According to the chart for the 8th at Parx Monday, Grahmalamadingdong “suffered injury to left front leg at 16th pole then was subsequently vanned off.” That combination – injury/vanned off – usually ends in death, and that’s exactly what happened here. Grahmalamadingdong was five; this was his 41st time under the whip. The responsible: Maria Teresa Orantes, Guadalupe Guerrero, Silvestre Gonzalez, and all other humans who support – be it through betting, attending, watching, or working in – horseracing.
Among the weekly harness rulings, these:
The Red Mile, Oct 3: “Mr. Andrew McCarthy was listed to drive. Mr. McCarthy arrived in the paddock in an unfit condition [intoxicated/impaired]. Mr. McCarthy [was] removed from his drives and…issued a fine of $1,000.”
Harrington, Oct 6: “Ryder Skinner, driver of [2-year-old] Rynesha in the 2nd race, did strike the horse below the shaft leaving a mark. Fined $200.”
Then, listed under “Minor Penalties”:
Cory Kreiser was fined $300 for “kicking a horse” at Northfield Oct 2.
Jason Thompson was fined $500 for the same – “kicking a horse” – at Dayton Oct 2.
Can you imagine being a trainer of racehorses for 40 years and still be completely tone deaf to the heinous cruelty to the horses?
There are so many other people who have been supporters of this heinous cruelty to horses exploited as gambling chips and still act oblivious to their being guilty of criminal acts against horses in this heinous cruelty.
The racing commissioners profit from the cruelty and answer to no one because they have been given the permission to be the foxes guarding the hen house.
Billionaire horse owners buy horses as “investments” and receive massive tax breaks.
This whole system is really ****** up!
Kick a horse? Congratulations, you’ve earned a spot under “Minor Penalties.” The horses take the blows. The humans get bargain priced consequences; and the regulators get to congratulate themselves for enforcing the rules. When an industry classifies kicking a horse as a minor offense, the problem isn’t just the cruelty in the paddock. It’s the moral bankruptcy in the rulebook.