The chart note for Ten Reflect in the final race at Mahoning yesterday said, “fell just before the wire…escorted off in ambulance.” Those words, however, hardly do what happened justice. There is the inherent, matter-of-course animal cruelty of horseracing, and then there is this – whip-forcing horses to run at breakneck speeds in absolute slop. (I do not yet have an update on the 2-year-old’s condition – dead or simply injured and traumatized – but does it really matter?)
Yes, Wanda it has to be all about the casino subsidies. ALL subsidies should be stopped! Absolutely deplorable conditions for these horses to be raced in. We have galloped horses as the Portland Meadows track was freezing up under the horses feet we were riding. Were last horses & riders for 2 weeks on the track as the metro area froze completely over including all freeways in 2004!
Fred and Joan, it has to be all about the subsidies to the “organized” torture of Thoroughbred racehorses for this deplorable event to be held in snow and freezing temperatures.
Have just read the Overnight from Mahoning. They are scheduled to race in SNOW at 27f. Idiots! The problems this track is having with their horses physical health is readily apparent when reading all the conditions! Too many to list! 10 & 12 year old horses being allowed to race with inspections! These horses if they have lived that long racing should be retired. The Overnight from Mahoning on Equibase makes for some interesting reading if you have been involved with the backside of a racetrack at all. Never thought we would read of a track that was worse & with more dumb people than our old Portland Meadows.
Have ridden Thoroughbreds in these conditions many times! No horses should ever be ridden or galloped in these conditions ever! Always hated riding under these conditions! We would have better riding our horses on the beaches of the Columbia & Willamette rivers instead of these hard as pavement underneath the slop of Portland Meadows. Our track now gone, was known for how hard it became under sealed,sloppy conditions. The horses sounded & felt just like we were riding on a paved Hwy.
It looked like there was one horse that literally jumped over the downed horse right at the tail end of the race. That is amazing that the running horse and jockey were able to jump the downed horse and keep on running and not be part of a “spill”.
This running horses in the slop is one of the things about horseracing that really crosses the line, in my opinion.
Riding horses in the mud is not the smartest choice anyone can make. Safety first is the best motto and riding in the mud is dangerous let alone racing in it. There is nothing actually safe about racing anyway.
The condition of that track was deplorable yesterday. I’m shocked they have not deleted the replay. That poor horse. What a travesty and disgrace for whoever allowed the races yesterday to not be canceled. It’s a miracle there were not more incidents as well. A disgrace and my heart breaks for that horse.