As oft repeated here, it is a bad sign when a horse cannot leave the track under his own power. In fact, through conversations with industry experts and my own research, I have concluded that most (easily) of the “vanned…
Two horses were killed in the same Aqueduct race (8th) yesterday afternoon: 7-year-old Quick Money, being raced for the 54th time, “clipped heels and fell heavily to the track and was immediately struck by two foes behind…tragically succumbed to neck…
In the 9th at Hawthorne last night, 11-year-old (almost 12) Hurta broke down and was euthanized. If not for a pair of fallen jockeys who were transported to the hospital (which usually garners some media attention), Hurta’s final fate would…
The following athletes were killed on American playing fields yesterday: In Aqueduct’s 5th, 4-year-old Princes On Thelake “came under urging at the five-sixteenths, broke down nearing the quarter pole falling heavily to the track and was euthanized.” This was the…
Two horses are dead from colic-related complications: 3-year-old Keen Katana on Sunday (at Belmont) and 6-year-old Fast Bullet just this morning. The industry and its apologists are quick to dismiss fatalities like these as simple misfortunes, something that can and…
From May through October, 4-year-old Wild Perfection was a full and active cog in the Finger Lakes claiming machine. But then, nothing, a 5-week silence that given the who (cheap horse, bottom-feeder connections), what (running in races that pay first…
Saturday night at Penn National, 7-year-old Strapping Groom (below) was reported as “broke down after the wire” and vanned off. Initially, there were conflicting reports on his status, but because this was a successful horse (multiple GS winner) breaking in…
Last week’s U.S. horseracing casualties. “Broke Down” – racing-speak for dead: Pull in Time, Nov 25, Turf 8 Strapping Groom, Nov 29, Penn 4 (DRF reports still alive) “Vanned Off” – horses who required an ambulance (in crudest sense of…
This past Friday at Gulfstream West, a 3-year-old named Beeline Express was raced for the fourth time this month. Worse, this horse has been put to the whip 12 times in the last 15 weeks. In defense, the apologists will…
Originally reported as a mere “van-off” Friday at Aqueduct, 9-year-old Cherokee Artist is in fact dead from a broken leg. For trainer/owner David Jacobson, this makes six dead horses in NY since August of last year. For NY 2014, 113…
3-year-old Puckleberry Finn has been raced 13 times this year – all claiming: Jan 1st, 5th of 8 (18+ lengths back) Jan 12th, 6th of 7, (26+ lengths back) Apr 14th, 4th of 7 May 3rd, 5th of 7 May…
As I often remind, my casualty/kill lists are incomplete – not through lack of effort, but because Racing ensures that some (many) fall through the cracks, disappear. Witness 5-year-old Threetimes a Saint’s line from yesterday’s 2nd at Finger Lakes: “THREETIMES…
