The below report from NBC Chicago focuses on Hawthorne Race Course’s ongoing financial problems (e.g., bounced checks) and, relatedly, its failure to build a racino years after one was first approved by the state. Obviously, the racing people are growing increasingly desperate (because without taxpayer-subsidization in the form of casino gaming Illinois racing – especially the harness variety – will surely disappear). While watching, however, I’d like you to pay particular attention to the “third-generation horseman” the station interviewed (the second interview in the piece):
“You can imagine to have a place for 50 years and having to decide on the spot right now that you’re going to have to go somewhere else or sell all your horses.”
Does your heart ache for this man? Well. This man is one Casey Leonard, and here is a post of ours on him in 2024:
“Casey Leonard is hereby issued a civil penalty of $400 for causing visible injury with the whip (welts) while driving the horse Bombay Parkway at Hawthorne on Dec 18. This constitutes the second whipping violation of the meet for Leonard.” When was the first left-welts “violation” for Leonard? 15 days prior: “Driver Casey Leonard is hereby issued a civil penalty of $200 for causing visible injury with the whip (welts) while driving the horse Mazin Blazin.” Yes, that’s right, this piece of scum whipped-to-welts twice, at the same track, in two weeks – and is not even suspended.
Here’s to your three-generation “business” going bankrupt, Mr. Leonard, and with it, a fervent hope that your “relationship” with horses is forever ended.
This thread is 1,000 times more entertaining than harness racing, and no animals were harmed in the making.
The horse you doped with a banned substance won the race at Maywood but was disqualified after the testing was done. Any prize winnings were forfeited and you were fined $1,500 by the stewards and it’s on your record.
So tell me, Dee, how was that a smart move on your part?
Wanda, I see.You’re just a waste of time because, you know everything. Ain’t ain’t I know the way my horse is treated and I guarantee you.My horses are treated better than your children.If you found someone to have one with. Oh, so your horses just don’t sweat outside? If there were welts around the halter, she’d had a half a padded halter. Please tell me how many horses do you own?And how many horses you have rescued. We can start over from there
I’m sitting over here….. there are more than 2 sides in this debate. So I have some questions. To both sides.
Wanda (and those that feel racing is abuse)
The USTA limits the number of mares a stallion can cover each year…..did you know that? Do you know why Standardbreds get more “hype” in the pipeline? It’s because with tattoos and chips they are “tracable” where as donkey and drafts and grade horses are not.
What do you think will happen to all the horses if their “jobs” are removed? Want to guess? That’s right! The pipeline. Oh don’t let me leave out “rescues”…… rescues drive up the “bond” prices. That $100 horse is now $1200. Ask me how I know.
To the comments of the cruel treatment of these magnificent creatures.
I currently do not race. I own a 6yo that has never raced. Would I like him to? Absolutely! However his health and soundness is more important to me then making him race. He has better healthcare than most people I know….myself included.
Putting everyone that isn’t you. That doesn’t believe exactly like you all in the same boat…. Shame on you.
For the other questions (for the other side)… let’s call on Dee…
When you have a horse that can no longer race…. Aged out or lame or just not fast enough. What options do you feel you have?
How new is your vehicle? What about how much you have saved up for retirement? Have your horses got everything they need?
To both sides….. you should be looking at the big time trainers….. ones that have 40 plus horses in the stables. Some have so many that (imo) are not really training them but just managing underlings.
That when their horses don’t make it the smaller stables will pick them up hoping that the extra attention to small details will help make a difference.
And have any of you went through the big barns of pleasure/performance horses? You think for one minute that they have a great life? They have similar issues. So instead of making it about a welt mark…. And nitpicking a single person…. Your battle isn’t the little guys….. and the sooner you understand that the sooner changes could possibly be made.
I would like racing to keep going but with better guidelines. The alternative is the loss of a great breed….
So the answer is “Yes, it is true that you, Dee Cozzi, were busted for possession of cocaine.” Obviously, there would be nothing to throw out if you weren’t busted in the first place.
Don’t worry, I did find something else! I FOUND records regarding your violations of the racing and doping rules. One was a fine in the amount of $250 and another fine in the amount of $1,500.
Another thing is that if you don’t do something to prevent your horse from getting injuries to her skin (that you called welts) from some part of the equipment rubbing on her, that is on you, Dee! They do have such things as padded halters, for example. You can figure out some way to prevent the injuries to her skin that you cause by the equipment you use on her and forcing her to run until she sweats with equipment rubbing against her skin. At least, you should know that horses have sensitive skin.
