5-year-old Markyour Territory is dead after breaking down last night in the 1st race at Fairmount Park (Illinois). In his penultimate race on July 1st (also at Fairmount), the gelding finished last of 9, over 28 lengths back. His people…
A 2-year-old colt named Sir William Bruce ran his first race this afternoon. He did not survive the day. In the 5th race at Saratoga – “For Thoroughbred Two Year Old” – the Eric Guillot-trained child collapsed after the finish…
The California Horse Racing Board has confirmed three deaths at the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa: On July 23rd, 3-year-old Gryphon Gold was euthanized as a result of an injury sustained three days prior at Sacramento. In that race…
After six years – 64 races – of gross exploitation and abuse, 9-year-old Coaltown Legend (original post here) has finally been retired, owing in large part to exposure from advocate Deborah Jones. On July 28th, Susan Salk, she with the…
3-year-old Lavender Road, whom I wrote about this morning, was euthanized today after repeatedly falling at Saratoga yesterday afternoon. The official cause was a broken neck – from, of course, the repeated falls. The larger question, though, is why this…
3-year-old horses, developmental equivalents of human children, should not be inexplicably collapsing on racetracks: Tuesday morning at Del Mar, Eddie’s First fell on (and pinned) jockey Amir Cedeno (which is why we know about it). According to U-T San Diego,…
It took a while, but the Gaming Commission has finally confirmed the death of 3-year-old Father Johns Pride in Monday’s 7th race at Saratoga. This is the first racing fatality of the meet. (Lifeguard On Duty and Double Gold went…
Now that the heat has dissipated, Steve Asmussen has re-hired Scott Blasi. His first day back was yesterday at Saratoga. For those unfamiliar (or those with short memories), this is Scott Blasi (and Asmussen’s operation): Direct quotes from Blasi: “Fuck…
4-year-old Cool Under Fire – ridden by Daniel Centeno, trained by Alejandro Maymo, and owned by Kazdan Racing – is dead after breaking down at Parx yesterday (race 8). The gelding’s notes read like a bad joke: “vied for command…
I received the following comment regarding the ugly Del Mar weekend. It speaks for itself: Zack Mason: “My wife and I were at Del Mar for Friday and Saturday races. Witnessed three of the four tragedies, however the most disturbing…
8-year-old Vader Grade, trained by Harlan Bird Rattler and owned by Wesley Edwards, was killed in Sunday’s 5th race at Great Falls (Montana State Fair). Equibase originally reported this as a mostly non-event: “clipped heels, lost rider,” DNF. But in…
To those new to the site – and without a working knowledge of horseracing – “vanned off” may not sound particularly ominous – football players, after all, are occasionally carted off the field. But here’s the reality: A horse who…
