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 "The Thoroughbred, America's Horse"
  DonateNowThoroughbred Placement Resources, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charity that exists to improve the lives of Thoroughbred racehorses.
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Falcon Fury

Falcon Fury

 

The following is Falcon's story and how his misfortune illustrates a change in the way the racing industry.  Please take note of all the horsemen who rallied around this horse.  Although the trainer who sent him to auction did a horrible deed, many others directly in the industry stepped up to responsibly care for this wonderful horse.  What follows is a letter written by Diana McClure and the entire account written by Anne Russek.

 

 

 

Click here to see video of him.

 

 

 






Dear Sirs,


Through the HBO Documentary “Running For Their Lives” I have recently become aware of the well established pipeline in our industry sending horses from the Backstretch to the Slaughterhouse. We n

eed to establish a core value system with a policy plan whereby we can expose and eliminate these pipeline participants.

Several racetracks have taken the initiative to state that sending racehorses to an auction where a large percentag

e of them end up at slaughter is unacceptable.

The first week of July Suffolk Downs told their horsemen that sending horses to slaughter was no longer an alternative and that there would be repercussions such as loss of stabling for those making that choice.


The Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horseman’s Association in conjunction with Philadelphia Park racetrack management announced the formation of PTHA’S Turning For Home, Inc. This is a non-profit horse rescue dedicated to helping Philadelphia Park owners and trainers secure safe homes and second careers for their retired racehorses.

Charlestown Racetrack has publicly stated that they have banned the two prominently known kill buyers from their backstretch.

One merely has to visit a public auction and “flip lips” to identify Thoroughbreds via tattoo that are in “the stable to table in seven days” flow. I personally identified 15 Thoroughbreds in the direct kill pens at The Sugarcreek Ohio Auction. Horses had raced as recently as 5 days before at Thistledown Racetrack. Horses were also identified as last running at Beulah Park, Mountaineer Park, and Charlestown. There was even a retired steeplechase horse who last raced in Fair Hill, Md.

Upon visiting the New Holland Auction in Pennsylvania last week I discovered a three year old thoroughbred gelding. He was emmaciated , scarred from a halter burning his skin and three legged lame with a largely swollen left knee.

I identified him through his tattoo as “Falcon Fury”. He had run his last three starts at Delaware Park, where he had been claimed off of an owner and trainer that I currently work for. I called them immediately and even though they had no longer owned or trained him for his last two starts they were shaken by this discovery. Both told me they would financially support whatever I had to do to save this horses life and prevent him from enduring any more torture or abuse.

The trainer’s assistant contacted the racing secretary, the general manager and the stewards. She confirmed and informed them that the horse had last run at Delaware Park on July 2nd, was signed out of the stable gate on July 6th by the trainer and was at The New Holland Auction on July 21st.

Delaware Park has also made it clear that they will not tolerate this behavior. They called the last trainer of record into their offices and then sent him to the auction to find the horse. He found us and immediately denied any knowledge of how this horse ended up in this position, however, he admitted that he had placed 6 other horses with the same dealer. He acknowledged that he was in a very compromised position with the officials at Delaware Park and they insisted that he pay the purchase price and shipping costs. This helped us at that moment but does not fix the broken knee with a slab fracture that was neglected to a point that it may not be surgically repairable. It also does not provide for a lifetime of care now required for a damaged horse, but it was a start.

I spoke with general manager , Mr. John Mooney and he assured me that Delaware Park intends to handle this situation appropriately and furthermore they are committed to working with the horsemen to help them make the right choice when it comes to retiring and placing horses.

This is yet another example of a racetrack stepping up and owning responsibility to this situation. Ultimately we should be able to fix this industry wide flaw from within. If every owner and trainer would assume responsibility for their own horses this problem would not exist. However, it does and we need to address and fix the problem.

I would venture to say that anyone who watched the HBO Documentary would have to acknowledge that the pipeline exists and is well fed by many licensed owners and trainers. Anyone who looks in the eye of one of these abandoned and abused horses and is not affected by what they see should not be considered a horseman. The individuals participating in this pipeline are doing the horses and the industry a huge disservice.

An owner, a trainer and an assistant trainer proved to me last week that there are enough good horsemen left to make a difference.

If every racetrack would adopt a policy and procedure to help horsemen handle “unwanted” horses they would be supporting the kind of horsemen needed to secure the future of our sport. If every track would adopt zero-tolerance for shedrow to slaughter practices they would be moving towards eliminating the participants that do not belong in our industry.

Any person who doubts the need for a unified movement needs to visit a public auction where kill buyers flourish and witness the horror from beginning to end.

Diana McClure
Contact us:  Trainer@GoodHorse.org or 240-216-5197
TPR, Inc.  13130 Molly Berry Road, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772

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