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I have twice before reported on the almost-unimaginable suffering endured by the racehorse Fox Rox – here, and here. Yesterday at Presque Isle, Fox’s abusers, Mark Hoffman and Dennis Ward, fully intended to send the soon-to-be-11-year-old out for the 117th time (and it was a “claiming race,” meaning they were to have him up “For Sale”). In the end, unsurprisingly, he was a vet scratch. I will, of course, keep watching.

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Some notes from three tracks Saturday. Most of these were “trials” for two-year-olds. (A note on the “bumps”: There were plenty of the run-of-the-mill variety; I am only relaying the more egregious.)

At Laurel Brown (Utah), Cbf Cash Man “fell at start”; Rays Lane also “fell at start.”

At Remington (Oklahoma), Whiskey River was “hard to load”; Stylenattitude “wiped out midway”; Mighty Furrgee was “rowdy in gate”; De Cap Gun suffered a “hard bump at break”; Eye Capo “flipped at break”; Sheza Prize Wagon was “hard to load”; Nita Kiss “went to knees at break”; Valiants Wild Card “threw a tantrum in gate.”

At Sam Houston (Texas), Bh Counting On Snow was “unruly in gate”; Jess Roll Me Over was also “unruly in gate”; Haulin Roses was “unruly in post parade”; Burning Dust was “bumped hard”; Miranda Simply was also “bumped hard.”

Terrifying babies – this is horseracing.

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Whoa Nelly Whoa “was found to have bled during the running” at Horseshoe
Up Seventyfour “vanned off” at Finger Lakes
Sizzlin Grace “fell, vanned off” at Delta
Cooke Brothers “pulled up lame after finish, vanned off” at Pimlico
Dris Winning Guy “vanned off” at Delta
Johnny “vanned off” at Sunray
Earned the Shot “vanned off” at Charles Town
Scales of Justice “went wrong, vanned off” at Churchill
Jj Kings Baby “vanned off” at Delta
Karatbars “vanned off” at Gulfstream
Cbf Cash Man “fell at start” at Laurel Brown
Rays Lane “fell at start” at Laurel Brown
Tap Out Fast “vanned off” at Louisiana
Snow Phoenix “fell, vanned off” at Miles City
Volcoms Disco “fell, DNF” at Miles City
Chosen Mate “fell, DNF” at Percy Warner
Councils First Cash “fell, DNF” at Sunray
Brevard Place “fell, DNF” at Willowdale
Princess Cora “injured in gate, scratched” at Hawthorne
Shaldag “vanned off” at Monmouth
Banjo Queen “vanned off” at Santa Anita

While not all the “vanned” end up dead, most do, as borne out by our year-end FOIA reports. But even if death is not the ultimate result, the above are victims nonetheless, suffering painful injuries – in the case of the bleeders, pulmonary hemorrhage – so that some men may gamble, others chase pots of gold. (For any new confirmed deaths during the week, please see our running annual list.)