As a follow-up to the grisly list I recently published on Camarero, I’ve decided to highlight some of the more egregious cases, horses who were without question run into the ground – to their graves. Here are four more:

Zamarata was bred and initially raced in Florida. She was sold (presumably by her last States’ owner, Ricardo Vallejo) in the winter of ’16 and shipped to Puerto Rico. Race after race after race after race followed. 61 in all. This, after 34 in Florida. Her 95th race came on July 11 of last year. Two days later, according to the report I received, she was euthanized per “doctor’s diagnosis – leg problems.” As if this could be any more vile, this poor girl was, with the exception of her first race, “For Sale” each and every time out. That’s 94 instances where all it would have taken was a “claim” to buy her. Just a thing to be used, a garden-variety Amazon product.

Similarly, the story of Rotor. Bred in Kentucky way back in 2008, Rotor spent some time in Florida before being shipped to Puerto Rico in 2014. There, he was raced 82 times. Added to the 17 in Florida, that makes 99 turns under the whip – all at the “claiming” level. Over his final 27 races (8/4/17-8/27/20), Rotor finished double-digit lengths back in all but one; in 14 of those, he finished 20+ lengths back, 5 30+ back.

Less than two months after that August 27 race, the 12-year-old Rotor was euthanized at Camarero for “poor body condition.” His owner throughout this 27-race period was E. Ramos Racing; his trainer, Justo Figueroa. It goes without saying that these are horrible human beings. But what of the track officials, the stewards, what passes for a government oversight agency? Complicit in this evil, all.

Olimpiada was bred and raced (exclusively) in Puerto Rico. But here’s the thing: This 9-year-old (at death) was raced an ungodly 104 times. 104 times. Her final race came on August 20 of last year – 12th, almost 35 lengths back. Apparently, though, owner R. Racing and trainer Jose Garcia were not quite done with this beaten, battered mare: Olimpiada was euthanized on November 30 for a fracture incurred while she was being trained for what would have been race #105. Imagine that.

And finally, there’s the short, ugly story of V My Queen. Bred in 2017, V “broke down” training on December 28, 2020. In between, there were but three races:

12/13/19: 7th, 11+ lengths back
2/6/20: “refused to break”
10/2/20: “refused to break”

Was this poor girl trying to tell her abusers – owner Sanchez Racing, trainer Juan Monserrate – something? You bet – and it breaks my heart.

As a follow-up to the grisly list I recently published on Camarero, I’ve decided to highlight some of the more egregious cases, horses who were without question run into the ground – to their graves. Here are four more:

Play Me Now was bred in Pennsylvania. A “claimer” over his entire 32-race run in the States, he was then sent to Puerto Rico as a washed-up 6-year-old in November 2018. Here are his final four (of 21) races at Camarero:

12/25/19: second-to-last, 25+ lengths back
1/17/20: last, 23 lengths back
2/2/20: last, 15 lengths back
8/27/20 (note the almost-7-month layoff): second-to-last, 28+ lengths back

It was then revealed that Play Me Now had suffered a limb break in that final race and was euthanized later that day. Owner, Malave Racing; trainer, Santos Martinez.

El Puma was bred and raced exclusively (17 in all) in Puerto Rico. Over his final nine completed races, beginning June 2019, he finished a combined 144+ lengths back, an average of 16/race. I say “completed” because his final two starts went like this: On June 10, 2020, he was “distanced, DNF.” Apparently, though, his utter hopelessness wasn’t yet clear to owner Hacienda Basilisa and trainer Juan Monserrate, for these two miscreants proceeded to thrust poor El Puma back onto the track on September 2. Result: “lame, DNF.” A week later – which if that date is accurate, is a whole other level of depravity – he was euthanized.

