“Death is delivered pink.” And so begins an ESPN The Magazine article (5/4/09) on the track veterinarian’s unenviable role as killer of the broken. Racing calls it euthanasia, of course, but that’s simply self-absolution. In any event, this is no…
Unless otherwise noted, the following horses were “vanned off” American tracks this weekend. Friday: 6-year-old Formulaforsuccess, Belmont, race 3 5-year-old Big Bentley, Calder, race 7 4-year-old Capable Native, Charles Town, race 1 (not vanned off but “bleeding from the nose”)…
Bloodhorse reports (10/17/13) that 6-year-old Take Control was euthanized at Santa Anita after, in the words of trainer Bob Baffert, “he took a bad step” while breezing. With only four career starts (and at least two surgeries), his death, I…
Furosemide, or Lasix, is used, ostensibly, to control pulmonary bleeding in rapidly moving racehorses. But it is also a powerful diuretic that causes the horse to shed water weight (and helps flush the system) prior to the race. To the…
Formulaforsuccess, six, died during yesterday’s 3rd race at Belmont Park. The Gaming Commission simply says he “went over inside rail and died.” But Equibase offers a bit more detail: “[Formulaforsuccess] was eased at the quarter pole and in the midst…
Unless otherwise noted, the following horses were “vanned off” American tracks this week. Monday: 6-year-old Vamoose, Albuquerque, race 8 3-year-old Drama Magnet, Indiana Downs, race 1 3-year-old Crown Her First, Mountaineer, race 7 Tuesday: 3-year-old Ramrod Key, Parx, race 2…
Recently, Europeans have grown increasingly concerned about the safety of American-sourced horsemeat being shipped to their continent from Canada. Here are the relevant facts: …Tens of thousands of American racehorses are sent to Canadian slaughterhouses each year for the express…
In 2006, William Rhoden of The New York Times wrote an article (5/25/06) contrasting two breakdowns in May of that year. The first, Barbaro, received international attention upon shattering his leg in the Preakness Stakes. Four days later, a nondescript…
The NYS Gaming Commission has just announced the death of three-year-old King Wando from an injury sustained while galloping at Belmont Park. With just five career starts and less than $16,000 earnings, the gelding’s passing is of little import to…
Oscar Pistorius, the “Blade Runner” sprinter who became a media darling at the London Olympics for competing without legs, ran a race last December against an Arabian horse in Qatar, ostensibly to raise disabilities awareness. A sorry spectacle, sure, but…
The following is a sequence of jump-racing pictures from Ireland. Although the Daily Mail reports both jockey and horse as doing fine, I can think of no more damning visual of the steeplechase than this… Zane Grey falls
The equine ambulances had another busy day Sunday: Silent No More, four, Belmont, race 2 Let’s Rocket, six, Lethbridge (Canada), race 3 Shock Me, five, Mountaineer, race 5 Outright Secret, five, Portland Meadows, race 4 A Spanish Madam (after winning),…