The case was thrown out, not guilty! Sorry, find something else! I also heard you like 2 kinds of pipes!! 🤔🫣🤭 Also you are showing your true ignorance , taunting people. Get a life, maybe a job! Stop being so lazy!😛
No, Dee, I don’t know everything. I don’t know if it is true about what some people say that you are “doing the pipe” and that you got busted with possession of cocaine. I believe it is true that you were cited for driving a motor vehicle with expired license plates, but the cocaine thing is something else.
Wanda. Sorry! Talk and text isn’t perfect, when WORKING you can’t type and play on the phone. Your right about one thing, I never cared about typing class🙄. I also agree a Thoroughbred groom is pretty lightweight. Harness grooms do it all. It doesn’t matter what I say to you, you know everything! I have learned that people who THINK they know everything, doesn’t know enough to keep their mouth shut!🤭 On your profile you sure share a lot of kill pen horses, the majority aren’t standardbreds. Marie, who said the horses don’t get turned out? I do know my when my mare sweats and something rubs her she shows a welt looking thing.
Hawthorne remains closed for the third weekend while nearly $900,000 is owed to the horsemen. There is no clear statement about what is going on, other than the bank(s) have frozen the accounts.
It would seem that a new harness track / racino is indeed possible in downstate Decatur. The major and state reps are behind it. And a big selling point is — no public money. As opposed to the Chicago Bears who are looking for upwards of a billion dollars for their new stadium.
Thanks for your input, Dee. It reveals to me that you most likely would not pass a Fifth Grade English grammar test due to your numerous mistakes in spelling and sentence structure. In high school typing class, you can’t count your words per minute after the first three mistakes in timed typing tests so you need to work on trying to make fewer than three mistakes.
So you think you work so hard but you expect to get government subsidies to support your habit of using horses as gambling chips. Keep talking, Dee. Get a real job. Stop using horses as gambling chips and stop dumping them into the slaughter pipeline when they are not useful to you anymore.
When I was a kid in the 1950s and 1960s, my parents had equines and bovines. My dad did his own shoeing and sometimes for other people. He taught me what to do keep them standing still while being shod. It was like recreation for me to be around horses. I could use a rasp to trim hooves but didn’t have the upper body strength to use the pincers or pinchers effectively. Cleaning hooves with the hoof pick was second to breathing more or less both before and after a ride.
There were two different livestock auctions in Lewiston for decades but one was forced to stop doing business at their location in North Lewiston due to population growth, development, and zoning. The livestock auction in East Lewiston changed owners at least three times. The first owner of the East Lewiston livestock auction died from choking on a piece of beef steak which is somewhat ironic after years of facilitating the sale of thousands of head of beef cattle for many years.
In about 1957, my dad rented a pasture of about 275 to 300 Acres overlooking the Clearwater River in Idaho and raised Shetland ponies and beef cattle. We also had a few horses.
In 1967, I was in a position to have a filly of about 15 hands and approximately 1,000 pounds as a 4-H project. Working with horses is recreational for a lot of people and it was for me also.
In 1977, getting paid to work as a groom for a trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses felt like cheating in some way. The horses were definitely cheated out of a natural life by being confined to box stalls with no outdoor runs. The back of the stall was a solid wall so no opening to go outside. Some of those Thoroughbred racehorses were VERY CLEARLY MISERABLE from being confined about 23 hours a day.
It is not healthy for the horses to not be allowed to have the option of their own free will to graze and have a buddy horse to socialize with. Go read some books about that, Dee.
Dee- why are you trying to rationalize how his horses received welts when it’s the racing officials that say he welted his horses from the whips?? I have had horses for 40years now, and none of my horses have ever gotten “welts” from branches or any of the other things you describe! Lacerations, scrapes, yes, but not welts. And “rubbing” doesn’t cause welts, it causes rub marks. A horse we as a group from HW rescued from the track that had a whip welt. It took a month for that welt to heal enough so that it wasn’t puffy anymore, but it was still visible! Way to rationalize abuse, Dee.
And as for the auctions, we know the kill pens drive up the cost of ex-racers for sympathy, but if you go to any horse auction in the central states, STBs aren’t going thousands, unless they’re young, healthy, and sound, and the Amish are bidding on them. The rest are worn out, unsound, and used up by the Amish and going for 100s, not 1000s. And the “little girl lied” that you GAVE yours to is the oldest go-to lie as to how ex-racers end up in pens.
