In the 4th at Penn last night, Kiss My Note “suffered a catastrophic injury to his left front on the final turn.” He was six; ’twas his 35th time under the whip.

A bit later, in the 3rd at Charles Town, Best Shot “showed no response to riders [sic] urging, sustained a fatal injury mid-stretch when he was struck once more, and euthanized on the track.” Translation: The jockey – Christian Hiraldo – whipped this poor animal both before and after he “sustained a fatal injury.” Hiraldo should be charged with animal abuse; instead, because Best Shot crossed the wire, and because Charles Town is flush with corporate-welfare cash from the attached casino and is therefore able to pay first-last, both he and trainer/owner Timothy Grams got paid ($125). How vile is that? Best Shot was four, and this was his 23rd time under the whip.

The California Horse Racing Board has disclosed a pair of training kills at Los Alamitos Sunday: Don’t Stop Lookin, three, and Noor Khan, four. The latter, the board says, was a victim of “sudden death,” whatever that means. California can now boast (at least) four kills on the young year, giving (again) the lie to “groundbreaking safety reforms.”

I have been able to confirm that Bowies Hero was euthanized yesterday for laminitis. He was six years old, and his final (of 28) race came at Santa Anita January 2 of this year. Now, the racing industry will not count his as a racing death, and he will not show up on the CHRB’s “Equine Fatalities” database. But make no mistake, Bowies is most definitely a horseracing casualty. Most definitely.

According to Equibase, in the 6th at Turfway Friday, Miss Eau de Vie “went bad in the stretch, [was] pulled up in distress, [and was] vanned off.” “Went Bad/Wrong” has largely replaced “Broke Down” as this industry’s favored euphemism for dead. And indeed the 2-year-old filly is. As usual, racing “fans,” ever blind to their own complicity, offered up their reactions (via Twitter):

John Farrell @TheJohnFarrell: “Heart breaking stuff at Turfway, RIP Miss Eau De Vie.”

chip plowman @plowmanlm: “That was brutal.”

dan agostino @dan_agostino: “Was flailing ruffian like. Just leg was dead.”

Nick Petroskus @NPetroskus: “That’s horrible…”

LCL PICKS @LCLPICKS: “Made me sick hurts to see that.”

Vile, in every possible way.

Equibase’s account of Favored’s run in the 2nd at Gulfstream yesterday, in its entirety: “FAVORED lied off of the pace two wide, but unfortunately went wrong in upper stretch, fell, and perished on the track.”

“unfortunately went wrong”

“fell”

“perished on the track”

Favored was three; ’twas his very first time under the whip.

This, every day, is horseracing.