A recent HISA ruling on trainer Zvi Kriple. (I have made slight edits in the interest of brevity and clarity, including substituting Kriple for “covered person” and Royal Honey for “covered horse.”)
“Zvi Kriple was the responsible person for Royal Honey, which was stabled at Belterra Park. On the afternoon of Aug 23, 2025, Royal Honey began to show symptoms of colic, a painful intestinal condition in horses. Without having sought veterinary aid on the 23rd, at 12:30 pm on Aug 24, Kriple made contact with Dr. Timothy Renn to seek veterinary aid. Dr. Renn informed Kriple that he was 100 miles away and was unable to return to the track to attend to the horse. He suggested several alternative veterinarians which might be able to attend to the horse in a timely manner. He further stressed the importance of having the horse seen to and that the condition, left untreated, could lead to a very painful death [for Royal].
“Dr. Renn further testified that his next contact with Kriple was at 8:30 pm on the 24th when he was told by Kriple that the horse still had not been treated by a veterinarian. In his testimony, Dr. Renn quoted another trainer who was on the call as saying that several trainers had volunteered to ship the horse to a nearby vet clinic free of charge but that Kriple refused to take advantage of those offers. Kriple testified that he left the horse unattended at 1:30 am on the 25th and that Royal Honey fell out of its stall at 3:30 am and died what Dr. Renn described would have been a very painful death.
“Autopsy results showed the cause of death was a rupture of Royal Honey’s digestive tract. It is Kriple’s testimony that, despite his best and repeated efforts over the periods of Aug 23 and 24, he was unable to find any veterinarian that would either come to the racetrack to treat the horse or receive the horse at a clinic where it could be seen and treated.
“Based on the applicable rules, and based upon the established evidence as set forth above, the Panel has determined that Kriple has violated the rule that prohibits ‘the deprivation of necessary care, sustenance, shelter, or veterinary care’ to a Covered Horse.”
And the “sanctions”? “The Covered Person’s registration with HISA shall be suspended for a period of two years, commencing on Oct 28, 2025, and continuing through Oct 27, 2027; and public disclosure of the consequences.”
But wait, there’s more. This from the Thoroughbred Daily News: “Kriple was suspended by the California Horse Racing Board in March of 2010 after being found guilty of animal cruelty charges related to his treatment of a pony in his care. According to a Los Angeles Daily News story dated Jan 4, 2010, Kriple was convicted by a jury of misdemeanor animal cruelty ‘after prosecutors alleged he failed to euthanize or sufficiently treat a horse at the Fairplex racetrack that suffered from a chronic hoof condition.’
“The prosecutor in the case told the Los Angeles Daily News that Kriple had a pattern of ‘extreme negligence when it comes to taking care of horses,’ and cited a 2002 case in which Kriple reportedly failed to properly care for a racehorse that suffered a fractured knee at Los Alamitos.”
Forget about a lousy two-year suspension, this horrible human being should be in jail, and, it goes without saying, should never be allowed control over any domesticated (read: helpless) animal again.
Hey Kriple! What the fuck is wrong with you? I hope they give you a hard time in jail ‘cause I’m sure you will be headed that way real soon!
There is absolutely NOTHING worse than someone who abuses defenseless animals!
I hope that I never run into you as I couldn’t control myself!
Just remember…… ‘’ karma is a bitch’’!!
Just like you!! 🤮
The horse was left alone to suffer unattended by this criminal abuser of horses at 1:30 A.M. on the 25th and two hours later ROYAL HONEY fell out of the stall and died.
Q. How does a horse fall out of their stall?
Q. How does anyone know what time the horse died if unattended?
I wish someone who witnessed this poor girl’s suffering would have called the police or the humane society. Someone outside this hideous world of horse racing might have made a difference for her.
Anyone who has seen a horse colic knows how excruciating it is for the horse (and for normal, compassionate humans to witness). Anyone who can just walk away and leave an animal in such pain is a sociopath who will do this sort of thing again and again. Jail. Full stop. No animal is safe around him, and probably no human.
I’ve long maintained that whatever an animal abuser does to his/her victim should be done to them. This is no different. Kriple (and what an appropriate name) deserves to have his intestines forcibly ruptured and to die in agony the same way.
I make absolutely no apologies for this statement.
Horses are completely dependent on their handlers, and anyone found guilty of such chronic cruelty should never again be allowed near them. The racing industry must take a zero-tolerance stance toward abuse and neglect, including lifetime bans and criminal (jail time) accountability for offenders.
In this inhumane so-called sport, this sadistic and extremely neglectful human being will be free to go to Delta in Louisiana to abuse and neglect horses there if he so chooses.
I agree this poor excuse for a man should be in jail.