Through a FOIA request to the Kentucky Racing Commission, I have confirmed the following kills at that state’s tracks in the second half of 2025. Although I previously posted first-half kills – here – I will be combining all 2025 kills in a single post next week.
Purely Zen, Jul 5, Ellis R
“Horse pulled up just past 1/4 pole: complete, comminuted, biarticular fracture of the first phalanx; large amount of hemorrhage.” Purely Zen was two years old.
Blue Fifty Two, Jul 12, HighPointe T
“Horse pulled up lame after breezing: [multiple] fractures.” Blue Fifty was two and being prepped for his first race.
My Katie, Jul 30, Keeneland S
“Ileal rupture with peritonitis – edges of rupture jagged and hemorrhagic.” My Katie was four and was entered to race that very day.
Joy’s Warrior, Aug 6, Churchill T
“Horse pulled up with a comminuted, compound fracture. Soft-tissue damage includes rupture of the lateral branch of the suspensory ligament and tearing of the medial branch of the suspensory.” Joy’s was two and being prepped for her first race.
Patsyno, Aug 15, Turfway T
“Filly worked this morning and pulled up lame. Shortly after returning to stall, stifle area began to swell [to] the size of three basketballs – complete, displaced pelvic fracture – euthanized.” Then this: “The presence of a preexisting periosteal callus associated with the acute fracture line in this case is consistent with a repetitive stress injury leading to a catastrophic musculoskeletal failure.” “Repetitive stress injury” – Patsy was two years old.
Night Trust, Aug 31, Churchill T (died Sep 3)
“Filly was scheduled for surgery this morning for [training] fracture. [Vet] left to get fluids; while he was gone, horse became severely painful and died shortly after.” They added: “Horses subject to stress of many types can develop colitis/typhlocolitis/typhlitis. In this case, the stress/pain of the fracture may have been the precipitating event.” Also: “tapeworms.” Night Trust was two and being prepped for her first race.
Greymoor, Sep 10, Kentucky R
“Pulled up after finish: [multiple] comminuted fractures.” They added: “joint fluid contains flecks of bone and cartilage.” Greymoor was two; this was his second race.
Global Queen, Sep 12, Ellis T
“Horse pulled up acutely lame. After returning to barn, horse collapsed. When vet arrived, horse was agonal and gums were white. Euthanized.” Cause: “pelvic fracture with laceration of a large blood vessel.” In other words, Global, just three, bled out.
Witmo, Sep 14, Turfway T
“[Multiple] fractures.” Then: “Soft-tissue damage is severe, including tearing of the flexor retinaculum and the deep and superficial digital flexor tendons, rupture of the palmar annular ligament, the intersesamoidian ligament, and tearing of the medial and lateral branches of the suspensory and the straight and oblique sesamoidian ligaments.” Witmo was two and being prepped for his first race.
Mas Better, Sep 20, Triple Diamond S
“Colicky Sep 19, euthanized [next day].” Report reads: “There was a twist within the mesentery of the jejunum; the cecum was cranially displaced and twisted around the large intestine.” Mas was two and being prepped for his first race.
Sgt. Garcia, Sep 21, Churchill R
“Horse pulled up at 3/8 pole with catastrophic injury: [multiple] open fractures; fetlock is disarticulated, with complete rupture of the collateral ligaments; [multiple] torn tendons [see below].” They added this: “Horse was euthanized on the track and loaded onto ambulance with a rescue sled.” Sgt. Garcia was two.
yet-to-be-named 2-year-old, Oct 4, Churchill T
“Complete, comminuted, displaced fracture of the humerus, with tearing of the surrounding muscles.” As mentioned, this boy was so young he hadn’t even been named yet. In fact, the report noted, “just shipped in Sep 28.”
Beocca, Oct 7, HighPointe S
“Severe respiratory distress – euthanized.” More detail: “severe fibrinosuppurative and necrotizing bronchopneumonia with myriad intralesional bacteria, cavitary necrosis, fibrinous pleuritis.” Beocca was seven.
Vandolero, Oct 10, Churchill S
“Horse was treated for respiratory disease for seven days and improved. Horse appeared to relapse and was diagnosed with severe respiratory disease and pleuritis. Overnight, condition severely deteriorated and became septic – euthanized.” Vandolero was two and being prepped for his first race.
Gotta Lotta Tempo, Oct 10, Keeneland R
“Horse suffered catastrophic injury: multiple fractures, fetlock open and disarticulated, complete rupture of [multiple] ligaments.” Gotta Lotta was two; this was her first race.