Dark Bloom was bred in Kentucky in 2013. She was then raced (45 times) in Kentucky, Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Ohio. During this time, she was bought and sold at least six different times. Including her breeder, Cali Holan, she had at least seven different owners and six different trainers: Cali Holan, Westrock Stables, Jerry Caroom, Bobbye Stipe, Richard Robertson, Earl Hughes, Edwin Mundo, Ron Moquett, Jack Van Berg, Lynn Chleborad, Thomas Swearingen, Earl Hughes, Jason DaCosta.

Presumably, Mundo then sold Dark Bloom to Camarero in October 2019. Follows are her nine races there, all for owner Establo Quintana and trainer Maximo Gomez:

10/5/19: last, 38 lengths back
10/26/19: last, 50+ lengths back
2/8/20: second-to-last, 35+ lengths back
6/13/20: last, 35+ lengths back
7/12/20: last, 16+ lengths back
7/31/20: second-to-last, 20 lengths back
8/31/20: second-to-last, 32+ lengths back
9/12/20: 8th, 8+ lengths back
10/9/20: “lame, DNF”; three days later, dead

Andromeda’s Risk was bred in NY in 2011. She was then raced almost exclusively in that same state, hitting all four Thoroughbred tracks there – Aqueduct, Belmont, Saratoga, and Finger Lakes. Her last race in the States came at Finger Lakes in November ’19; her owner/trainer was Michael LeCesse. Presumably, he then sold her to interests in Puerto Rico, and off she went. She was then raced six times at Camarero, finishing a combined 143+ lengths back. Her final race came on October 9 – last, 47+ lengths back. Five days later, she was euthanized for a limb fracture of one kind or another. She was nine years old and had endured 69 turns under the whip.

As a follow-up to the grisly list I recently published on Camarero, I’ve decided to highlight some of the more egregious cases, horses who were without question run into the ground – to their graves. Here are three more:

After being bred and initially raced in NY, U. S. A. Sweetie was shipped to Puerto Rico in February 2019. 15 races followed:

26+ lengths back
13+ lengths back
12+ lengths back
43 lengths back
8+ lengths back
8+ lengths back
14+ lengths back
13+ lengths back
23 lengths back
56 lengths back
9+ lengths back
18+ lengths back
15+ lengths back
17+ lengths back
19 lengths back

Her final race came on July 19, 2020; next day, she was was euthanized for “arthritis and hyper calcification of the pastern.” Sweetie’s last race in NY was for owner William Butler and trainer Chris Englehart. Presumably, they are the ones responsible for shipping her to Puerto Rico. From there, for her entire run at Camarero, she was owned by Establo Piloto and trained by Angel Calderon and Jose Delgado.

Priority Run was also bred and raced in NY, but she also made stops in Florida and Pennsylvania before shipping to Puerto Rico in January of last year. Six races followed:

24 lengths back
15 lengths back
17 lengths back
17+ lengths back
19+ lengths back
119+ lengths back

Her final race came on August 24; one day later, she was euthanized for “palmar metacarpal disease.” Again, one day after “finishing” 119 lengths back, she was euthanized for what can only be interpreted as chronic lameness. Sick. Her final owner/trainer at Finger Lakes, and the person probably responsible for selling her to the island, was Michael LeCesse. Once there, she was owned by Establo Babalu Aye PR and trained by Jose Garcia and Alvin Encarnacion.

The same day Priority was euthanized so too was the NY-bred Rethinkme. In fact, the pair had been entered in the exact same race the day before. In that race, Rethinkme was a “DNF,” or more accurately, a “Did Not Start” – “refused to break,” said the chartwriter. Over her last four completed races, she finished a combined 53 lengths back. So why was she ultimately euthanized, a day after “refusing to break”? “Severe arthritis, both legs.” Owner, Alamo Stable; trainer, Ricardo Negron.

