Over the course of just five days at Turfway (Jan 15-22), the following horses were scratched by the regulatory vet – i.e., their exploiters had every intention of racing them. Again, this is just five days’ worth.
Endless Vow – “injured”
American Bear – “injured”
Dawn Dragon – “unsound”
Rainbow Rania – “unsound”
El Franco – “unsound”
Burden of Dreams – “unsound”
Carolina Candy – “unsound”
Wings of God – “unsound”
Seal Bay – “unsound”
Tobin Lee – “unsound”
Tamino – “unsound”
Looks to Kill – “unsound”
Tiz a Princess – “unsound”
Hey Batter Batter – “unsound”
Talmadge – “unsound”
Miss Mo Magic – “unsound”
In addition, these horses were scratched by private vets:
Mohtafil – “illness”
Combustible Mass – “illness”
Starlit Sky – “illness”
Finance Finance – “illness”
Cue Pixie Dust – “illness”
Mizmalice – “illness”
No Dough No Go – “illness”
Storm Bay – “illness”
Jackie’s Love – “illness”
Durable – “illness”
Homepage – “illness”
Baby No Worries – “illness”
Dad’s Cara – “illness”
Hidden Quarry – “illness”
Yellow Sun Dress – “illness”
Malanya – “illness”
Engineer – “illness”
Live High Live Low – “illness”
Where Ya At Vince – “illness”
Vino Caldo – “illness”
Lighten – “illness”
Dr. Bella – “illness”
Dr. Saikali – “illness”
Eye Witness – “illness”
Florentine Lady – “illness”
And finally, say the stewards:
“Slang got stuck over the outside rail [during] post parade, was injured and transported off in ambulance.”
Forty-two horses in five days? “Injured.” “Unsound.” “Illness.” Over and over and over and these are only the ones stopped at the gate by vets. Meaning every single one of them was entered to race anyway. How is this not treated as an emergency? If a single barn, farm, or stable outside of racing had this rate of injury and sickness among animals, it would trigger investigations, shutdowns, and charges. Here it’s logged like routine bookkeeping. And then a horse got stuck over the outside rail injured and transported off in ambulance during the post parade before the race even starts as if that’s just another line item.
It is misleading and disgusting to call the “person” who engages in moral depravity and physical abuse on horses a “trainer” because to force these beautiful animals to perform in a way that leads to racing specific injuries is not what training means in a moral context.