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The Equibase note for 6-year-old Lucky Lorretta in the 3rd yesterday at Hawthorne: “stumbled badly at the start losing position to the field, switched out nearing upper stretch, fell to the track when suffering an apparent catastrophic injury and was subsequently vanned off the course.” I’ve yet to receive confirmation but odds are (overwhelmingly) she’s dead. Two races prior, the chartwriter had this to say about 4-year-old Riding the Train: “broke in the air causing his rider to momentarily be dislodged…drifted out…into the first turn while coming under correction, continued to race rank under restraint into the backstretch….” Last of 11, 19+ lengths back.

Also: We finally have word on Rebuff, a “broke down, fell, vanned off” in the 6th at Churchill November 5: She is dead. Of course. Rebuff was two years old – a babe; ’twas her very first time under the whip.

This is horseracing.

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In the 9th at Churchill Thursday, Winning Impression, says Equibase, “took a bad step after the wire [and] broke down.” “Broke Down,” of course, is an age-old industry euphemism for dead. And indeed, the 3-year-old is. Nothing unusual there; what is, especially in Kentucky, is an early confirmation. (I would have eventually gotten that confirmation with my year-end FOIA request.) The reason the racing press is covering this particular kill: Winning’s most recent start came in none other than the Kentucky Derby in September. In other words, his death was noteworthy. Disgusting, but not half as disgusting as the excrement that (as usual) is flowing from his people.

Terry Finley of Winning’s co-owner West Point Thoroughbreds had this to say to BloodHorse: “Simply heartbroken for everyone involved with this very cool horse.” And, lamenting that this was Winning’s first race on turf: “He looked like he really loved the grass.” And then there’s this from Jeff Lifson, also of West Point:

What they will miss, of course, about their “kind, tough warrior” is the cash he brought in: In just 11 “career” races, Winning netted West Point, Pearl Racing (the other owner), and trainer Dallas Stewart over $100,000; even in death, he “won” the group $8,700 (Winning finished 3rd before taking that “bad step”). As I said, disgusting.

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Having reported on death #48 at Belmont Park just yesterday, today I give you two more. Unbridled Mischief, Monday – “horse sustained multiple fractures while breezing at the 3/16 pole…euthanized on track.” Red Ice, Tuesday – euthanized for unspecified reasons. Unbridled was three, Red Ice ten.

50 horses killed in just 10 1/2 months at this, one of America’s premier racetracks. For gambling. It is cruelty. It is carnage. It is madness. Tell them, please:

Governor Cuomo
Senator Schumer
Senator Gillibrand
Assembly Speaker Heastie
Majority Leader Cousins
“Domestic Animal Welfare” Committee
NYS State Senators

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Belmont Park, already home to 47 dead racehorses this year, has killed again. Beautiful Amaila, a 3-year-old filly who had been put to the whip four times, went down training November 5. Beyond that (quotidian) wickedness, the disclosure (from the Gaming Commission) itself merits a look:

“Beautiful Amailia: sustained injury to it legs euthanized on the track”

First, they spelled her name wrong. Second, they refer to her, a fully sentient being, as an “it” (and can’t even get the grammar right, at that). And third, given that she was euthanized where she lay, why are we only now – one week later – hearing about it? “Love them like their own children”? “Like a death in the family”? Please.