1 HORSE DYING EVERY 2 DAYS ON TRACKS IN AUSTRALIA DOES NOT INCLUDE TRAINING OR STABLE DEATHS
The 11th Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit took place in Lexington, Kentucky, USA and focused on how the racing industry in the United States has achieved a more than 35% decrease in racing fatalities since 2009 and what the sport can do to increase the safety of its athletes further.
At Meet Our Horse Meat we are of course concerned with human athletes – and just as concerned about equine athletes. As we’ve said before human athletes can choose to compete or not. That is not the case with horses — horses do not have free choice, they are forced to race, so they are not typical athletes.
We believe that even one jockey or horse death is too many – and although the rate of deaths has been lowered – we would like to go on the record and state – there is still a long way to go in the USA.
For example, the Santa Anita Racetrack had 23 horses die in one 3-month period in 2019. One presenter said he was too embarrassed to go to Starbucks for coffee because the word was out and everyone wanted an explanation.
Although these shocking fatalities are in the USA it is important to note…
Australia also has a catastrophic death on the racetrack every 2 days. That does not include deaths while training or in the stable.
The USA racing industry is implementing a range of measures, including some that are controversial.
For example, the USA has “claiming” races.
WHAT IS A CLAIMING RACE?
In its purest form, a claiming race is a race in which all of the entrants are available to be purchased (“claimed”) for a predetermined amount. Interested buyers put in a claim prior to the race; if only one person submits a claim for a particular horse, ownership of that horse is transferred following the race. If multiple people submit claims for one horse, a random drawing determines which person receives ownership.
Claiming races are generally not very prestigious and historically if a horse broke down the new owner was “stuck” with the horse. Apparently, according to the Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit XI if a horse breaks down the Claim Agreement is void.
What concerns MOHM is that the USA horseracing industry sees this change as a positive when we realize that many of the horses who are injured during a claiming race – before or after – end up in the hands of kill buyers. Horses are then jammed in leg-breaking trailers, endure multi-day trips, in extreme cold and heat, without food or water or vet care — and end up in Canada or Mexico to be slaughtered for human consumption.
On a positive note, at least anecdotally, some trainers are leaving the industry because of not wanting to be pressured into administering dangerous, performance or pain-masking drugs to horses.
CBS 60 MINUTES OVERTIME
CBS 60 MINUTES NEWS OVERTIME addressed one example of convictions due to illegal and dangerous drugging of racehorses and asked the question…
Amid doping scandals and deaths, can a new national regulator clean up horse racing?
Shaun Richards spent his childhood on a horse farm and his career busting Russian mobsters; both proved invaluable in infiltrating the dark side of the horse racing world.
The FBI said horse doping led to broken legs, cardiac issues and, in some cases, death. Richards was the lead FBI agent on the doping investigation that led to the conviction of 29 veterinarians, horse trainers and drug distributors.
Stuart S. Janney III, Chairman, of The Jockey Club was asked how the sport can clean itself up and replied: “You put people away. You send them out of the sport and some of them go to jail.”
That very process began in March of 2020 when more than 33 veterinarians, trainers and drug distributors were charged by the Justice Department for using and manufacturing performance-enhancing drugs.
Servis trained Maximum Security, the first place finisher at the 2019 Kentucky Derby before the horse was disqualified for interference. Prosecutors say Navarro was known as “The Juice Man” and had a reputation for doping horses. He administered banned drugs to one of his most famous horses, X Y Jet, ahead of a race in Dubai where the horse won a $1.5 million prize. The next year, Navarro announced that X Y Jet died from a heart attack.
Navarro was convicted of one felony count of conspiracy to commit drug adulteration and misbranding. Servis was convicted of two doping related charges: one felony and one misdemeanor.
Servis and Navarro were sentenced to four and five years in prison, respectively.
These are NOT isolated incidents and exactly what you support when you attend and or bet on a horse race. Keep in mind that these incidents are not unique to the USA. We have the same types of challenges here in Australia. (Learn more here.)
HISA: EVERY TRACK IN AMERICA TO HAVE A “TRACK VET”
Other so-called improvements are happening with horse racing in the United States.
For example, Congress (in the USA) passed a bill authorizing the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (“Authority”) as a private self-regulatory organisation.
The Authority must develop rules related to horseracing, including anti-doping, medication control and racetrack safety.
One of the changes as a result of that bill is that every racetrack in the USA has to have a veterinarian “attached” to it.
Sounds good and looks great on paper – right?
Vets are supposed to observe training sessions and have access to all veterinary records and create a list of horses not fit to race.
The challenge is that these “track vets” can’t be everywhere at once and at many tracks are extremely over-worked.
Again, the horse racing industry in the United States is implementing changes but we submit there is a very long way to go yet in the USA and in Australia.
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7 horses died in 8 Melbourne Cups. Do we need to say anymore? You can learn more about the horrors of the racing industry at: https://meetourhorsemeat.com/horse-racing-wastage/Join us on social media and become a keyboard warrior.
Join us on social media and become a keyboard warrior.
