From Finger Lakes comes word that 5-year-old Very Very Grateful was euthanized Tuesday after x-rays revealed a fractured leg. But here’s the thing: The Gaming Commission notes that trainer Enrique Hernandez had the horse for only a week when he…
I have confirmed that 6-year-old Mad Magic was euthanized on-track after snapping her ankle in last Friday’s 1st race at Pimlico. In a 3 1/2-year career spanning 41 starts, Mad Magic was shuffled among nine different trainers – Sandra Adkins,…
What most NY citizens do not know, by design, is that Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs), or slots, directly subsidize the state’s racing industry. Here’s how it works: As a condition for securing VLT licenses, track owners are required to continue…
The following racehorses were casualties on American tracks last week: Monday Tuesday The Commerce Comet, Will Rogers, race 2, vanned off Wednesday Tazman Green, Charles Town, race 1, vanned off Our Painted Veil, Indiana, race 3, “bled outwardly” Ardency, Suffolk,…
Yesterday afternoon at Louisiana Downs, 3-year-old Aztec Secret was killed in the 3rd race. Complicit in his death: jockey Richard Eramia, trainer Jonas Gibson, owners George and Adam Ackel, and breeder I. Lee Lange. This was Aztec’s first race under…
I have confirmed that 3-year-old (barely) Zion Hill is dead after breaking down in his very first start, Sunday’s 6th race at Mountaineer. The complicit: jockey Luis Rivera, trainer Anthony Farrior, owner Joseph Cucarese II, and breeder LaDona Hudson.
Prior to the Kentucky Derby, Steve Asmussen sat for an interview with Bob Costas to discuss, of course, “the PETA video.” In it, of course, he staunchly defends his reputation, claiming that neither he nor any of his underlings broke…
Although I’d rather not keep hammering an issue that the average person cares (and knows) little about, the racino question is simply too important to ignore. Here is the indisputable fact: While some races (TC, BC) and some meets (Saratgoa)…
At Yonkers tonight, Standardbred Liberty Cruise died back in the receiving barn “after getting Lasix for [the] 5th Race.” A “non-racing” kill? Hardly. Liberty Cruise was chasing a racino-jacked purse of $10,000 (for driver Jordan Stratton and trainer Carl Tirella).…
This, from Sunday’s 6th race at Parx: 4-year-old Debonaire Man “stumbled at the start, was steered wide, was unable to keep pace with winner but gamely held place. Debonaire apparently injured himself at the start and after battling tenaciously to…
The following racehorses were casualties on American tracks last week: Monday Caverna, Beulah, race 2, confirmed dead Win Machine, Mountaineer, race 3, vanned off Broken Legacy, Mountaineer, race 4, bled Tuesday Fair Fight, Charles Town, race 2, bled, vanned off…
An hour-and-a-half after California Chrome won the world’s most prestigious horserace, Churchill Downs closed its Saturday card with a $60,000 maiden run. It was, as it turned out, a deadly one, as 3-year-old Canadian Winner went down and was subsequently…
