In the 9th at Tampa yesterday afternoon, Smart Warrior, says the chartwriter, “fell to the course when suffering an apparent catastrophic injury.” While I don’t have a firm confirmation yet, I’m quite sure the 4-year-old is dead. Here is the video. While watching, note the announcer’s “reporting”: “Smart Warrior has unseated his rider and [is] out of the race…and the rider is down with the horse in the clubhouse turn.” Then back to the action: “They continue their journey up the backstretch!”

The CHRB has disclosed the training death of One Famous Prize this morning at Los Alamitos. He had just turned two – an equine babe – and was being prepped for his first race. He is the 3rd dead horse at Los Al this year, 15th (that we know about) at all California tracks. They can’t stop the killing, folks. It’s built into the system.

Squeaky Cheeky, an “injured past the wire” in the 5th at Santa Anita yesterday, has been confirmed dead by the track: “Fracture[d] ankle…triaged on the turf course by track veterinarians…unrecoverable injury.” Santa Anita, that bastion of racing “reform,” now counts five dead horses through the first two months of the year and six since the start of the meet in late December. (note: Bowies Hero, injured on Jan 2 but not euthanized till Jan 18, does not appear as an official kill on either the track’s website or the CHRB database – further evidence of industry deception.) Squeaky was three, and this was his very first time under the whip.

Also: I can confirm that Wicksters Dream is indeed dead after “collapsing” in the 9th at Gulfstream Wednesday. He, too, was just three years old.

This is horseracing.

Last night at Charles Town…

In the 6th, “Lanesborough suffered a fatal injury past the half mile pole and had to be euthanized on the track.” Lanesborough was four years old, and this was her 11th time under the whip. Oh, and she was also sold – for the price of a cheap used car ($5,000) – by her loving owner (James Wolf) immediately prior to dying.

Next race, about a half hour later, “Nicaloe suffered a fatal injury mid-stretch and had to be euthanized on the track.” Nicaloe was also four and under the whip for the 11th time. As the video shows, he was being beaten right up till the moment he broke. After, as the “winning” horse is being sauntered over for celebratory pics, we see Nicaloe down in the dirt – breathing his last breaths; then the “van” comes…

These are dead racehorses numbers 6 and 7 at Charles Town in 2021. And that, folks, is just raceday – surely there have been more in morning training and back in the stalls. (Which, of course, I will unearth through FOIA.)

In the 4th at Gulfstream yesterday, Aquaphobia finished last (“never prominent,” said the chartwriter), was apparently injured after the wire, and eventually “vanned off.” In fact, according to multiple sources, the 8-year-old is dead. All’s not lost for the “connections,” however, for in simply finishing, Aquaphobia “earned” $2,000.

This is horseracing.