Horseracing Wrongs Don’tmesswithbull’s run in the 5th at Charles Town last night, as relayed by Equibase: “chased the pace while looking for a clear path, but suffered a fatal injury and was taken to the outside into the turn, then euthanized on the track.” Does this sound familiar? It should, for I reported the exact…

Horseracing Wrongs The 3rd at Charles Town last night, as relayed by Equibase: “VENETIAN DRIVE was fatally injured shortly after the start and had to be euthanized on the track.” She was five, and this was her 16th time under the whip. Tellingly, in her penultimate race, January 6, she finished 32+ lengths back. Also,…

Horseracing Wrongs We and our work were featured in a recent Journal News (USA Today Network) piece on the killing at Belmont (53 dead horses last year) and beyond. (The article is on the paper’s subscription-only page, but here is a pdf: Belmont Article.) To clarify, when I say our work I simply mean exposing…

Horseracing Wrongs Back in November, I reported on the impending shuttering of Scarborough Downs, a harness track in Maine. It is now, I happily write, a done deal. Earlier this week, Fansided posted a piece entitled, I happily write, “Scarborough Downs and the death rattles of a sport.” This paragraph fairly sums why it closed…

Horseracing Wrongs As a follow-up to the grisly list I recently published on Camarero, I’ve decided to highlight some of the more egregious cases. Here are two: Fight for Rags was bred in Kentucky in April 2015. Save for one race in Florida, his entire “career” – 26 races in all – was spent in…

Horseracing Wrongs Back in November, I reported the death of Rebuff at Churchill Downs. Today, we have the gruesome details. The Racing Commission has disclosed that the 2-year-old filly – who, by the way, was under the whip for the very first time – sustained multiple open (broke the skin), disarticulated (bones separated) fractures in…

Horseracing Wrongs Scat’s Choice broke down in the 5th at Santa Anita yesterday and is dead. She was two years old; ’twas her 10th time under the whip. She becomes the third dead horse at Santa Anita this month. Reform – Stronach style. View original post

Horseracing Wrongs Shedrow Secrets The Tragedy of Broodmares by Mary Johnson Where do all the broodmares go when their productive days are over? To bucolic pastures in the Kentucky Bluegrass? Don’t bet on it. We often hear the word “aftercare” emanating from the mouths of the racing apologists as they attempt to peddle the belief…

Horseracing Wrongs The following is a list of horses who died or were euthanized at Camarero Race Track (Puerto Rico) in 2020. Please note, however, that this information came from just one of the two on-site clinics there. In other words, there were surely more than what you see below – and below are the…

Horseracing Wrongs This morning at Belmont, says the Gaming Commission, All Mo “unseated the rider on the training track, ranned [sic] of [sic] the track and suffered a [sic] opened distal radial fracture – euthanized.” He was two and had been put to the whip once, at Aqueduct in November. He is already the third…