Through a FOIA request to the Indiana Racing Commission, I have confirmed the following kills at that state’s tracks last year (this is part 2; part 1 here – 28 kills in total).
Julerica, Jul 16, Hoosier R – “injured just past finish line”
Julerica was 13 years old – 13. That poor boy.
Candysfirst, Jul 19, Horseshoe R – “spinal fracture leaving gate, splayed front legs”
Candysfirst was two years old.
Small Town Accent, Jul 22, Horseshoe S – “colic – euthanized”
Small Town was three years old and had been raced four times.
Fancy Riggin, Jul 25, Hoosier S – no cause of death given
Fancy was eight years old and had last been raced 10 days prior.
Lets Get After It, Aug 30, Horseshoe R – “fell: vertebral fracture” (video here)
Lets Get After It was two years old.
Blockem in Brian, Sep 4, Horseshoe S – “illness, euthanized”
Blockem was three years old and being prepped for his first race.
Tre Cruz, Sep 6, Hoosier R – “horse died after race”
Tre was six years old, and this was his 111th time under the whip. 111th. Bastards.
Dasha, Sep 8, Horseshoe R – “fell past wire, broken neck…no euthanasia necessary”
Dasha was two years old, and this was her very first race.
Mr Bird Man, Sep 12, Horseshoe S – “found deceased in morning”
Mr Bird Man was three years old and had last been raced Aug 30.
Joe’s a Dreamer, Sep 14, Horseshoe S – “colic – euthanized”
Joe’s was two years old and being prepped for his first race.
Trs Zorayas Corona, Sep 25, Horseshoe R (euth Sep 27) – “lumbar injury”
Trs was two years old.
More Than a Dream, Oct 14, Horseshoe R – “fell: open disarticulation” (video here)
More Than a Dream was three years old.
Iseethemoon, Oct 28, Horseshoe R – “fell: open [through skin] fracture” (video here)
Isee was two. The chart, by the way, said she “walked off” – with an open fracture.
Blue Suede, Nov 20, Horseshoe S – “tendon sheath infection – euthanized”
Blue was two and coming off his first race (last of 11, 28+ lengths back, “off awkwardly”).
Cat’s Spirit, Dec 4, Horseshoe S – “wobbler syndrome – euthanized”
Cat’s was two years old; in his final race (Oct 28), he finished 11th, 21+ lengths back.
Fionn McCool, Dec 23, Horseshoe T – “humerus fracture”
Fionn was two years old and being prepped for his debut.
Since Jan 1, 2014, when Horseracing Wrongs began the unprecedented work of reporting kills in the U.S. horseracing industry, 297 (that we know about) horses have perished at Indiana tracks. That’s 297 beautiful, intelligent, sensitive beings sacrificed for nothing more than $2 bets and frivolous entertainment. Are we not better than this, America?
Dominick Martello, you are correct that racehorses should not be shipped to Puerto Rico only to be exploited to literal death. Horses don’t deserve to be exploited to death anywhere.
People need to know just how corrupt and cruel the horseracing industry really is within the borders of the United States as well as all over the world (including Australia and Saudi Arabia).
Horseracing is an industry that promotes and perpetuates corruption including Animal Cruelty. These criminal offenses should not be supported with taxpayer dollars. Criminals should be punished. Criminals should not be rewarded for their crimes with corporate welfare or subsidies of any kind.
I am only too acutely aware of the fact that criminal behavior and billionaires are running the country as we speak. However, people should not be silent on the behalf of living sentient beings who cannot speak for themselves. Horses are vulnerable in the hands of predator human beings (who exploit them for “fame and fortune”). Horses need an advocacy group such as Horseracing Wrongs.
Not all people know just how bad or widespread this injustice is to the horses and they need to have access to the FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT requests and reports!!!
The subsidization of the horse racing industry, which translates to the subsidization of CRIMINAL ACTIVITY within the racing and gambling industry, is an injustice to the taxpayers as well as to the horses!
Thank you for writing, Dominick. But as for your assertion that we will never stop it, take a look at this. Slow – but sure.
I’m a former owner of one horse who decided to take him home after six races at Aqueduct in 1987. You will never stop thoroughbred racing why you might ask too much money behind it worldwide and behind that money many influential people. When I was at Belmont in the paddock, Vanderbilt, Mellon and Steinbrenner’s of the world just to name a few. Aside from horses losing their lives how about the ones shipped to Puerto Rico because they can’t compete here or there not 100%, a real death sentence. I was following a horse there named Remember Willie he had over 80 starts and winnings of over $160,000 lifetime. They were running him every two weeks it seemed. I tried to contact aftercare there and the owner and trainer wouldn’t retire him, and he eventually broke down a short time later. I really think breeders should get more involved and do something about the horses they breed not just the ones going to stud but those who are gelded. No horse should be sold on the cheap and sent overseas.
So, So, sad to read of all these horses whose lives that should have been just beginning. Just read that the Humboldt fair race meet was rejected to resume as it was said that the fairs in N. Cal. cost the southern circuit 2 Million to operate & with out supplemental $$ soon that the S. Cal. racing meets are in jeopardy as well.
DASHA fell past the wire, but no reason is given for why this horse fell.
How did DASHA get a “broken neck”?
This reporting from the Indiana Racing Commission has a lot of holes in it!
There is no explanation and no video to show how or why the horse fell or if the death of this horse was “instant” at some point; OR if DASHA died seconds or minutes later.
Which vertebrae were broken should be disclosed and whether or not there was internal bleeding from an artery or other blood vessel.
Having a broken neck doesn’t necessarily cause instant death so what did these evil monsters do? Did they watch the horse suffer in extreme agony for however long…?
It seems as though these filthy lying sadistic bloodthirsty devils enjoyed the shit-show of causing extreme suffering to DASHA and then top it off with “no euthanasia necessary” as if they are completely sociopathic psychopaths as far as how they view the horses.
I find it an outrage that these evil sadists are so bloodthirsty and nonchalant about it! They belong in jail or worse!
Reading this is gutting.
A thirteen-year-old like Julerica breaking down just past the wire. Two-year-olds—babies, still growing shattering spines, necks, cannons. “Open disarticulation.” “Spinal fracture leaving gate.” “Fell past wire, broken neck…no euthanasia necessary.” That sterile phrasing makes it worse. It reduces terror and agony to bureaucratic shorthand. At Indiana Racing Commission regulated tracks like Hoosier Park Racing & Casino and Horseshoe Indianapolis, these aren’t abstract statistics. They are young horses pushed to sprint at full extension on immature bones and stressed tendons. A two-year-old’s musculoskeletal system is not fully developed; the distal limb structures, cannon bone, sesamoids, flexor tendons are under extreme load at racing speed. When they fail, they fail catastrophically. Tre Cruz running for the 111th time. Dasha dying in her first start. Horses “being prepped for their debut” euthanized before they even got a chance at a different life. And the language “found deceased in morning,” “horse died after race” reads like an incident report for broken equipment, not sentient animals who felt fear and pain.
It’s horrifying not only because of the injuries, but because of the normalization. When a system can catalogue vertebral fractures and open cannon breaks as routine entries in a seasonal summary, it is grotesque. The cost is not theoretical. It is measured in shattered bone, in terrified final moments, and in lives that were only just beginning.