Bullville Terror, says the NYS Gaming Commission, “broke down” in the 1st race at Monticello yesterday and is dead. He was eight years old.
A few other notes…
According to Equibase, in 2025 wagering on U.S. races was down 2.1% relative to ’24. What’s more, all other important metrics – racedays, races, starts, even purse money – were also down. But the news is even better, as explained by the Thoroughbred Daily News: “When factoring in inflation, betting handle has fallen about 57% over the last 22 years. 2025 marked the sixth time in the last seven years that handle has fallen. The outlier was 2021…[which] was expected because the 2021 numbers were being compared to 2020, a year in which COVID caused the sport to lose a multitude of racing dates.”
Excellent.
As relayed, due to financial problems (including some $580K in bounced checks) Suburban Downs (harness) at Hawthorne has lost its operating license. The Thoroughbred version at Hawthorne is scheduled to open Mar 29, but that, now, is in jeopardy. According to the TDN, Hawthorne owes the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association $600K in back payments. Says that org’s ED: “There’s a very good chance that the last horse race in the Chicago area has been raced. Ever. Imagine that. Washington Park. Arlington. Maywood. There’s a very good chance that it could be over.”
Yes sir, I can imagine – and hope like hell.
And finally, at Turf Tuesday, this note for 5-year-old Strength of Autism: “Strength of Autism brushed with an inner foe at the start…pursued three wide and among rivals in upper stretch, but was struck by an inner rider’s crop reaching the 16th pole and faded.”
Whipped by two different humans in the same race. Vile.
Absolutely, Elizabeth.
A 2.1% year-over-year drop is almost beside the point when inflation-adjusted handle has collapsed by ~57% over two decades. The fact that 2025 marks the sixth decline in seven years underscores that 2021 wasn’t a rebound so much as a statistical artifact driven by COVID-depressed comps. With racedays, starts, and even purse money all moving in the same direction, this isn’t noise, it’s a sustained contraction. G-r-e-a-t
news!
Animals should NEVER be used as gambling chips.
When trainers feel like they are ENTITLED to use Performance Enhancing Drugs and justify it with this twisted belief that they are giving the horse the best chance to perform at his/her best (as in “Amazing Care” –what a cruel joke), it’s a no-brainer that it is cruelty to the horses.
These people who operate this way have been so steeped in this way of thinking that I wonder if they have a clue about how morally depraved they are.
For those that haven’t been on the inside, I found this LA Times article from a random week…. in 1998!
Basically its an animal abuse business that is conducted in a dark alley out of the public eye.
So they prop up a fake ruling body to reassure the public that the horses protected, when in reality the abuse never stops.
The good news though is that racing in California will be done within 5 years unless the CHRB does the right thing and just pulls the plug now.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-aug-18-sp-14343-story.html