So I’m wondering, what does it actually take for a trainer to get a figurative death sentence in horseracing? On the surface, it would appear that trainer Raul Vega was hit hard by the New Mexico Racing Commission last week:…
Monday, longtime TVG (a national horseracing channel) host, analyst, handicapper Ken Rudulph tweeted the following: Rudulph subsequently apologized for his “very poor choice of words,” but the damage had been done. My take: While I loathe what he said and…
In its official response to the current catastrophe – five kills in six days – Churchill Downs, claimed, among other derisible things, that “transparency is an important component of our commitment to safety and accountability in horse racing.” Okay, here…
There are two types of people in the racing world: the ones who know they’re exploiting horses for personal gain and really don’t care; and the ones who are oblivious to who they are and what they do. Falling squarely…
Jockey Mauro Cedillo was thrown from Spectacular Road in the 1st at Thistledown yesterday and was subsequently taken to a hospital. While I wish him the best, it is awfully telling that, apparently prompted by a jockey vote, the remainder…
Word from Kentucky is that former superstar racer turned breeding machine Havre de Grace died yesterday at a farm in Lexington, the result, says BloodHorse, “of multiple hemorrhaging episodes after producing a colt two days earlier.” Those internal bleeding “episodes,”…
The breeding shed is its own kind of servitude, creating its own kind of suffering. With zero control over his own wants and needs, a “stud” is but a machine whose sole purpose is to produce successful – as defined,…
The Stronach Group is one of U.S. Racing’s major powers, with five Thoroughbred tracks under its umbrella, including marquee venues Santa Anita, Gulfstream, and Pimlico. This week (which is not yet done) has been, to put it generously, a public…
Late last year, Kenton County (Kentucky) Animal Services began an investigation of the extreme neglect of nine horses owned by exercise rider Brandie Hart (aka Brandie/Brandi Wood). Disgustingly, even after finding that neglect, Hart was initially allowed to keep the…
From the “right from their mouths” department… In a recent Harness Link letter to the editor, a United States Trotting Association (USTA) director, David Siegel, took his industry to task for not signing on to HISA. In it, he writes:…
Yes, we all know horseracing kills (HW estimates six deaths at U.S. tracks every single day), but what makes my hatred that much more intense is the attitude toward that killing. The occasional torrent of prayers and condolences – though…
In a recent “Open Letter to the Racing Community,” two Breeders’ Cup execs decried anyone in racing still trying to thwart the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA). I for one don’t care about either side’s position or the reasons…
