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Having reported on death #48 at Belmont Park just yesterday, today I give you two more. Unbridled Mischief, Monday – “horse sustained multiple fractures while breezing at the 3/16 pole…euthanized on track.” Red Ice, Tuesday – euthanized for unspecified reasons. Unbridled was three, Red Ice ten.

50 horses killed in just 10 1/2 months at this, one of America’s premier racetracks. For gambling. It is cruelty. It is carnage. It is madness. Tell them, please:

Governor Cuomo
Senator Schumer
Senator Gillibrand
Assembly Speaker Heastie
Majority Leader Cousins
“Domestic Animal Welfare” Committee
NYS State Senators

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Belmont Park, already home to 47 dead racehorses this year, has killed again. Beautiful Amaila, a 3-year-old filly who had been put to the whip four times, went down training November 5. Beyond that (quotidian) wickedness, the disclosure (from the Gaming Commission) itself merits a look:

“Beautiful Amailia: sustained injury to it legs euthanized on the track”

First, they spelled her name wrong. Second, they refer to her, a fully sentient being, as an “it” (and can’t even get the grammar right, at that). And third, given that she was euthanized where she lay, why are we only now – one week later – hearing about it? “Love them like their own children”? “Like a death in the family”? Please.

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Celtic Miracle was “vanned off” the track after the 5th at Los Alamitos Friday. We now know (CHRB) that the filly was vanned to her death. Los Alamitos, you might remember, was placed on “probation” back in July for what was, at the time, a toll of 30 kills since the first of the year. Since coming off that “probation” – when their “new safety plan” was approved – nine more horses have lost their lives. (The current 2020 tally is 41; two horses died whilst probation was going into effect.) That’s nine kills in just about three months. Boy, have they solved their problems, or what? Vile.

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In the 7th at Mahoning yesterday, “GIOVANTE…suffered a catastrophic injury…and was euthanized” (Equibase). This, remember, is the same day Absolutely Aiden went down at the Breeders’ Cup in Kentucky. But while the media – racing and mainstream alike – was flooded with stories of AA, there will be nary a mention of Giovante. For you see: Mahoning is a low-rent racino; Keeneland is one of America’s crown jewels. Giovante perished in a cheap ($4,000) “claiming” race, Absolutely Aiden in a $150,000 “stakes” race. Giovante was a 6-year-old gelding with but $34,000 “career” earnings; Absolutely Aiden was a 4-year-old colt (meaning he was being preserved for the post-racing breeding shed) who was averaging almost $20,000 every time out. What’s more, it’s “prayers and condolences” for the one, angrily discarded betting tickets for the other. Not here, however. Here, these poor, poor animals are equal in every way.