.