Cielo, Oct 11, Keeneland R
“Fell, catastrophic injury to fetlock: [multiple] fractures.” But that wasn’t all: “There is severe soft-tissue damage [see below], including tearing of the medial digital artery, vein, and nerve. The flexor retinaculum is torn and superficial digital flexor is torn, with rupture of the medial branch, and the deep digital flexor tendon is extensively torn. The medial and lateral aspects of the annular ligament are ruptured. The suspensory ligament is torn, and the medial and lateral branches are ruptured. The intersesamoidian ligament is ruptured, and the straight and oblique distal sesamoidian ligaments are torn.” In other words, this baby’s (two years old) leg was utterly destroyed.
Biloxi Blues, Oct 15, Keeneland T
“Collision with another horse on the track: second and third thoracic vertebrae shattered with transection of the [spinal] cord.” Additional details: “The spinal canal from the level of the brainstem to the lumbar cord contains blood. There are lacerations on the dorsal aspect of the right lung and in the dorsal mediastinal tissues. The right lung is hemorrhagic, the left lung atelectatic.” Biloxi was five.
Banksia, Oct 20, Keeneland T
“Filly flipped over rail: open, comminuted fracture; 12-cm-long laceration that extends through multiple muscle layers.” Banksia was two and being prepped for her first race.
Scattitude, Oct 24, Churchill T
“Catastrophic injury while galloping out from a breeze: [multiple] open, comminuted fractures – [one] with massive comminution; marked tearing of the subcutaneous tissues of the medial aspect and lateral aspect of the fetlock, with laceration of the medial digital vein and tearing of the body of the suspensory and both branches.” Scattitude was three.
Sweet Petite, Oct 25, Churchill T
“Horse fell at 9/16 with catastrophic injury: complete, displaced, comminuted fracture of the humerus, with tearing of the surrounding musculature.” They added: “The presence of a preexisting periosteal callus associated with the acute fracture line in this case is consistent with a repetitive stress injury leading to a catastrophic musculoskeletal failure.” “Repetitive stress injury” – Sweet was two years old.
Victory Waltz, Nov 1, Keeneland S
“Horse was tied on wall, spooked at something, and flipped. Wobbly, fell down and couldn’t get up. Comminuted fracture of thoracic vertebral column (T1, T2, T3) with spinal cord impingement.” Also: “bot larvae in stomach.” Victory was three.
Taylor Time, Nov 7, Churchill T
“Filly was galloping when she became wobbly, collapsed, and died on the track – exercise-associated sudden death [caused by] tearing of multiple small vessels near the left kidney.” Taylor was two and coming off her first race.
El Zain, Nov 14, Keeneland T
“Filly pulled up lame after breeze: severely comminuted, moderately displaced RH fracture.” They also noted this in the other hind limb: “repaired fracture with three screws in place.” El Zain was four.
Scooch Over, Nov 15, Churchill R
“Horse suffered catastrophic injury and fell. Horse rose and fell again near inside rail. [Multiple] fractures with missing fragments, fetlock open and disarticulated, severe soft-tissue damage [see below].” They also noted a pelvic fracture, with this: “The location of the pelvic fracture and the lack of underlying pathology of the pelvis support a peracute, traumatic event occurring after the breakdown, as a result of the fall.” Scooch was three.
Wonder of You, Nov 19, Churchill R
“Horse pulled up with severe injury: complete, comminuted fracture of the third carpal bone, with tearing of the intercarpal ligaments; comminuted fracture of the palmar aspect of the ulnar carpal bone.” Wonder of You was four.
Girl Scout, Nov 20, Keeneland T
“Complete, biarticular fracture of the phalanx; joint fluid is hemorrhagic with bony spicules admixed.” Girl Scout was two and coming off her first race.
Campaign Trail, Nov 24, Churchill T
“Horse pulled up with severe injury to right carpus: comminuted fracture with displacement.” Campaign was three.
Operation Sunrise, Nov 27, Churchill R
“Horse pulled up with catastrophic injury: [multiple] open, comminuted fractures.” They added: “Soft-tissue damage includes: tearing of the superficial and deep digital flexor tendons, rupture of the palmar annular ligament, including the medial and lateral aspects, the medial and lateral branches of the suspensory ligament, and the intersesamoidian ligament; tearing of the body of the suspensory and the straight and oblique sesamoidian ligaments.” In other words, leg destroyed (see below). Operation was three.
