Through a FOIA request to the Illinois Racing Board, I have confirmed the following kills at that state’s tracks last year (this is part 2; part 1 here – 20 kills in total).
Road Blue, Jul 12, Fairmount R
“Catastrophic breakdown during race: acute, open, comminuted cannon fracture – pieces of bone missing.” Also: “bilateral cartilage erosion.” Road Blue was four years old.
Harryk, Jul 31, Fairmount T (euth Aug 3)
“Lame after training. Horse laid down in stall and completed the fracture when it got up.” Harryk was three years old and was coming off his first race – almost one year prior.
Lil Kell, Aug 13, Illinois State Fair R
“Horse jumped rail during post parade then fell into the tunnel. Horse’s skull was cracked in the fall – died almost immediately.” (See our post when it happened.)
Hurts So Bad, Aug 31, Hawthorne R
“Catastrophic fetlock failure due to racing: severe, acute multi-ligament rupture with [multiple] fractures.” They added: “When horse attempted to walk [after pulling up], the leg sunk all the way down to the MCIII.” Hurts was six years old. The chart, by the way, said “took a bad step.” In another by the way, Hurts was coming off a race just 11 days prior; in that one, he finished dead last, 17 lengths back.
Therdgoesonforever, Sep 6, Fairmount R (video here)
“Catastrophic breakdown in stretch: numerous comminuted fractures.” Also: “severe cartilage loss suggestive of previous osteoarthritis.” “Previous osteoarthritis” – Therd was three years old.
Rumbrandt, Sep 24, Hawthorne T
“Exsanguination secondary to massive trauma of head, neck, and thorax.” In other words, this poor girl, just four, bled out. More detail: “There is a 43cm-long jagged laceration which runs down the right side of the neck and across the pectoral region…the laceration extends through the skin and underlying muscle, exposing the trachea. The majority of the right jugular vein and right carotid artery are absent or not identifiable. The first three ribs exhibit comminuted fractures as well as the cranial border of the right scapula.” Also: “multifocal to coalescing stomach ulceration.” What more can I say?
Tizwow, Sep 26, Fairmount T
“Catastrophic breakdown during training: [multiple] complete fetlock fractures.” Also: “articular chondrosis [both] front fetlocks.” Tizwow was five years old.
Ragnow, Sep 28, Fairmount S
“[10-day sickness]: severe pleuritis and effusion.” More detail: “Thoracic cavity is filled with a large amount of red, cloudy, watery fluid. Visceral and parietal pleura, particularly on right side of lungs, pericardial sac, ribcage and diaphragm are covered by a thick carpet of yellow to red, dull, friable material with extensive adhesion. Lungs are collapsed, red and rubbery on palpation.” What a horrible way to go. Ragnow was three.
Hidden Spin, Oct 5, Hawthorne R
“Pulled up lame: [multiple] complete fractures and marked pulmonary hemorrhage.” On the latter, the report reads: “The pulmonary hemorrhages are consistent with exercise-associated fatal pulmonary hemorrhage. While the animal did not die from this lesion, it was quite severe, and, given time, would have likely led to significant clinical signs.” Murderers. Hidden was four years old.
Grand Hideaway, Nov 11, Hawthorne S
“LH laminitis: coffin bone markedly rotated and no longer parallel with the hoof wall, nearly penetrating the sole of the hoof.” Then, in other hind limb: “Changes within the RH include chronic, dense fibrosis, with numerous small pockets of mixed inflammation. This is consistent with long-term inflammation. While a penetrating wound was not seen (likely due to the chronicity of the lesion) this is considered the most likely cause of this cellulitis.” In other words, this poor boy, eight, likely suffered for a very long time.
Red Rizzler, Dec 1, Hawthorne S
“Severe, chronic tenosynovitis, resulting in inflammation within both the deep digital flexor and superficial digital flexor and adjacent connective tissue.” Also: “bilateral osteoarthritis with chronic cartilage loss and erosion.” Also: “stomach ulceration.” “Bilateral osteoarthritis” – Red River was four years old.
Since Jan 1, 2014, when Horseracing Wrongs began the unprecedented work of reporting kills in the U.S. horseracing industry, 324 (that we know about) horses have perished at Illinois tracks. That’s 324 beautiful, intelligent, sensitive beings sacrificed for nothing more than $2 bets and frivolous entertainment. Are we not better than this, America?
RE Ragnow: there is no way in Hell that illness like that was undetected- it is blatant apathy on the part of ALL of the people around him, and I hope Karma finds an appropriate turn for them.
Horses falling into ditches, ripping their necks open, suffering for days or even weeks with illnesses, having limbs literally explode out from under them, smashing into walls, colliding with other horses, LEFT TO BURN TO DEATH IN A STALL, starving to death in a barn full of staff, and the list goes on. When is enough, enough, America? How much longer will these animal abusers be allowed to continue blatantly torturing horses under the flimsy banner of “sport”?
If a society can be judged by its treatment of animals, America – and the rest of the world – deserve to burn in Hell.
Have just read on BH that Hawthorne owes lots of $$ in unpaid purses & to others. Without some kind of bailout many think this last track in Illinois will be the last races held in the state run last time they operated.
The animal abuse is outrageous in this world. There is no excuse for it and in a civilized country even more so unacceptable. It’s hard to understand how this continues and people turn a cheek pretending they don’t know it exists. Sad
There is a video from Horseracing Kills .com (Australia) that shows how abusive, how incompetent, and how not-qualified-at-all a certain “man” is who is not named and who is supposedly “training” the weanling. He straight up abuses the weanling by hitting the weanling in the face with the lead strap. It’s very disturbing to say the least!!!!! Part of the caption says Gold Front Thoroughbreds; it can be found on YouTube.
I wish this animal abuser and the rest of the animal abusers could be locked up and never allowed near any horse ever again as long as they are alive!!!!!
“Are we not better than this America?”. This site is not a political forum, but … Are you serious? The individuals involved in horse racing are not ‘horsemen’, they are not veterinarians, they are not businessmen. They are criminals. Horse-abusing, cheating, sneaky, murderous criminals. No better than drug dealers, child abusers, wife beaters. I’m afraid that America is not better than this and never was. This foul crap has been going on for as long as humans walked on this good earth. And while I don’t wish trouble on hard working people, there are probably plenty of criminals working on the backside of this vile criminal enterprise who need to be deported, which would definitely help end horseracing. Sorry for the rant.
The first horse’s leg literally exploded. And that poor mare, wth happened that ripped her neck open like that?! These reports are again reading like battlefield injuries. This is absolutely horrific and should not be happening in modern day society and civilization.