Through a FOIA request to the Ohio Racing Commission, I have confirmed the following kills at that state’s tracks last year (this is part 2; part 1 here – 58 kills in total).
Anything for Love, Jul 2, Belterra R
“Fractured pastern with 1/8 to go – surgery not an option.” Anything was four years old.
Inside Stunt, Jul 2, Thistledown R
“Double fracture [chart: ‘pulled up in distress’].” Inside was six.
Notorious Sixohtwo, Jul 2, Thistledown R (same race as above – video here)
“Broke down [multiple fractures], euthanized on track.” Notorious was four.
R Rose’ All Day, Jul 3, Belterra R
“Pulled up acutely lame – both RF sesamoids broken.” R Rose was five.
No Telling, Jul 7, Belterra T
“Horse broke down – both LF sesamoids shattered.” No Telling was three.
Wicked Games, Jul 7, Northfield R (euth Jul 8)
“Fractured cannon.” Wicked was four.
Tier One, Jul 8, Thistledown R
“Double fracture [chart: ‘pulled up in distress’].” Tier was five.
Rerun, Jul 10, Thistledown R
“Double fracture.” Rerun was four.
Made of Money, Jul 12, Thistledown T
“Pulled up 5/5 lame, vanned back to barn; severe swelling, palpable bone movement – euthanized.” Made of Money was four and being prepped for his first race.
Who Can’t Wait, Jul 17, Thistledown R
“Double fracture.” Who Can’t Wait was five.
Johnny Rockette, Jul 22, Scioto R (euth Jul 24)
“Spiraling LH fracture.” Johnny was eight.
Tayyara, Jul 28, Thistledown R
“Suffered catastrophic injury – disarticulated fetlock.” Tayyara was five.
Hurricane Gertie, Aug 8, Thistledown S
“Mare was found dead by trainer – extremely bloated, stall torn up.” Hurricane was five.
I’m Lucky Bucky, Aug 12, Thistledown R (died Aug 14)
“Horse was hit hard in race. Stiff and dull yesterday. This morning, assistant found him up against the stall with eyes rolled back in his head. He then died.” I’m Lucky was three.
Dance Step, Aug 13, Thistledown R
“Temp of 104 following race, found deceased [later].” Dance Step was five.
Cross the Clouds, Aug 14, Belterra T
“Filly was slowing down in stretch when RH tibia snapped – euthanized immediately on track.” The filly in question was two and being prepped for her first race.
Lumiere, Aug 16, Belterra T
“Took a bad step and shattered sesamoid.” Lumiere was four.
Royal Honey, Aug 25, Belterra S (see my previous post)
Regulatory Vet: “Horse started colicking Saturday and trainer [Zvi Kriple] refused to refer horse to clinic per my advice. Horse died Monday somewhere between midnight and 4 am [found dead].” Royal was five.
Macey’s Magic Mojo, Aug 25, Noble County Fair R
“Finished race and collapsed.” Vet: “When I got to the horse, respirations had stopped and there was no heartbeat.” Macey’s age uncertain.
Maclin, Aug 27, Belterra R
“Horse pulled up lame, RF fetlock grossly swollen. Radiographs showed both sesamoids broken. Euthanized.” Maclin was five.
Ask the Empire, Sep 9, Thistledown S
“Started to act strangely, refused to go forward, laid down, unable to rise, euthanized.” At the time of his death, the 6-year-old Ask was being used as a track “pony.”
Two Lucys, Sep 10, Belterra R
“Horse broke down [both RF sesamoids] just before 1/8 pole.” Two Lucys was four.
Divine Empire, Oct 8, Thistledown R
“Horse caught heel after breaking from gate [then] tried to jump outside rail – [multiple] lacerations. While preparing to suture wound, horse became unstable, went down, and began agonal breathing – euthanized.” Divine was four.
Loud Speaker, Oct 10, Thistledown T
“Rider heard cracking sounds [displaced fracture] and horse went down.” Loud was four.
JJ, Oct 22, Mahoning S
“Horse began colicking Oct 21 [with] intermittent bouts of discomfort and extreme pain. Euthanized [next day].” At the time of his death, JJ was being used as a track “pony.”
Imperious, Oct 22, Mahoning R
“Displaced slab fracture.” Imperious was three.
Free Art, Oct 28, Northfield S
“Racehorse found dead around 9 am when trainer arrived to feed – foamy and bloody nasal discharge. Definitive cause not identified.” Free Art was four – “found dead.”
Mandated Event, Nov 17, Mahoning R
“Vanned off lame, euthanized.” Mandated was three.
