From the FAQS section of the Foxfield Steeplechase website:

Q. What should I wear? A. You’ll see everything from “Sunday Best” to “Country Casual” for both men and woman.  Women lean towards dresses, men are usually in shirt and tie often paired with khaki shorts.  Hats are a favorite of many who attend the races!

Q. Is food available at the races? A. We encourage you to bring food and beverages and tailgate during race day.

Q. When/Where can I purchase Foxfield Merchandise? A. There will be Foxfield souvenir stands in the Purple and Green sections during the race day or you may contact the race office if you would like to purchase merchandise prior to the race.

Sporty attire! Hats! Tailgating! Souvenirs! Fun for all – indeed, Foxfield bills it “Family Day at the Races”! (photo gallery here)

Now, here is the Stewards’ Report for the October 4 event:

“BOLD ESCAPE fell at the second last [fence] after meeting it wrong, getting in close, hooking his knees and sustaining a rotational fall resulting in a possible broken neck and was dead when examined by the course vet.”

“possible broken neck…dead when examined by the vet”

Still, the stewards appended this note to their report: “The course was in excellent condition…. It looks to continue to improve with the current management.” Just one minor hiccup, huh? Disgusting. And to those parents who patronize these “family events” where fully sentient beings are killed in the most horrific of ways, I humbly and respectfully ask: Any regrets, guilt, shame? If not, why, how?

Hit It Up was “vanned off” in the 8th at Los Alamitos last Friday. Today we learn (CHRB) that he was euthanized for the undisclosed injury. Hit It Up was two years old.

In the 6th yesterday at Finger Lakes, Maddy Black was said (by Equibase) to be “in distress, pulled up.” In fact, she is dead: according to the Gaming Commission, broken leg, euthanized where she lay. Maddy was three; ’twas her 7th time under the whip.

This is horseracing.

Yet another colic death from NY. Patriot Lady, the Gaming Commission reports, succumbed to “unresolved colic” Friday at Finger Lakes. She was seven years old and had been put to the whip 34 times, most recently in September. Over her final five races, she finished a combined 83 lengths back for trainer/owner Beverly Wheaton. Oh, and Wheaton also had Patriot “For Sale” before each of those races. As to the cause, for those who are inclined to absolve Racing for colic deaths, see this.

The 2020 Melbourne Cup Carnival, Australia’s version of the Breeders’ Cup, is slated to begin this week. And already, a kill. Wichita, a 3-year-old colt, fractured a leg in a training session earlier this month, was operated on, and was ultimately euthanized Friday for “complications.” In his brief one-year “career,” Wichita had been bounced from Ireland, to England, to France, and finally, to Australia. Imagine that. Racing Victoria, one of Australia’s governing bodies, said this: “RV extends its condolences to the owners of the horse, trainer Aidan O’Brien, his stable staff and all who cared for the horse and are greatly saddened by their loss.” “Their loss” – vile, as usual.

Wichita, as captured by our advocate allies in the U.K., Animal Aid. Animal Aid, by the way, has been recording kills on U.K. racetracks since 2007: Race Horse Death Watch. So you see, this is not an “American problem”; they kill horses everywhere.