Lifer, Nov 27, Keeneland T
“Broke down while breezing: complete fracture of the humerus.” Lifer was two and being prepped for her first race.
Peachtree Battle, Nov 29, Turfway T
“Pulled up with [multiple] fractures; marked soft-tissue damage, including rupture of the intersesamoidian ligament and tearing of the superficial and deep digital flexor tendons, the suspensory ligament and the medial and lateral branches of the suspensory, the medial and lateral aspects of the annular ligament, and the cruciate, oblique, and straight sesamoidian ligaments.” Peachtree was two and being prepped for his first race.
Gilded Ruler, Nov 30, Churchill T
“Horse trained normally [then] in stall, struggled, crashed into walls, collapsed, and died.” Gilded was six.
Tapitown, Dec 4, Keeneland T
“Horse collapsed on the gallop out – died before any medical intervention was done. Exercise-associated sudden death.” Tapitown was three – “sudden death.”
Turnupthesunshine, Dec 5, Skylight S
“Found dead in stall this morning: [multiple] vertebral fractures, [multiple] skull fractures, marked hemorrhage.” Turnup was three and being prepped for her third race.
James Milton, Dec 8, Turfway T
“Open, displaced fracture.” Then this: “Soft-tissue damage is severe, including rupture of the intersesamoidian ligament and tearing of the following structures: flexor retinaculum, superficial and deep digital flexor tendons, suspensory ligament, medial and lateral branches of the suspensory, medial and lateral aspects of the annular ligament, the cruciate, oblique, and straight sesamoidian ligaments.” “Severe”? I guess so. James was four and being prepped for his first race.
Naples Gal, Dec 20, Turfway T
“Pulled up at finish of routine gallop with an open, severely comminuted fracture.” And more: “The extensor tendons are multifocally torn. There is extensive tearing of the majority of the suspensory, with embedded fracture fragments.” Naples was three.
Brody, Dec 20, Turfway R (euth Dec 21)
“Pulled up with catastrophic injury to LF fetlock: fracture, severe tearing, [multiple] ruptured ligaments.” Brody was four.
April Aster, Dec 23, Triple Diamonds T
“Filly was about one furlong in when she fractured both front legs at the cannon.” More detail: “Left limb: carpus is open and disarticulated with severe tearing of the carpal ligaments; comminuted slab fracture of the third metacarpal bone, with additional comminuted fractures of the radius, intermediate carpal bone, accessory carpal bone, and ulnar carpal bone; fractured portions of the intermediate and accessory carpal bone are displaced dorsally. Right limb: complete, markedly comminuted, open fracture of the proximal one-half of the diaphysis of the third metacarpal.” Again, that’s two shattered legs – with broken bones sticking out. April was five.
Ace On the Turn, Dec 31, Turfway T
“Rider pulled horse up after hearing a pop: biaxial sesamoid fractures with marked soft-tissue disruption, including tearing of the flexor retinaculum, the superficial and deep digital flexor tendons, the lateral aspect of the annular ligament, the straight and oblique distal sesamoidian ligaments, and rupture of the medial aspect of the annular ligament and the intersesamoidian ligament.” Ace was three.
The whole system of horseracing is based on violating the basic ethical principles of horsemanship. There is no such thing as reforming the fact that futurities are for 2-year-olds and derbies are for 3-year-olds. It is a no brainer that these overworked young colts and fillies are being killed by this industry everyday.
The Kentucky Derby is the “bread and butter” of people who think they have to make money off of the cold-hearted and calculated exploitation of not only young and underdeveloped colts and fillies and call it “sport” but also the over breeding of certain high earning stallions.
Kentucky is on a path to destroy the gene pool of Thoroughbreds by refusing to diversify the gene pool. What could possibly go wrong with the richest breeding farms getting the legislative branch of government in Kentucky to pass laws to where they have a separate entity to register foals of stallions that have been booked to over 140 mares in one breeding season? Instead of respecting the rules set by The Jockey Club and attempt to stop the destruction of the gene pool, these people connected to the richest breeding farms in Kentucky want to let their sociopathic greed take over.
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority is set up so that they are not legally required to disclose horse deaths in racing and not all states are willing to pay HISA any amount of money to then be dictated to about the overages of certain drugs that are an everyday part of the racing and Pari-Mutuel gambling industry.
