Arthur Hancock III is a world-renowned Thoroughbred owner and breeder, a member of racing royalty. In an op-ed published by the Paulick Report (11/23/13), Hancock had this to say about his cherished sport: “Sadly, the federal government’s compassion shown for…
Two horses were killed after collapsing in yesterday’s 7th race at Hamilton (Victoria, Australia). 6-year-old Leconi and 4-year-old Wantara go down at the 1:12 mark… Hamilton, race 7, 11/25/13
The following, unless otherwise noted, were “vanned off” American tracks last week. Tuesday: 2-year-old As High as the Sky, Beulah, race 1 3-year-old Fatherscountrygirl, Beulah, race 5 (“broke down”) 5-year-old Master Splash, Finger Lakes, race 2 (“in distress”) 6-year-old Mam…
Dashing Nic, two, was killed after finishing 8th in last evening’s 5th race (his fourth career start) at Evangeline Downs. The gelding was ridden by David Alvarez, trained by Robert Touchet, and owned by Clark Wayne Stout. Later in the…
This site is occasionally rebuked – by the racers, of course – for almost exclusively focusing on “bad news.” To which, I ask, have they read our “about” statement? In any event, I am not at all interested in hearing…
Two Thoroughbreds broke down Thursday: 7-year-old Hammurabi in a claiming race at Golden Gate Fields and 4-year-old Cat Tail Cutie in a claiming race at Remington Park. Earlier in the week, at Monticello Raceway, Standardbred John Henry broke a leg…
Racing’s biggest problem, according to the racers themselves, is the perception of a pervasive drug culture. They fret on this for good reason: The New York Times says (10/31/13), “Nearly four in five bettors — 79 percent — factored in…
I confess to not being interested in the perils of jockeyhood. It’s not that I don’t care about injured riders, just that what they do is entirely voluntary. Jockeys choose to risk life and limb for a paycheck; the horse,…
The NYS Gaming Commission has announced that 5-year-old M P Joe, who was listed on this weekend’s ambulance report, was, in fact, euthanized after being vanned off Saturday at Aqueduct. Of the 12 NY horses vanned off since we began…
The following, unless otherwise noted, were “vanned off” American tracks this weekend. Friday: 3-year-old Kentucky Gem, Retama, race 7 Saturday: 5-year-old M P Joe, Aqueduct, race 6 4-year-old Baby Harlow, Charles Town, race 9 (“broke down”) 4-year-old Another Trick, Churchill…
In yesterday afternoon’s 9th race at Parx, 3-year-old National Prayer broke down and was killed. The colt, passed around like an unruly foster child, was under his fourth different trainer in the past 12 months. Worse, in that same span,…
Britain’s Animal Aid maintains a running list of Thoroughbreds killed on British tracks. It does so because, out of self-preservation, the racing people won’t. Sure, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) generously tells us “about 2 in every thousand runners are…
