In the 5th at Parx Saturday, Yes Sir Colonel, said the chart, “dropped far back, losing contact, then collapsed in the stretch and was vanned off.” According to multiple sources, he is dead – a “cardiovascular event” of some sort. But that’s only part of this crime.
This poor boy, 8 and under the whip for the 66th time, was, according to the how-does-she-sleep-at-night announcer, “acting up in the gate” – which to my mind was his way of desperately trying to tell his tormentors something was wrong. But wait, there’s more.
Hopelessly in last the entire race (at least 25 lengths back at the 3/4 mark), Yes Sir was whacked by jockey Bryan Torres at least three times immediately before collapsing.
Animal cruelty? Obviously. Animal cruelty under PA law? I say yes. The relevant passages:
Sec. 5533, “Cruelty to Animal”: “A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly or recklessly illtreats, overloads, beats, abandons or abuses an animal.”
And, if the kill is confirmed, Sec. 5534, “Aggravated Cruelty to Animal”: “A person commits an offense if the person intentionally or knowingly…violates section 5533 causing serious bodily injury to the animal or the death of the animal.”
Respectfully ask them to investigate:
Bucks County DA (Jennifer Schorn)
Pennsylvania AG (David Sunday)
Bensalem PD: 215-633-3719
Looking at the video, noticed the outrider was stationed there and another one galloped over from someplace. It seems like the they expected a disaster before it happened. Why couldn’t the horse have been pulled up when he was so slow. Sad sad sad and ashame.
That poor horse! He was telling them all as best he could that he did not want to run. I wish those people had listened to him! Struck 3 times when it was clear he was not well. Just look at his right front leg in the video. He clearly is not traveling well. 66 races? So very sad he never had a chance to have a natural life of being a horse.
Wanda, if you google Yes Sir Colonel horse, there is a TikTok video of the poor horse collapsing and dying. Watching the crappy Parx outrider (wonder if it’s the same crappy outrider that let an out of control horse run past them with a broken rein the other day) casually walk over to the horse is telling of the casual attitude of most race trackers thinking, eye roll, guess we have to van this one off too. Nobody came over to the horse until he started to rock back, and fall over, when a valet or an assistant starter decided maybe he should jog over to help. What a sad display of lack of concern.
The video doesn’t show the unfortunate horse collapsing. The way he is running, it’s easy to say he should have been scratched before the start.
From the standpoint of the racing stewards, they will defend their dereliction of duty to protect horses, especially YES SIR COLONEL, by referring to “the rules of racing” as if they are above any other law.
It would be awesome if this type and this case of Animal CRUELTY & ABUSE could be at least publicized in the newspapers for the general public to be educated on how horseracing is publicly funded CRUELTY & ABUSE of horses in Pennsylvania as well as the other states that subsidize this daily routine mistreatment of horses.
More names of responsible parties need to be named publicly; the owner/s, trainer, jockey, stewards, Pennsylvania Racing Commission members, and the track veterinarian who I assume was paid to pass this horse to race even though there is a possibility that the horse may have had a heart condition. I’ve been reading lately that horses can possibly have AFib. That is not to mention the reality that horses are DOPED FOR RACING.
The veterinarian should be more competent and honest than that but I know that in racing, veterinarians are paid to pass horses that SHOULD NOT BE PASSED TO RACE!!!!!
Why do these track veterinarians still have a license to practice veterinary medicine when they take money from the racetrack establishment to pass A HORSE THAT IS UNFIT TO RACE?????