Over the course of just three days at Santa Anita last weekend, the following horses were “scratched” from their races by various veterinarians:
Donde Esta Jefe – “sick”
Track Tiger – “sick”
Vino Amante – “injured”
Savannahas Big Girl – “sick”
Comininalittlehot – “sick”
Ottis Betts – “sick”
Whiz Kidd – “sick”
Veritas Aequitas – “injured”
Dial a Friend – “sick”
Mystic Flyer – sick or injured (not specified in the minutes)
In addition, say the stewards, the following claims (sales) were voided because the chattel in question came back from their races physically compromised in one way or another:
Gypsy Woman
Brookys Gal
Empress of Grace
Then there’s this from the stewards:
“Jockey Abdul Alsagoor was in to respond to a citation for a crop violation that occurred during training on Jan 4. Mr. Alsagoor stated the horse was very lazy, and he needed to urge. He apologized for his actions and promised it would not happen again. The majority voted for a fine; Steward Sawyer voted for a warning due to a mitigating factor.”
And finally, Love’s Cause was scratched because he “refused to load in the starting gate.” Love’s is three and this was to be his first time under the whip (in a race, that is). He was, to my mind, rebelling in the only way he knows how. How terrified he must have been.
RIP
With these people the horse is always the problem which at the very least defies the law of averages
Horses are totally at the mercy of this crooked cruel business that operates outside the laws of human decency.
The suffering of these animals is sickening.
In this inhumane industry of exploiting horses as gambling chips, the groups of people who are supposed to be the governing body or authority, and who are supposed to uphold the laws regarding Animal Cruelty and Animal Welfare, actually did prosecute all of the offenders, these so-called authorities would work themselves out of a job AND they would have to turn themselves in.
The members of the California Horse Racing Board are just as guilty as the worst offenders and just as guilty as the punk jockey who whipped the horse because he could and then make the excuse that the horse was lazy. No, the punk jockey doesn’t want to work at a real job earning an honest living, not when he can get away with sitting on the back of a horse that was bred to run in this inhumane meat grinder gambling venue.
Horseracing is a very abusive sport. The abuse is sickening I.e. whipping horses and much worse. cameras must be installed wherever the horses are. Eyes should always be on the horses. Rescues do their best to buy horses from slaughter horses heal them and are adopted out. Horseracing is where many horses are seen as ATMs. Rid this sport for good.
Later in our track experience we would cheer those few horses that said no! That showed thinking & spirit! The horse people would always say “he`s fine for now but next week he won`t like where he`s going”. Have seen MANY jockeys “Wake up” a horses by whipping heavily on the backside out of view of the public at the 1/2 mile bull ring tracks here in Oregon with no cameras on the back stretch of the track. Any rider who hits a horse with a whip should have horses discipline provided by the horse!
Thousands of horses have experienced a brutal electrical shock device in the morning under the cover of darkness at Santa Anita.
That horse was no dummy.
The system pushes these horses to their limits and then punishes them when they can’t cope. So the jockey says the horse was “very lazy” and needed to be urged, gets caught violating the crop rule, apologizes, and promises not to do it again. And the system shrugs and hands out a fine. Meanwhile, a three-year-old, Love’s Cause, “refuses to load” and gets labeled the problem. Let’s be honest about what’s actually happening here. The horse is a baby. Three years old. First time ever facing the starting gate in a race. First time ever facing the whip in that context. And when he says “no” in the only way he possibly can, the industry frames it as misbehavior instead of terror. How convenient that when a human breaks the rules, it’s a “mitigating factor” and a discussion about fines. But when a horse is overwhelmed, frightened, and confused, he’s “difficult” or “uncooperative.” Calling a horse “lazy” is a moral failure on the human side. Horses don’t resist for fun. They resist because something is wrong, something hurts, or something scares them. The idea that the solution is more force, more pain, more pressure is exactly why these situations keep happening. Love’s Cause didn’t refuse to load. He refused to be bullied. And frankly, good for him. The real violation here isn’t just the crop rule. It’s the ongoing normalization of treating young, sentient animals like disposable equipment and then acting surprised when one of them finally says “no.”