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.
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