Why So Curious, Dec 8, Northfield S
“This horse was found dead in the stall. She was reported to have had head trauma two days prior and had a small amount of bloody discharge.” Then this: “The stomach [had] dozens of bot larvae embedded in the mucosa. The serosal surface of the small intestines had hundreds of pinpoint to 1-cm in diameter hemorrhages. The jejunum contained green fluid. The cecum contained thick green-brown material.” And: “The lateral ventricles of the brain were expanded by a large mass. Given the appearance and history, this mass likely represents a hematoma that developed due to blunt-force trauma.” Now get this: Why So Curious, with “head trauma” (seen below), was just a year old. One.
Rollin My Way, Dec 11, Mahoning S
“Founder with rotation, both hind feet. Abscess [developed] and rotations progressed. Poor pain control. Temp 103.5, suspect infection resulting from abscess. Euthanized.” Rollin was four. That poor, poor boy.
Rapid Ruby, Dec 13, Mahoning T
“Fell, hit head on post, unwilling to get up; decreasing heart rate, reflexes, and tail tone; bladder fully released – euthanized.” “Unwilling to get up.” Ruby was four.
Vinny and Leo, Dec 18, Mahoning R
“Lame post-race [with] multiple fractures, vanned back to barn, euthanized.” They added: “History: bad stall walker and weaver, poor candidate for rehab.” Although not the immediate cause of death, the “bad stall walker/weaver” note serves to remind of the evil of confinement. Vinny was four.
Since Jan 1, 2014, when Horseracing Wrongs began the unprecedented work of reporting kills in the U.S. horseracing industry, 634 (that we know about) horses have perished at Ohio tracks. That’s 634 beautiful, intelligent, sensitive beings sacrificed for nothing more than $2 bets. Are we not better than this, America?
Elizabeth, PERFECTLY said. Thank You.
Sorry to say I don’t believe the rich and powerful who have major influence in North America even want to be better than this.
The richest people who own and operate Thoroughbred breeding farms in Kentucky and some of the legislators in Kentucky want to go above the reach of The Jockey Club and create their own “entity” to register Thoroughbred foals so they can “legally” do the exact opposite of “diversify the gene pool” in Thoroughbreds.
As you may know, The Jockey Club wanted to limit the number of mares that each stallion could breed to diversify the gene pool. Spendthrift Farm was vocal in the push back on that rule/law. Therefore, The Jockey Club rescinded that new rule.
New legislation has been introduced in the Kentucky state House to do the exact opposite of “diversify the gene pool” but, of course, it’s worded differently.
So much for the pursuit of “breed improvement” in the Kentucky Thoroughbred.
In the American Quarter Horse, the registry was established in 1940. The King Ranch in Texas was a major influence on the gene pool of the breed. They did a lot of inbreeding.
In approximately 40 years to roughly 60 years, all American Quarter Horses (and any crossbreed of horse such as, for example, Appaloosa crossed with American Quarter Horse) need to be tested for five different genetically inherited diseases. It’s appalling!!!
No, I don’t believe the rich and powerful are better than this. We definitely want them to be better than this, of course.
These people who have money, power, and influence are responsible for inflicting so much suffering and pain on horses for the pursuit of more money and power; horses are chattel to them.
Are we not better than this, America? Does our modern society measure success only by wealth and entertainmen? When public discourse is dominated by economic pressures, geopolitical conflict, and political battles, ethical questions about compassion get sidelined. Constant crises crowd out ethical considerations.
Humane progress requires long-term thinking asking questions like: What kind of society do we want to be? What obligations do humans have to animals or future generations? The tension today is between compassion driven reform and economic and cultural forces that resist it. At the moment, I can’t say whether America is better than this, and I’m grieving for the horses and our country.
Significantly more were injured during Thistledown’s bad track shut down, but the regulatory vet tried to save many of them to make their numbers look better. How many of those are still alive, we will never know. Or how many are still alive with crippling, painful injuries is even more horrifying.
Also, one of the outrider’s horses dropped dead in the paddock on a racing day. Racing had to be delayed while they scrambled to remove his lifeless body. I don’t think I see anything resembling that on this list, so how trustworthy and honest is the reporting from OH? We know in the past that they have not reported some deaths, so as Patrick always says, the numbers are most likely much higher than reported.
When a horse is unable to get up due to being abused to the point of fatal injuries, of course these depraved people would use the word “unwilling” to suggest the horse was at fault rather than the despicable human monsters who exploited the horse to the edge of death.
RAPID RUBY deserved kindness as did all of these horses abused to death by the despicable humans who forced them to be gambling chips.