As a follow-up to the grisly list I recently published on Camarero, I’ve decided to highlight some of the more egregious cases, horses who were without question run into the ground – to their graves. Here are four more:

Dattts the One was euthanized for laminitis (two feet) on March 26 of last year. He had been raced 16 times, all at Camarero. His final 10, beginning November 2018:

20 lengths back
11+ lengths back
12+ lengths back
22+ lengths back
9+ lengths back
28+ lengths back
12+ lengths back
41+ lengths back
12+ lengths back
21 lengths back

That last race was in November 2019. During this 10-race stretch, he was owned by three different groups and trained by five different men. A bit over four months after that final race, he was dead (again, of laminitis), at the tender age of four.

On June 15 of last year, Aimer Mieux sustained multiple fractures while training and was euthanized. It was also noted that she suffered from osteoarthritis. Prior to being killed, she was raced 47 times – in Canada (where she was bred), Florida, Ohio, West Virginia, and finally, in Puerto Rico. Her final seven, beginning February 2019:

31+ lengths back
15+ lengths back
8+ lengths back
13 lengths back
18+ lengths back
18+ lengths back
43+ lengths back

That last race – 43+ – was in September 2019. And yet, they still wanted more. She was also (no surprise) trained by three different people over those final seven.

Born in 2015, Prosperada was raced her entire “career” at Camarero, 39 races in all. Her final five races, beginning February of last year:

23 lengths back
17+ lengths back
13+ lengths back
21+ lengths back
28+ lengths back

One week after that final race on June 18, she was euthanized per “doctor’s diagnosis.”

Monmouth Beach was bred in Kentucky in 2015. After brief stops in New Jersey and Delaware, he had an extended stay at Finger Lakes before being shipped to Camarero in January 2019. 16 races there followed. Save for three, it was about as ugly as it gets: He finished 10th or below six times; over 13 races, he finished a combined 299 lengths back, or 23 per race. On July 6, a day after his final race, he was dead of “chronic pleuropneumonia.” That’s one day after finishing last (of 14), 27 back. His owner, Julissa Racing, and trainer, Ricardo Negron, had to have known – “chronic pleuropneumonia” – and yet they still sent him out there. It’s vile. It’s criminal. It’s horseracing.

As a follow-up to the grisly list I recently published on Camarero, I’ve decided to highlight some of the more egregious cases. Here are two:

Fight for Rags was bred in Kentucky in April 2015. Save for one race in Florida, his entire “career” – 26 races in all – was spent in Puerto Rico. In a training session on February 28 of last year, Fight broke both knees and was euthanized. With that end in mind, consider these, his final seven races, beginning in June 2019:

8th, 11+ lengths back
8th, 31+ lengths back
9th, 20+ lengths back
10th, 18 lengths back
5th, 17 lengths back
12th, 22+ lengths back
9th, 31+ lengths back

That final race came on January 24. A bit over a month later, he was killed (again, when both of his knees shattered). The owner throughout this stretch was CEB Racing, but as an added stress on this poor animal, he was handled by four different trainers: Benjamin Figueroa, Rene Serrano, Luis Adorno, Domingo Diaz. That’s four trainers in seven races. Oh, and he was also “For Sale” (cheap) before each of those.

Ghostly Games also broke a pair of limb parts while training at Camarero. His death came on March 6. For him, it was about the extended grinding and, as with Fight, the mental and emotional stress he was forced to endure in the process. Ghostly was bred in Florida in March 2012; he was first put to the whip 2 1/2 years later at Monmouth Park in New Jersey. From there:

to Florida for four races
to Pennsylvania for one
to West Virginia for one
back to Pennsylvania for one
to Maryland for nine
back to Pennsylvania for one
to Delaware for one
back to Maryland for one
back to Delaware for six
back to Pennsylvania for one
back to Maryland for two
back to Pennsylvania for four
back to Delaware for one
back to Maryland for one
back to Delaware for two
back to Maryland for nine
back to Delaware for eight

And then, in November 2018, he was shipped to Camarero, where he would spend the rest (17 races) of his abbreviated life. In all, Ghostly was put to the whip 71 times. 71. And, needless to say, he was exploited by multiple owners and trainers along the way.

Cruelty, thy name is horseracing.