As for the amazing care you give your horses, also a facade. The day that horse stops racing, or making money, is the day that horse no longer gets pampered. That’s the day it gets dumped to that said little lying girl, or in your guys’ case-dumped to the Amish.
Oh, and as for the kids you say aren’t being cared for as well as the horses at the tracks?? God spare me about the poor children AT THE TRACKS that I saw! Dirty, ragtag clothes, poor educations… I saw a race tracker holding her months’ old baby, with a toddler at her hip, and every other word out of her ignorant mouth was “fuck” and “fucking”. She had dragged her newborn to a horse auction. And god help us all- she’s pregnant again. The majority of the teens and early 20s kids I have seen had substance abuse issues, and the ones I saw at the local hospitals were all on welfare. So yes, I would say maybe the horses got better care than their OWN children! It’s pathetic that there has to be charities for racetrackers to provide their children with the most basic school supplies, healthcare, and food! Yeah, great life you guys are creating for everyone, all around, both animals and humans.
Wanda, have you ever been one of these kill pen auctions? Do you happen to know that standardbreds go for more money than any of them? The reason why is because we put up money to try to get the horses out of there. If they end up there. If you knew anything you would know that there’s plenty of horses in there. Most are the arabians,
Half breeds, quarter horses, show, ect… Already broke the ride, most of the time it was some little girls riding, where she grew out of. The average price at one of them, sales for any of them.Horses five hundred to a thousand dollars. Well, I paid thirty five hundred for mine.As of being lazy, it’s a 24 hour a day job. Cleaning stalls, unloading hay,feed, picking and packing feet, fresh clean water daily. If not twice a day. Most people can’t even take care of their kids.The way we take care of our horses. Stalls are done daily. The horses are brushed daily , exercise daily. The bathed, feet taken care of . A blacksmith every month, veterinarian care on call. Then, they say about the whip, I was at a 4H show, and there’s children hidden pigs on the side of the face with a crop. So I do have sympathy for this man, but I also have sympathy. for you and some people commenting.not knowing any better, and running your mouth! As for you assuming someone’s character, your opinion is invalid to me, bixby because the lack of knowledge of your comment says enough about you to me
Harness racing is complete fraud at every level.
Of course Illinois politicians will approve it.
Dee,
In the event that these people who participate in harness racing at Hawthorne are TOO LAZY TO WORK AT any other kind of a job — A REAL JOB, and they “lose their livelihoods” (as you say) of using and abusing Standardbred horses as a commodity at Hawthorne, they will sell them as a commodity to either other people who use and abuse Standardbred horses for racing and gambling OR to kill buyers!
THESE KILL BUYERS will then sell some of the Standardbreds to people at a price that is marked up above what they paid for them to make a profit AND these kill buyers will use some of these Standardbred horses from Hawthorne to fill a contract with the MEAT-PACKERS.
It is not the responsibility of the general public to support people who own horses. Owning horses is not a right, it is a privilege.
I know that most, if not all, of their horses will be sold to the highest bidder by these so-called horsemen who think their stuff smells so fine that the TAXPAYING PUBLIC should support this form of SOCIOPATHIC GREED of using and abusing horses as a commodity.
Dee, regardless of what lame excuse you come up with for a horse to have welts, it is an indication of what kind of person you are; you absolutely lack empathy for the pain the horses are forced to suffer because of people like you.
It’s no surprise that a sadistic person such as yourself makes excuses for the abuse of the horses.
In 21st Century America, a new racetrack, especially of the harness variety, is only possible through taxpayer funding – corporate welfare. Hopefully, saner heads in the legislature will prevail.
You, and all the other Casey Leonards out there, expolit and abuse animals for a living.
One other thing I have to say is, if these people lose their livelihoods, where do you think some of these horses will end up??? I can say I found(gave) forever homes for my horses, and recently found my one at the kill pen. That little girl lied it wasn’t forever! Yes of course I rescued him, and at a new loving home.
Let me say a few things, this man’s horses look and feel amazing!! He doesn’t do wrong to theses horses. Some don’t understand that a horse may welt from a line rubbing, rubbing on trailer partiton,tree branch or barely a tap from a whip. Most of the time a driver will hit the race bike and may look like they are hitting the horse. To the lady that said she was at his barn. Ok it probably isn’t the Taj Mahal, but how do the horse look and act? Cause I can say they look fat, sassy, and happy. Probably more then I can say for you!! My sympathy goes out to the ignorance of most of the comments on this article.
