Running Scared
It’s not just the horses who are running scared: “I am terrified that one horse – one we did five exams on, and the track was perfect, and everything was going good – could go down. We could be one…
The Exploiters
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How The Jockey Club Under-Reports Kills
When I last wrote about the Jockey Club’s “Equine Injury Database” (EID), I pointed out, among other things, how grossly misleading it is. Today, I build on that a bit: In 2017, according to the EID, Saratoga Race Course, one…
“Fuck These Horses…”
The Albany Business Review ran a piece yesterday on the shortage of H-2B visas (for seasonal workers) and how said shortage will impact the upcoming NYRA meets. Says star trainer Todd Pletcher: “This shortage will have devastating consequences on our…
All’s Well With Accolade’s Owner and Trainer – Man Who Repeatedly Punched Their Horse Is Sorry, and Besides, He’s “Best on the Team”
In the wake of the assault of Accolade at Delaware Park last Thursday, his owner, Glenn Fagan, gave this statement to WDEL: “As the owner of ACCOLADE, the 3yr old gelding that was beaten in the head by the assistant…
Outrage
Following “public outcry,” says the racing publication BloodHorse, the case of the miscreant trainer/owner who left one of his horses in a stall with a broken leg for almost an entire month was reviewed by the Pennsylvania Racing Commission and…
Horse Left in Stall With Broken Leg for Almost a Month; Trainer’s Wrist Is Just Fine
On the surface, the recent suspension of a Pennsylvania trainer for failing to provide proper care for one of his charges reads like the racing industry taking care of business – policing and punishing a delinquent. Looks good to the…
Jockey Gets Wrist-Slap for Punching His Horse; “Frog Juice” Update
Some odds and ends… Australian jockey is suspended two weeks for this: Two weeks. BloodHorse reports that veterinarian Kyle James Hebert was found guilty this week for providing dermorphin to multiple trainers in Louisiana in 2012. Dermorphin, also known as…
Prominent Trainer on Saratoga Deaths: “On the track, things happen”
As the dead horses pile up – 17 as I write – at Saratoga, the industry responds with utterings ranging from the befuddled to the just plain loathsome, with a (typical) dash of duplicitous thrown in. From Sunday’s Times Union…
Obscene
It is well established that many in and around Racing are self-deluded, maintaining that what they do/follow is “sport,” their “athletes” pampered – and loved. But every so often a comment catches my eye and compels a response. In the…
His Mount Dies, But Jock Still Loves “The Rush”
From KARE11 (Minneapolis) Tuesday: Rusty Shaw was rounding the corner for home on Saturday when Canterbury Park officials say the horse he was riding, Classy Star, suffered a leg injury and sent both of them to the ground. “I wasn’t…
In Wake of His Horse’s Death, Rudy Rodriguez Fined for Illegal Drugging
On December 10, Sage Valley dropped dead of an “apparent cardiac arrest” in a race at Aqueduct. At five, he was only just reaching the tail-end of puberty. Turns out, there was a drug “violation,” which may or may not…
On Heels of Abusing American Pharoah, Espinoza Fined in California
The jockey who mercilessly beat American Pharoah in the Kentucky Derby has been fined in California for similar abuse. According to Blood-Horse, Victor Espinoza “was fined $300 by the Santa Anita Park stewards May 8 for ‘causing a break in…