There is no way that everyone in this abusive industry wants to be on the same page with regulatory bodies.
What a cluster**** of a mess this is and it can’t go broke soon enough!
The system won’t fix itself. The most effective reforms are the ones that take decisions out of economic hands and make violations existential not financial. Require immediate suspension for parasite overload,
malnutrition, neglected hooves or untreated illness. Deworming, nutrition, hoof care are baseline responsibilities, not luxuries. When they’re neglected, it signals either gross incompetence or cost-cutting that treats horses as disposable assets. Horses often fall through the cracks after racing. Require
mandatory microchipping and centralized tracking. Require no “shopping for a vet” who will clear an unsound horse. Make independent vets with absolute scratch power mandatory. Make
mandatory rest rules based on injury data. Require public dashboards showing
injury rates by trainer, track, surface, medication violations
breakdowns and deaths. As I said, the system won’t fix itself. Shut the whole corrupt, criminal enterprise down!
Why the ever-loving F*** are these horses being raced with fractured legs being held together with SCREWS ??!!??! Is this archaic cesspool of moral bankruptcy THAT hard up to find horses to kill that it has to practically duct tape them back together over and over again? And WTF is it with the racing industry that it can’t even provide the most basic of care – like dewormers? I used to think it was mere ignorance, but now I’m convinced that it’s willful and intentional abuse that soaks thru every possible level of interaction. There is absolutely no apology or excuse that can be made to justify what goes on, not just on a daily basis, but every minute of every day.
I’ve said that Hell can’t come soon enough for these parasitic sadists, but I wish there was some place deeper and darker, because Hell is too good for them.
In the past, most of the sources I read say a horse is not fully developed until 6 (six) years of age. While it appears that horses are full grown at five years of age, I personally believe it would take x-rays to say 100% for certain that a horse has stopped growing completely. However, I don’t think it would be a smart idea to expose horses to x-rays unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Some people say their horses are not fully developed and matured until the age of seven or eight years of age.
There is no doubt whatsoever that when racing industry people say that a four-month-old colt or filly is mature enough to eat solid food and therefore old enough to be weaned away from the mother horse, that they are lying to support their morally depraved cruelty to horses for racing and gambling.
I can’t add more to the comments that hasn’t already been said. However, for those who tune in to read only, there’s value in restating facts. As a former owner of an off tract TB, I initially trained him to be a riding horse according to the training methods of Warmbloods. My horse had beautiful, natural movement and was capable of upper level dressage. But before anyone gasps at the thought of me putting a bit in his mouth and a saddle on his back, he lived until 30. I didn’t ride him for the last 15 years of his life which he spent turned out every day on a beautiful pasture with 2 other horses for a minimum of 12 hours. He had a shelter and trough continuously filled with water from a natural spring. Unlike TB track horses, Warmbloods are bred for joint conformation, alignment, and elastic, balanced movement. Training starts around 5. Ideally, they are conditioned progressively, loaded variably rather than repetitively, and rested when injured. Because they are started too young and are part of an industry attached to outcome only, race horses commonly have early-onset degenerative joint disease,
subchondral bone sclerosis, and
fetlock and carpal breakdown. Breeding objectives in the TB racing industry differ from typical Warmblood selection practices. TBs are bred for speed and stride length. Here’s a chart that shows the development of horses at corresponding human years:
1 horse year: ~6.5 to 12 human years
2 horse years: ~13 to 21 human years
3 horse years: ~18 human years (considered sexually mature/adult)
5 horse years: ~23 human years (full physical maturity in horses)
Remember, all or most horses live until 25 to 30. The stress, pain, and cruelty of TB racehorses commented upon here and documented by Horseracing Wrongs is indefensible and criminal. We have the power to show our disapproval of horse racing. Show up to protest. Share comments. Support Horseracing Wrongs!
Anyone who can do this to horses is a criminal. To commit such horrendous acts of cruelty to horses continually, repeatedly, relentlessly, year after year is incorrigible criminality. When you listen to the horses and let them develop to maturity, these horrific injuries would not occur.
It is wrong that people are given a “license” to deliberately cause harm, pain, suffering, and death to horses. Horseracing is a criminal enterprise and tax dollars should not be supporting or perpetuating this criminal activity. These people should be charged with the various crimes they have committed instead of being given a free pass to abuse horses to fatal injuries.
Horseracing Is Animal Cruelty! It is a crying shame that “Kentuckians” find their identity in the criminal acts of cruelty to horses!