The bill to put in a brand spanking new track in Decatur will pass the Illinois Legislature in the next couple months and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it. Many more horses will be conceived and foaled in Illinois. Great for everyone, including Casey Leonard who is a good guy.
Brian, the same thing happened to our old Portland Meadows track. Amazon bought the land of our old 1 mile track, tore down the grandstand 1st, then the horse peoples associations offices & lastly the barns. The property now is being utilized for a higher purpose as an Amazon warehouse & offices rater than the abuse & harming of horses just for gamboling. What Amazon did was a tremendous improvement to the area!
I believe that the bill that was briefly mentioned would allow construction of a new harness racing racino in Decatur, Illinois. If you live in Illinois you might want to express your opinion about that to your legislative members asap.
Hawthorne was granted the authority to build a racino in 2019. Nothing has happened since. The Carey family has owned Hawthorne through 4 generations but apparently can’t get either banks to lend them money or partners willing to invest but still allow the family to run the track. It seems to be over for the family one way or another.
Maywood Park seemed to be the more stable harness track running almost all year round, but it went bankrupt in 2015 and practically no one in Chicago took notice at the time. The land is now at least partly used for — you guessed it, an Amazon distribution center.
When the drivers at Hawthorne are fined for whip violations, the money goes to the Illinois Racing Board. This money could be distributed in different ways and one of the ways is being added to the purse money. The way I see it, being fined whatever amount of money by the racing stewards just perpetuates this abusive exploitation of horses for racing and gambling. It is a cycle that really does not stop the abuse at all.
We once in the mid 1980`s hauled horses to Woodstock Illinois & thought of relocating to the area. Even way back then we could see the equine industry going to have future economic problems with all the weather related costs. That man`s barn is the WORST barn we have ever seen for horses to stay in!! End all subsidies everywhere! Those poor horses having such abysmal living conditions! Elizabeth we agree 100% with what you have written. That man should have disciplined by the horses he left welts on! We have taught many horses of several breeds to be ridden & NEVER used a whip or heavy stock saddle to teach them to be ridden. We have a Thoroughbred herd who would administer discipline quickly & severely if they were ever whipped causing welts. Appreciate the videos. Nothing beats seeing how these people obscure & hide the facts.
Seeing the horses locked up in a dark stable and held there like prisoners is depressing!!!!! It is part of the abuse that has been “normalized”. It is not healthy for the horses to be kept confined in a dark dank area. It goes completely against the nature of horses and what they need for optimum health and well-being.
This man, Casey Leonard, is completely oblivious to this fact and obviously couldn’t care less what’s best for the horses. He has no empathy for his victims.
Thank you, Elizabeth, for articulating the point so well!!!!!
Does this man seriously expect sympathy from the public while he is scamming people by writing bad checks AND while he perpetrates, promotes, and perpetuates abuse, brutality, and cruelty against the horses?
He uses the horses as tools for his own perverted pleasure while the horses suffer and are eventually discarded with a complete lack of empathy by this man and his family and associates.
What kind of a society are we if we throw money/ subsidies at this Animal Cruelty in the form of horseracing?
What kind of a society supports sociopathic greed by supporting horse racing and Pari-mutuel gambling that is inherently inhumane to the core?
Sociopaths as well as psychopaths should seriously be locked up and studied by the mental health community of professional psychologists.
It’s hard to summon sympathy when the man being held up as a victim is also someone who repeatedly beats horses badly enough to leave visible welts twice in two weeks and faced nothing more than pocket-change fines. That’s not “love of the sport” or “three generations of tradition.” That’s abuse being normalized and protected by a corrupt system.
The real tragedy here isn’t that Hawthorne might close or that some participants might have to move on. The tragedy is that for decades this industry has survived by exploiting animals, demanding public subsidies, and then playing the victim when the money dries up. The NBC piece frames this as a story about livelihoods. It should be framed as a story about accountability. Mr. Leonard’s “relationship” with horses, one that involves whipping them until they’re visibly injured, is exactly what’s wrong with this industry. The fact that he wasn’t even suspended tells you everything you need to know about how broken the system is. So no, my heart doesn’t ache for him. My heart aches for the horses who don’t get a choice, who take the hits, and who are discarded when they’re no longer profitable. If this “three-generation business” is finally collapsing under the weight of its own cruelty and dependence on handouts, that’s not a tragedy. That’s long-overdue consequences.
Sympathy? Not one iota. In fact, turn the last line of your post into a prayer.