Through a FOIA request to the California Horse Racing Board, I have obtained the following details on some of that state’s kills in 2024 (yes, I’m still waiting on the last few from ’24; previous installments here).
Tulane Tryst, Sep 27, Fresno S
“Severe, chronic-acute, fibrinonecrotizing bronchopneumonia.” Then this: “In addition to the previously described pneumonia, the animal suffered from laminitis in the left and right hoofs of the front legs [and] severe degenerative joint disease of the fetlock joint in all legs.” All legs. What a horrible way to go. Tulane was six years old.
Eddie’s Last, Oct 27, Santa Anita R
“Catastrophic fetlock failure – [multiple: I count at least four] complete, displaced, comminuted, open [through the skin] fractures; multiple [I count at least three] torn ligaments; complete tear of joint capsule.” Then, listed as an “incidental finding”: “multifocal to coalescing ulceration of the stomach.” Eddie’s was four years old.
Kawara, Nov 9, Santa Anita S
“Horse was ponying another horse on the track and sustained a leg injury: complete, displaced, comminuted humerus fracture; several torn muscles; severe hemorrhage.” This poor boy was 11 years old and still being used and abused by the racing industry.
Timty, Dec 4, Del Mar S
“Two-day fever and diarrhea, no response to treatment.” The specifics: “displacement of large colon with 360-degree rotation; necrohemorrhagic and ulcerative colitis; systemic hemorrhages.” Then this: “In addition, this horse has pulmonary fibrosis with lobular collapse, and marked hemosiderosis, the latter suggestive of previous bouts of hemorrhage in the lung.” And: “The lesions observed in the tongue and oral mucosa are most likely associated with repetitive and chronic traumatic pressure.” The “bit”? Probably. And get this, Timty was just two. We who spoke for you are so very sorry.
Louder, Dec 18, Santa Anita T
“Catastrophic – complete, displaced – fracture of the humerus, muscle tears, extensive hemorrhage.” Louder was two years old and being prepped for her first race.
Race 2 at Santa Anita Park today: DAMAZIO sustained an injury and unseated the rider near the 5/16 pole and was transported off the track via equine ambulance.
MALA jumped a fallen rider midway…and passed tired rivals.
MCGREGOR LAKE would have been the tired so-called rival that MALA passed after jumping over the unseated rider.
I don’t think it is appropriate or accurate to say that DAMAZIO was a “tired” rival since he was injured at the 5/16 pole and Did Not Finish.
Isn’t it obvious that there is a difference between being “tired” and being “disabled” — DISABLED from an injury (that evidently was so distasteful to “racing fans” that Equibase does not even have the video replay available???)
Using the term “rival” is extremely distasteful in the context of human beings forcing horses to run under the weight and abuse of a rider carrying a whip, and possibly an electric shock device, and who-knows-what drugs (legal and illegal) have been injected into these horses prior to the race. It is more accurate to say the owners, trainers, and the jockeys are rivals if you want to use the term “rival/rivals”.
I found the Santa Anita replays on their website. There was definitely an issue for race # 2. The outrider went flying out towards the end. It looked like horse #6 and #10. Mala and Damazio.
Notice that the replay of race 2 at Santa Anita today is “Unavailable”?
In California that translates to a “horse broke down and they need to alter the video.”
Yes, Fred & Joan, a person who states that a horse with a broken bone is sound is sociopathic and greedy. It appears that they just want the so-called “fame and fortune” within the Thoroughbred racing industry at the cost of honesty and at the cost of the well-being of the horse. They are willing to throw their moral compass in the meat grinder along with the bodies of the horses bred for racing and gambling.
Fred & Joan – My TB came off the track at age 2 because his testicles hadn’t dropped. They did at age 3 but by then his trainer and owner didn’t want to return him to the track. Lucky for my horse that he was considered too old. He lived with me and a herd until his 30th birthday. With the right care and nutrition, TBs can live long, happy, and healthy lives. Thanks for your comment and to all the commenters at HW.
Wanda, no horse could possibly be sound with ANY kind of a broken bone! I would be very concerned having a broodmare with a broken leg bone as a future breeding prospect. Typical statements by these people of a horses real condition. In reality not sound at all.
All those things you wrote of Elizabeth, are what we experienced as participants in all aspects of racing for the those years we worked within the industry from 1977 until 2004. This list of injuries is horrible for any horses to have happen to. A 2 year old filly with such tragic wear & tear on her body! She should have been allowed to be a horse for someone to enjoy for 25+ years. So sad for all these beautiful horses not able to live in a herd environment as ours do.
As far as anyone who defends the racing of horses for Pari-Mutuel Handle & Purse Money, I remember a certain person commenting that SECRET OATH was sound approximately 2 weeks after she had been retired from racing due to a BROKEN SESAMOID BONE. She was a top tier Thoroughbred and was to be put up for sale at a high end auction as a broodmare prospect.
It is not new that perpetrators of abuse defend their abuse by saying that they are not abusing anything and defend their abuse by shaming and blaming the victims and anyone who speaks on behalf of the victims for calling the perpetrators out.
Excellent, Elizabeth. Thank you.
Horses don’t volunteer to run while their lungs are failing, their feet are inflamed, their joints are degenerating. Horseracing defenders like to talk about “love of the sport” and “good care.” There is no version of good care that ends with a horse racing while suffering multi-organ disease, crippling hoof pain, and catastrophic joint degeneration. Strip away the romance and look at the reality. If the public saw the kill lists, the necropsy reports, the bleeding lungs, the shattered ankles, the screaming horses behind the scenes horseracing would not survive a year.
That’s why the language is sanitized. “Put down” instead of “killed,” “injury” instead of “catastrophic structural failure,” “welfare reforms” instead of “damage control.” Horseracing is not a sport. It’s institutionalized cruelty. A sport is supposed to involve willing participants who understand the risks and can choose to stop. Horses don’t get a choice. They don’t consent. They don’t even understand what’s being demanded of them. They run because they are bred, confined, whipped, drugged, and conditioned to run. The use of whips, crowded starting gates, being isolated, drugged, forced to sprint on fragile legs while injured and sick . . . try to defend horseracing, indeed.